Boston, Massachusetts, city of
Boston, Massachusetts, city of
Capital of Massachusetts. Few of the early Irish emigrants to Boston were Catholics, as they were unwilling to settle in a Puritan colony. Traces of the Catholic Church are found as early as September 1646 , when a ship was in port having two priests on board, who were the guests of the governor. Father Druillettes visited Boston, 1650 , to discuss with General Gibbons details of a trading pact and alliance with the Canadian French against the Iroquois; it is surmised that he said Mass at the governor’s home. The “Weekly Rehearsal,” 20 March 1732 , announces:
“We hear that Mass has been performed in town this winter by an Irish priest among some Catholics of his own nation, of whom it is not doubted we have a considerable number among us.”