Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1884-10-02
TAR AND FEATHERS.
OUTRAGE ON REV. FATHER
BAPST BY KNow-NOTHINGS.
His Terrible Observation-Disclosures
" Rector OF st. Johns College,
Fordhsm-Blaine's Paper
Defends the Mob.
Statement of a Gentleman Who Was
on the Spot.
New York Mercury.l

The ts-ring aud feathering of the
eminent Catholic priest, Rev. John
Bapst, at Ellswort, Me-, during the
Know-Nothing excitement, which was
briefly alluded to Thursday night by
| Congressman Collins, in his speech at
| the Academy of Music meeting, was an
| outrage that startled the entire country
at the time. Father Bapst is remem-
be ed as one of the most devoted and
popular priests of the day, and thous-
auds of New Workers recall him subse-
qUently as President of st. Johns Col
lege, Fcrdham.
THE HON. THOMAS d. JONES,
one of the largest lumber merchants in
the Eastern District of Brooklyn, was
at the time of the outrage resident of
Ellsworth. He had been born and
reared there, and knew everybody in
| the place and all that was going on of
lp,bl'e nature. Besides he was then
personally acquainted with Father
| Hapst, and saw him after the assault
L Don him, when persons were endeav-
o.'ing to clean the tar and feathers from
his body. He also, With other liberal
Protestants of the place, tried to have
the perpetrators of the act published;
but Blaine's paper, the Kennebec Jour
/ nal had reused such religious feeling in
the bosoms of the great mass of the
population that no grand jury could be
found to indict the rufiians. Mr.. Jones,
who is now gentleman past the meri
dian of life, of singularly refined and
strikingly intellectual appearance, re-
lated the whole incident OF the affair
to Mercury reporter in his office one
afternoon during the p1st week.
"Now." said Mr.. Jones, "Iam a Protes-
tant, of Protestant stock. 1 drew my
religion from my mothers breast, but I
do not believe, and never did believe,
that any one religion or nationality
hold a monopoly of all the virtues and
good qualities Of humanity. recollect
when Blaine came to Maine. twas as
4 I am pretty positive, in the Spring of
: 1854, He went there to edit the Ken
nebec Journal, published in Augusta,
the capita! Of the State, and was read
) everywhere in the State. H.
BLAINE'S NAME WAS UP AS EDITOR
of the paper. Governor Morrill, was the
Republican candidate for Governor that
. year and the leading issue of the cam
, paign was the proposed exclusion of all
, foreigners from the franchise. Blaine at
once commenced a fierce advocacy of
the tenets of ACKNOWLEDGMENT and
kept ID up all through 1854 IS and Sc. I
/ might with justice say that Know
nothingism owed its existence in
Maine to him. t.
! He was the heart and soul of the cru
SADIE, and he had much Influence with
] the people. The Catholic population OF
, Ellsworth was not very large in those
days. They had little church where
Father Bapst attended every second
t Sunday, said mass and preached, bap-
) tized and married. and did all the 9th
r ers offices of his religion. He was sta
) toned at Bangor, and performed the
} duties of his religion ana calling for a
priests were scarce up in Maine IN those
) days. He was Frenchman and the
MOST PERFECT GENTLEMAN
I have ever met. Hell had very fine,
imposing presence, was thoroughly edu-
! Gated and refined, and a true Christian
in every sense. He was liberal in his
toleratious. He was the last man you
could think of who would provoke the
outrage inflicted upol him. Were he
narrow-minded. bigoted, ill-bred and OF
q quarrelsome disposition, the eScLse
mi ght be presented that he drew it up
on himself. But he was directly the
, opposite, and possessed the esteem and
respect of all the liberal-minded and re-
spectacle Protestants of the whole dis
trict in which he served.
, THE TROUBLE FIRST AROSE
! in this way: The Know-notb'ng spirit
+ was burning at red heat under the sur
} face, fed and inf1amed week after week
l by Blaine's paper, and was only wait-
3 ing for The slightest occurrence to burst
$ forth with devour ning effect. 1t may
have been done TO provoke the CathC
lies, but however that was, a stringent
3 rule was enforced in the pubic school
that the Catholic children should read
!. the Protestant Bible. The Catholics
protested against this. think it was
some time in July that the Catholics
! turned their church into school house
for themselves, and began to build a
new church. This action brought out
all the spirit of Know-notbingism. The
, old church, now the school house, was
: burned down one night, and that pOr-
tion of the new church which had been
erected was burned and destroyed.
) There was naturally great excitement
in the town next morning, and maay
of the law and order Protestants feared
that the Catholics would take revenge
by burning down their church and
schools. Some of them came to our
house and consulted my eldest brother,
William, who tried to calm their fears
by telling them that the Catholics
3 would not take such reprisals. How
ever, it was thought well to call ameet-
7 ing for the purpose of
DENoUNCING THE OUTRAGE
!, and assuring our Catholic fellow towns
people that the burning of their church
and school was the act OF ignorant
bigots, and that all respectable Protes
tants held such conduct in utter abhor
!, renee. Half o dozen of us went to SEE
|, Mr.. Whitaker, who was then char
!, man of the Town Selectmen, although
' q Republican, was with us. The meet
) ing was called for the 9th of July
When we went to the place we found
+ that the Know-Nothing element hac
gathered in large force and taken pos
). session. 1t was our intention to have
Mr.. Whitaker preside, but we saw W,
Z were outnumered four to one, ant
f knowing we could affect nothing WI
/, left. Besides, if we had remained i
might be claimed that we, by our pres