The Bishops of Columbus

The Right Reverend Sylvester Horton Rosecrans, D.D., Bishop 1868-1878

Born February 5, 1827 in Homer, Ohio, Sylvester Rosecrans grew up in northern Licking County. Tradition has it that Sylvester was baptized by a Methodist minister. He studied at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. In 1845 he converted to Roman Catholicism at the urging of his brother William (later a general in the U.S. Army during the Civil War). Young and enthusiastic, he left Kenyon and enrolled at Fordham University, New York, from which he graduated with high honors.

Sylvester then expressed to Archbishop John Purcell his desire to be a priest (at that time the counties composing the Diocese of Columbus were part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati). Archbishop Purcell sent him to the College of the Propaganda in Rome, Italy, where he earned a doctorate in theology with honors. He was ordained a priest by Constantino Cardinal Patrizi, Bishop of Albano and Vicar to the Pope, on June 5, 1852, in Rome.

Father Rosecrans was assigned as pastor of St. Thomas Church in Cincinnati, then to St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, Cincinnati. He also taught at the diocesan seminary. In 1856 Archbishop Purcell appointed Fr. Rosecrans president of the newly opened college for Catholic youth in connection with the seminary.

On December 23, 1861, Fr. Rosecrans was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati and Titular Bishop of Pompeiopolis by the Holy See. He was consecrated on March 25, 1862, by Archbishop Purcell in St. Peter's Cathedral. In 1867, Bishop Rosecrans was appointed pastor of St. Patrick Church in Columbus as a preliminary step in the erection of the Diocese of Columbus. Pope Pius IX formally erected the Diocese of Columbus March 3, 1868, and named Bishop Rosecrans bishop of the new diocese.

Bishop Rosecrans established the many institutions required in the new diocese, including parishes, schools, and orphanages. In 1875 he established the first newspaper of the new diocese, the Catholic Columbian. During this time, he also oversaw construction of St. Joseph Cathedral, which he consecrated October 20, 1878. A day later, October 21, 1878, he died. He is entombed in the undercroft of St. Joseph Cathedral.

The Right Reverend John Ambrose Watterson, D.D., Bishop 1880-1899

John A. Watterson was born in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, on May 27, 1844. He was the sixth of eleven children of John S. and Sarah McAfee Watterson. The Watterson family came to America from the Isle of Mann in 1762. Originally Episcopalians, John's grandfather, also named John, was an orphan raised by a Catholic family named Eck in York County, Pennsylvania.

Young John received his education at Sts. Simon & Jude School in Blairsville. Upon the recommendation of his pastor, John was sent to St. Vincent's College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania. At the age of 17, he entered Mt. St. Mary's Seminary, Emmittsburg, Maryland, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree. He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood at St. Vincent's Abbey, Latrobe, on August 9, 1868.

Soon after his ordination, Fr. Watterson accepted a position as a professor of moral theology and sacred scripture at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary. In 1877 Fr. Watterson became vice president of the college, and president in 1879. In June of that year, the young president received his doctor of divinity degree from Georgetown College in Washington, D.C.

In March, 1880, it was announced that Fr. Watterson was appointed Second Bishop of Columbus. He was consecrated August 8, 1880, at St. Joseph Cathedral by the Right Reverend William H. Elder, Archbishop of Cincinnati.

Bishop Watterson worked to increase the priesthood in his new diocese to share in the work of the Diocese. During his episcopate, St. Anthony and Mt. Carmel hospitals were founded, as were the college and seminary at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus. Many new missions and parishes were established during this time, and parish schools especially increased in number as they were established wherever possible (Bishop Watterson was a particularly strong advocate of Catholic schooling).

Bishop Watterson especially loved confirming young people and talking with little children, teaching them and instilling in them the truths he knew would make them good citizens and saints in the hereafter. He was also a strong believer in temperance. No saloon owner was allowed to be an officer in any Catholic organization in the Diocese, and he made all those he confirmed promise not to drink until they were 21.

Bishop Watterson died unexpectedly April 17, 1899. He is buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Columbus, in the priests' circle.

The Most Reverend Henry Moeller, D.D., Bishop 1900-1903

Henry Moeller was born in Cincinnati on December 11, 1849, to Bernard and Theresa Witte Moeller, who were immigrants from Westphalia in Germany. Henry was the oldest of seven children. One of his sisters became a nun, and two brothers became priests as well.

