1. Jerry McAuley started the first rescue mission to feed and shelter the poor who were mostly immigrants, leading to the creation of over 300 rescue missions in the United States.
15 Facts About Jerry McAuley
1. 2.
Jerry McAuley's mother sent him off to live with his grandmother.
3.
Jerry McAuley did not go to school and was prone to mischief.
4.
When he was 13, Jerry McAuley was sent to live with his sister and her husband in New York City.
5.
Jerry McAuley said that arrangement did not last, and soon he boarded with a family in the slums of Water Street on the Lower East Side.
6.
Jerry McAuley became a thief to fund clothing and alcohol, evolving into a "river thief" who stole from boats at night.
7.
In 1857 when he was 19 years old, Jerry McAuley was falsely accused of highway robbery.
8.
Jerry McAuley was convicted and sent to Sing-Sing Prison for fifteen years and 3 months.
9.
Jerry McAuley got permission to use the prison library and sought religious readings.
10.
Once out of prison, Jerry McAuley wanted "a sober and righteous life", but soon fell back to crime.
11.
Jerry McAuley's faith was reinvigorated by Water Street missionaries, and he began to work honest jobs between 1870 and 1872, saving and raising money to start a mission.
12.
Jerry McAuley met Alfrederick Smith Hatch, a banker and later president of the stock exchange, who became Jerry McAuley's benefactor.
13.
In October 1872, Hatch donated a property on Water Street, and Jerry McAuley used the money he had raised to repair the building.
14.
In September 1884, Jerry McAuley died from tuberculosis he contracted while in Sing Sing.
15.
Jerry McAuley's widow continued his work running the Cremorne Mission.