The Beginnings of the Long Blue Line: The Jesuits, Cincinnati, and St. Xavier College: 1840-1865 by Fr. Dennis P. Ahern S. J. (’56) February 12, 2012
Once upon a time, there was only one school in Cincinnati where a young man could receive a Catholic education. That school was called the Athenaeum, a diocesan college and seminary opened by Bishop Fenwick in 1831. After just nine years, the Bishop was no longer able to staff his Seminary/College. In August 1840, he offered the school, cathedral (St. Peter’s), residence and all the property on which these buildings stood to the Jesuits. The Jesuits came, changed the name of St. Peter’s Cathedral to St. Francis Xavier Church and renamed the school St. Francis Xavier College. From the small and difficult beginnings, there have emerged both St. Xavier High School and Xavier University. The school began to prosper at the end of the Civil War, and by 1919, what was to become Xavier University had moved from downtown Cincinnati to Avondale, and St. Xavier High School was to stay downtown until 1960. This article will trace some early Jesuit history, some early Cincinnati history, and the early and difficult years of what was then called St. Xavier College, Cincinnati (1840-1865). When Pope Paul III approved the Society of Jesus in 1540, Jesuits were seen as missionaries, men sent out to evangelize the world. Jesuits have been priests, scholastics and brothers who ministered in many places. They served as theologians at the Council of Trent, as hospital chaplains, as pastors, as directors of retreats/religious revivals, etc. In 1548, the Jesuits opened their first College at Messina, Sicily, to educate younger Jesuits and to offer education to the people of the area. The school in Messina quickly became a great success and soon there were a number of European Jesuit schools. Between 1540 and 1600, the Jesuits opened more than 200 colleges across Europe. Often at the beginning these schools had few students; princes and prelates picked up the expenses for the school and the Jesuits.1 No tuition was charged. In a short period of time the Jesuits became known as the “Educators of Europe.” Jesuits themselves were well educated; they taught ancient and modern languages, science (physics, chemistry and astronomy), math, history, literature and other academic subjects. They spread their learning and spirituality as they spread the Good News. Jesuits were adventurous in a number other ways. Francis Xavier S.J., one of the first to follow St. Ignatius, was missioned to the East and brought many to the faith. Other European Jesuits travelled to the New World exploring the territory and bringing the Good News. Among these men were: 1. John de Brebeuf S.J. and two other French Jesuits who sailed to Canada in 1625. They evangelized the natives of the Canadian, New York and Michigan regions. Twenty years later, Brebeuf and his eight companions (the North American Martyrs) gave their lives for the faith. 2. Jacques Marquette S.J travelled to the New World in 1666 to preach, explore, and map U.S. territory down through the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. 3. In 1720, Pierre Francois de Charlevoix S.J., a professor at the University of Quebec, was sent by the French government to report on the French colonies in North America. He