Henry was educated at St. Joseph's parochial school, St. Xavier College in Cincinnati, and the American College in Rome, where he excelled at theology. He was ordained to the priesthood in St. John Lateran on June 10, 1876 by Archbishop Giulio Lenti of Nepi Sutri. Upon returning to America, Fr. Moeller served briefly in Bellefontaine, Ohio, then was a professor at Mt. St. Mary of the West Seminary in Norwood, Ohio.

In 1881, Fr. Moeller became secretary to Archbishop William Elder, and was named Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1886. On April 6, 1900, Fr. Moeller was appointed Bishop of Columbus. He was consecrated at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, Cincinnati, that August 25 by Archbishop Elder. He came to Columbus and was installed in St. Joseph Cathedral on August 27.

Though the shortest episcopate in the history of the Diocese (just less than three years), Bishop Moeller is credited with setting Columbus on the right course for the newly-dawned 20th Century. He began the work of truly eradicating the large debt with which the Diocese was saddled as a result of its erection and the building of St. Joseph Cathedral. He also established parish boundaries for Franklin County, and erected three new parishes and four missions. In 1902 he convened the fifth synod of the Diocese to set regulations for questions pertaining to the needs of the clergy and people of the Diocese. In 1900 he consecrated Holy Name Church in Steubenville, which is now the cathedral church of that diocese.

On April 27, 1903, Bishop Moeller was appointed Titular Archbishop of Areopolis and coadjutor to Archbishop Elder. He left Columbus and arrived in Cincinnati on June 26. On Elder's death, he succeeded as fourth Ordinary of Cincinnati on October 31, 1904 and was installed in the Cathedral there on February 15, 1905.

Archbishop Moeller died January 5, 1925, and is interred in the mausoleum at St. Joseph Cemetery in the Cincinnati suburb of Pine Hill.

The Most Reverend James Joseph Hartley, D.D., Bishop 1904-1944

James J. Hartley was the eldest child of Irish immigrants Edward Hartley and Catherine McManus Hartley. He was born June 26, 1858, in Davenport, Iowa, where his parents had immediately moved following their marriage at St. Patrick Parish in Columbus. Soon after the Hartleys returned to Columbus and St. Patrick Parish with their newborn son. The Hartley's eventually had five more children. Mr. Hartley kept a saloon on West Maple Street, and the family lived upstairs. He was also a Columbus policeman for many years.

James attended the parish school at St. Patrick's, then entered St. Aloysius Seminary in Columbus. When that seminary closed, he attended Mt. St. Mary of the West in Norwood, Ohio, then the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels in Niagara, New York. On July 10, 1882, James was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood by Bishop Watterson in St. Joseph Cathedral, Columbus.

Fr. Hartley's first assignment was assistant pastor of St. Peter Parish in Steubenville, then he was named pastor of Holy Name Parish in Steubenville in 1885. While pastor of Holy Name, Fr. Hartley organized a school, a high school, and had a new church built.

On December 10, 1903, at the age of only 45, Fr. Hartley was chosen as the fourth Bishop of Columbus by Pope St. Pius X. He was consecrated by his predecessor Bishop Moeller on February 25, 1904 in Holy Name Parish in Steubenville. He was installed in St. Joseph Cathedral March 1, 1904.

Immediately, Bishop Hartley set about the work of building up the Diocese of Columbus. In 1905 he erected his first parishes: Holy Rosary, which reflected his devotion to the Blessed Mother, and St. Aloysius in Columbus' Hilltop area in honor of his former seminary. In January, 1906, he announced that the debt on St. Joseph Cathedral was retired. Within the first five years of his episcopate, Bishop Hartley had begun or dedicated more than 25 churches, schools, and chapels.

In addition, Bishop Hartley established St. Charles Seminary and many high schools, which numbered 31 by the time of his death in 1944. Other institutions he established included St. Joseph Cemetery, St. Ann Hospital, Mercy Hospital in Portsmouth, Good Samaritan Hospital in Zanesville, Mercy Hospital in Mount Vernon, and St. Therese Shrine. He also had St. Joseph Cathedral remodeled, giving it its present medieval appearance.

Bishop Hartley died January 12, 1944, at the age of 85. He was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Columbus. His episcopate remains the longest in the history of the Diocese of Columbus.

The Most Reverend Michael Joseph Ready, D.D., Bishop 1945-1957

Michael Joseph Ready was born April 9, 1893, in New Haven, Connecticut - the second youngest of 14 children. His father, Michael T. Ready, and mother, Mary A. Ellis Ready, were I