1. William J Quarter was an Irish-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Chicago from 1844 to 1848.
22 Facts About William Quarter
1. 2.
William Quarter was born on January 21,1806, in Killurin, King's County, in Ireland to Michael and Ann Quarter.
3.
At that point, William Quarter decided to enter a seminary in the British Colony of Quebec with the goal of becoming a missionary.
4.
William Quarter then applied for admission to seminaries operated by the Archdiocese of Quebec and the Diocese of Montreal, but they rejected him because he was only 16 years old.
5.
William Quarter then traveled to Emmitsburg, Maryland, in the United States to apply to Mount St Mary's College, the first seminary in the United States; he was accepted there.
6.
William Quarter completed his theological studies in 1829 at Mount St Mary's and then traveled to New York City.
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William Quarter was ordained into the priesthood by Bishop John Dubois in New York on September 19,1829, for the Diocese of New York.
8.
Since William Quarter was only 23 years old, he needed a special dispensation for his ordination.
9.
William Quarter placed the children who had been orphaned by the epidemic under the care of the Sisters of Charity.
10.
In 1840, William Quarter began conversing with Maximilian Oertel, a former Lutheran minister from the Kingdom of Bavaria who had become disillusioned with his church.
11.
On November 28,1843, William Quarter was appointed the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Chicago by Pope Gregory XVI.
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William Quarter received his episcopal consecration on March 10,1844, from Bishop John Hughes, with Bishops Benedict Fenwick and Richard Whelan serving as co-consecrators, at St Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.
13.
William Quarter asked Ward to establish a convent in Chicago.
14.
William Quarter requested that the bishop delay their return, but it was denied.
15.
William Quarter went to Joliet, Ottawa and Kaskaskia, ending up in St Louis, Missouri.
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William Quarter consecrated St Mary's Cathedral in October 1845, although not all of it was finished.
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William Quarter summoned the men to his office and threatened to declare them as schismatics if they continued these actions.
18.
In September 1846, William Quarter accompanied six sisters from the Sisters of Mercy from their convent in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Chicago.
19.
William Quarter opened parish schools for boys and girls at St Mary's Cathedral parish in 1846.
20.
In November 1846, William Quarter held the first theological conference in the diocese.
21.
William Quarter's body was on viewing for two days, attracting many Protestants and city officials as well as Catholics.
22.
William Quarter was interred in the vault under St Mary's Cathedral.