Fathers Andrew White and John Althum, Jesuit priests, arrived in Maryland in 1634 with the first Maryland colonists. A Briefe Relation of the Voyage unto Maryland, authored by Father White, is the earliest account of the founding of the colony. After arriving in what would become St. Mary's City, White took over an Indian longhouse, which served as the first chapel.
Under the system established by Lord Baltimore, colonists received the right to take up land in exchange for bringing servants to Maryland. The Jesuits transported many indentured servants to the colony over the next several years and thus obtained extensive land holdings. They constructed a wooden chapel sometime in the mid-1630s near this location. An Act for Military Discipline (1638) directs the militia to gather at "the Chappell yard neere the fort." Archaeology in the Chapel Field has discovered artifacts from the early years of habitation relating to this chapel.
In 1645, Richard Ingle invaded Maryland, bringing the English Civil War to the colony. He may have burned the first chapel. Father White, then 66, was transported back to England in chains and remained in prison until January, 1648. Although he pleaded to return to Maryland, he never did, and died in England in 1656.
[Aside:]
Among Father White's many efforts with the local Algonquin-speaking Indians was the creation of a catechism in Piscataway. Only fragments are preserved but it shows that White was a gifted linguist.
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