Collection Full View
Archdiocese of Newark Church Reports (1843 - 1925)
Collection IDADN 0010.001
Size14 linear feet
Collection Description
The Diocese of Newark, created in 1853, was elevated to an Archdiocese in 1937. The Chancery Office required parish priests to submit yearly reports reflecting the financial and spiritual condition of their churches. In the earliest years of the Diocese priests composed narrative reports; but within a few years the Chancery Office distributed standardized forms to be completed.
Collection Contents
Scope and Content Note:
The collection consists of the annual reports of parish priests to the Diocesan Chancery Office. Information contained in these reports includes: number of Catholics in the parish; number making Easter Duty; number of children attending parochial school; number of confraternities in the parish and number of members in each; number of baptisms, marriages, confirmations, communions, and burials performed; descriptions of any additions to church property; itemized lists of receipts and expenditures; a listing of debts; and other comments and suggestions from priests. By 1855, a printed form with questions and space for brief answers on parish census, attendance numbers for services, confession, catechism, etc.; care of cemeteries, burials, etc. for the preceding year had been implemented.
The reports are arranged chronologically by year, with gaps, then alphabetically by town, and by parish. Not every church is represented in each year available.
The collection includes the following reports from Newark churches:
Box 1, Folder 1: St. John's annual financial report signed by auditors John M. Kinney, Patrick Cody, and James Elliott, and a narrative account of parish finances, including the purchase of a lot for a cemetery; congregational numbers of adults (1,000) and children (500); and a statement of the average number who received Communion on Sunday (50), bemoaning the lack of children for Confirmation and First Communion: "The older children as soon as they are capable of earning a cent, are generally bound as apprentices, or sent to work in factories..." (1845). Other reports include similar details, sometimes mentioning the number of burials, by age (1846, 1847, 1850). Folder 2: St. John's (1851, 1852) and St. Patrick's (1852). Folder 3: St. John's (1853, 1854). Folder 4: St. James', St. John's, and St. Mary's, with the comment, "Church, house & school looked, when I came, very much like a ruin...the front of the church looked awful, the inside still worse" (1855). Folders 5-12, reports similar to those above, and with the addition of St. Peter's (1856-1863).
Box 5, Folder 1: St. Augustine's, St. Benedict's, St. Columba's, St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, and St. Pius in East Newark, now Harrison (1877). Folder 6, all the churches in Folder 1, with the addition of St. Antonius (1878)
Box 8, Folders 4 and 9: St. Aloysius, St. Antonius, St. Augustine's, St. Benedict's, St. Columba's, St. James', St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Mary Immaculate Conception, St. Michael's St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, and St. Pius (1885-1886)
Box 13, Folder 1: Sacred Heart, St. Aloysius, St. Ann, St. Antonius, St. Augustine's, St. Benedict's, St. Bridget's, St. Columba's, St. James', St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Lucy's, St. Mary Immaculate Conception, St. Michael's St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, St. Philip Neri, St. Rose's, St. Stanislaus (1896). Folders 8-9: the churches above, with the addition of Mt. Carmel (1897)
Box 19, Folders 1-2: the churches above with the addition of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Sacred Heart, St. Ann's, St. Francis Xavier's, St. Mary Magdalene, Holy Name, St. Rocco's, and St. Anthony's (1907). Folder 13: the churches above, with the addition of Blessed Sacrament and St. Stephen's (1908)
Box 23, Folders 1-2: the churches above, with the addition of Assumption, St. Charles Borremeo, Holy Trinity, and St. Casimir's (1915). Folders 17-18, the churches above (1916)
Box 24, Folders 1-2 and Folders 16-17, the churches above (1917-1918)
Box 27, Folders 1-2, the churches above, with the addition of Our Lady of the Rosary (1923). Folders 17-18, the churches above (1924)
The collection consists of the annual reports of parish priests to the Diocesan Chancery Office. Information contained in these reports includes: number of Catholics in the parish; number making Easter Duty; number of children attending parochial school; number of confraternities in the parish and number of members in each; number of baptisms, marriages, confirmations, communions, and burials performed; descriptions of any additions to church property; itemized lists of receipts and expenditures; a listing of debts; and other comments and suggestions from priests. By 1855, a printed form with questions and space for brief answers on parish census, attendance numbers for services, confession, catechism, etc.; care of cemeteries, burials, etc. for the preceding year had been implemented.
The reports are arranged chronologically by year, with gaps, then alphabetically by town, and by parish. Not every church is represented in each year available.
The collection includes the following reports from Newark churches:
Box 1, Folder 1: St. John's annual financial report signed by auditors John M. Kinney, Patrick Cody, and James Elliott, and a narrative account of parish finances, including the purchase of a lot for a cemetery; congregational numbers of adults (1,000) and children (500); and a statement of the average number who received Communion on Sunday (50), bemoaning the lack of children for Confirmation and First Communion: "The older children as soon as they are capable of earning a cent, are generally bound as apprentices, or sent to work in factories..." (1845). Other reports include similar details, sometimes mentioning the number of burials, by age (1846, 1847, 1850). Folder 2: St. John's (1851, 1852) and St. Patrick's (1852). Folder 3: St. John's (1853, 1854). Folder 4: St. James', St. John's, and St. Mary's, with the comment, "Church, house & school looked, when I came, very much like a ruin...the front of the church looked awful, the inside still worse" (1855). Folders 5-12, reports similar to those above, and with the addition of St. Peter's (1856-1863).
Box 5, Folder 1: St. Augustine's, St. Benedict's, St. Columba's, St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Mary's, St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, and St. Pius in East Newark, now Harrison (1877). Folder 6, all the churches in Folder 1, with the addition of St. Antonius (1878)
Box 8, Folders 4 and 9: St. Aloysius, St. Antonius, St. Augustine's, St. Benedict's, St. Columba's, St. James', St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Mary Immaculate Conception, St. Michael's St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, and St. Pius (1885-1886)
Box 13, Folder 1: Sacred Heart, St. Aloysius, St. Ann, St. Antonius, St. Augustine's, St. Benedict's, St. Bridget's, St. Columba's, St. James', St. John's, St. Joseph's, St. Lucy's, St. Mary Immaculate Conception, St. Michael's St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, St. Philip Neri, St. Rose's, St. Stanislaus (1896). Folders 8-9: the churches above, with the addition of Mt. Carmel (1897)
Box 19, Folders 1-2: the churches above with the addition of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Sacred Heart, St. Ann's, St. Francis Xavier's, St. Mary Magdalene, Holy Name, St. Rocco's, and St. Anthony's (1907). Folder 13: the churches above, with the addition of Blessed Sacrament and St. Stephen's (1908)
Box 23, Folders 1-2: the churches above, with the addition of Assumption, St. Charles Borremeo, Holy Trinity, and St. Casimir's (1915). Folders 17-18, the churches above (1916)
Box 24, Folders 1-2 and Folders 16-17, the churches above (1917-1918)
Box 27, Folders 1-2, the churches above, with the addition of Our Lady of the Rosary (1923). Folders 17-18, the churches above (1924)
FormatTextual materials
SubjectReligion / Churches
Time Period19th Century
LanguagesEnglish; Japanese
Access policyOpen for research
ProcessedYes
Finding AidYes