Skip to content

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

John Ashton

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes

An early Jesuit missionary in Maryland ; born in Ireland, 1742; died in Maryland, 1814, or 1815. He was one of the first priests to visit the Catholics of Baltimore. This was between the years 1776 and 1784, at which latter date a resident priest, Father Charles Sewall, was appointed. The Jesuits at that time lived at Whitemarsh, about midway between Washington and Baltimore. The temporary church used by Father Ashton in Baltimore was an unfinished building, begun by an Irishman named Fotterall. It stood near the present site of Battle Monument, now the centre of civic and commercial activity. It was the first brick building in Baltimore. Finding it abandoned, some Acadian refugees occupied the upper portion which was still habitable. Father Ashton said Mass in the lower room, although the hogs which had taken possession of it had first to be driven out. The priest brought his vestments with him, a rude altar was erected. The faithful never numbered more than forty, and consisted chiefly of Acadians and a few Irish. This is the first Baltimore congregation of the Society of Jesus in 1759. He was first employed in the missions of Yorkshire, England. He must have been a man of business capacity, as at the assembly of the clergymen of Maryland and Pennsylvania, which convened at Whitemarsh, in 1784, he was unanimously elected procurator-general, whose duty it was to preside over the management of the various estates of the clergy. Subsequently in 1788, he was appointed to superintend the building of Georgetown College.

We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.

Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.

Help Now >

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Prayer of the Day logo
Saint of the Day logo

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.