This is the first narrative history of the Archdiocese of St. Paul, from 1840 to 1962. Historian Marvin R. O'Connell brings to life the extraordinary labors and accomplishments of the French priests who came to the upper midwest territory during the first half of the nineteenth century. Over the next fifty years a flood of settlers, primarily Irish and German Catholics, filled up the land. In 1850 Rome created a new diocese centered in the village of St. Paul, and in 1851 French priest Joseph Cretin was named its first bishop.
O'Connell's lively account stresses the social, economic, and political context in which the Catholic Church in Minnesota grew and evolved. He vividly illuminates the personalities of the bishops who followed Cretin, Thomas Grace (1859-84) and John Ireland (1884-1918). Ireland inherited a sophisticated system of churches, schools, orphanages, and hospitals, staffed by orders of religious men and women. Ireland built upon this legacy, founding colleges for men and women, a major seminary, and cathedrals in both St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ireland's successors, Austin Dowling (1919-30) and John Murray (1931-56) were not as colorful as Ireland, although Murray was immensely popular. William Brady is the final archbishop covered in this book, serving from 1956 to 1961 when he died unexpectedly from a heart attack. O'Connell ends his narrative In 1962, soon after the death of Archbishop Brady and a few months before the first session of Vatican II.
"With a sweeping overview, cogent detail, and witty insight, Marvin O'Connell tells the stories of the people who built the Archdiocese of St. Paul: men of energy, grace, vision, and not a little political skill; scoundrels and scalawags on a fluid frontier; women religious who made possible the schools and hospitals that nurtured the faithful; families who built churches through deep faith and painful sacrifice. We see these real people, with personalities and passions and flaws, leaving enduring marks on Minnesota's landscape. This is a grand tale on a grand scale." --Ann Regan, author of Irish in Minnesota
"What a gallery of memorable characters we find among these 'Pilgrims to the Northland.' And what a fabulous job Marvin O'Connell has done in telling their stories! Besides a major work of scholarship, he has given us what is surely the most readable diocesan history ever written." --Philip Gleason, University of Notre Dame

This is the first narrative history of the Archdiocese of St. Paul, from 1840 to 1962. Historian Marvin R. O'Connell brings to life the extraordinary labors and accomplishments of the French priests who came to the upper midwest territory during the first half of the nineteenth century. Over the next fifty years a flood of settlers, primarily Irish and German Catholics, filled up the land. In 1850 Rome created a new diocese centered in the village of St. Paul, and in 1851 French priest Joseph Cretin was named its first bishop.
O'Connell's lively account stresses the social, economic, and political context in which the Catholic Church in Minnesota grew and evolved. He vividly illuminates the personalities of the bishops who followed Cretin, Thomas Grace (1859-84) and John Ireland (1884-1918). Ireland inherited a sophisticated system of churches, schools, orphanages, and hospitals, staffed by orders of religious men and women. Ireland built upon this legacy, founding colleges for men and women, a major seminary, and cathedrals in both St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ireland's successors, Austin Dowling (1919-30) and John Murray (1931-56) were not as colorful as Ireland, although Murray was immensely popular. William Brady is the final archbishop covered in this book, serving from 1956 to 1961 when he died unexpectedly from a heart attack. O'Connell ends his narrative In 1962, soon after the death of Archbishop Brady and a few months before the first session of Vatican II.
"With a sweeping overview, cogent detail, and witty insight, Marvin O'Connell tells the stories of the people who built the Archdiocese of St. Paul: men of energy, grace, vision, and not a little political skill; scoundrels and scalawags on a fluid frontier; women religious who made possible the schools and hospitals that nurtured the faithful; families who built churches through deep faith and painful sacrifice. We see these real people, with personalities and passions and flaws, leaving enduring marks on Minnesota's landscape. This is a grand tale on a grand scale." --Ann Regan, author of Irish in Minnesota
"What a gallery of memorable characters we find among these 'Pilgrims to the Northland.' And what a fabulous job Marvin O'Connell has done in telling their stories! Besides a major work of scholarship, he has given us what is surely the most readable diocesan history ever written." --Philip Gleason, University of Notre Dame