e, and this part of
Ninth Avenue existed only on paper; but by energetic efforts made by
all the Fathers and their friends, and by personal appeals in every
direction, especially in the down-town parishes in which they had
given missions, sufficient funds were raised to clear the ground and
lay the foundations of a building which was to include both convent
and church. Early in the summer of 1858 circulars asking assistance
had been sent out to the clergy of the United States, and by this
means also a considerable amount was secured, the very first answer
with a handsome donation coming from Father Early, President of
Georgetown College. In the spring of 1859 the Fathers rented a frame
house on Sixtieth Street, just west of Broadway, fitted up a little
chapel in it, and lived there in community till the new house was
finished.

The corner-stone of the new structure was laid by Archbishop Hughes
on Trinity Sunday, June 19, 1859, in the presence of an immense
concourse of people. During that summer and fall every effort was
made to keep the builders at work. The task was no easy one. The
times were hard, the country still suffering from the effects of the
financial crisis of 1857, the financial depression being aggravated
by the ominous outlook in the political world. But the house was
finally completed, and was blessed by Father Hecker on the 24th of
November, the feast of St. John of the Cross, one of his very special
patrons. This was within a few weeks of his fortieth birthday. On the
27th of the same month, the first Sunday of Advent, the chapel was
blessed and Solemn Mass was celebrated in it. Thereafter the Fathers
had to act as parish priests as well as missionaries. A few weeks
before this the first recruit joined the little band in the person of
Father Robert Beverly Tillotson, a convert, who, though an American,
had been for some time a member of Dr. Newman's Oratory. He was a
charming preacher and a noble character, much beloved by all the
fathers, and especially by Father Hecker. He died, deeply mourned, in
the summer of 1868, having given the community nine years of most
valuable service. He came just in time to set free three of the
Fathers for missionary duty, the other two remaining in care of the
parish. This was at first small enough in numbers, though in
territory it reached from Fifty-second Street to very near
Manhattanville. The accession of Father Alfred Young, of the diocese
of Newark, and the r