Dataset CreatorsTricia Pyne, St. Mary's Seminary listed as Notre Dame Auxiliatrice in the register), and Our Lady of the Rosary (1802-1857). (In modern terms, a confraternity is a church-sponsored program of faith formation. Membership is voluntary and open to laity, clergy, and religious. Religious instruction, spiritual reading, frequenting of the sacraments, and the performance of charitable acts are central elements. A confraternity is dedicated to a particular devotion, for example, the Rosary.) Membership in these confraternities was not restricted to individuals who worshiped at the seminary chapel. In addition to parishioners, faculty, staff, and students can be found the names of individuals who lived in different parts of the city, as well as in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Sulpician priests also served. The names recorded in these lists reflect the diverse makeup of the different communities that worshiped at the chapel and how they changed over time.Lists created for those individuals who performed their Easter duties at the chapel over the period 1809-1833 have also survived. (The surviving lists are for the years 1809-1822, 1824, 1825, 1827, and 1831-1833.) During this period, individuals partook in the sacraments of confession and communion just once a year, usually at Easter; this practice came to be known as performing one’s Easter duty. In addition to recording the names of those who fulfilled their annual Easter duty, the names of those who received communion for the first time at Easter were also noted.Both the digitized lists and the chapel’s Centralized Name Index are available to view on the website of the Archives where the records are deposited: https://stmarys.edu/archives/primary-sources/. The records that have been shared with Enslaved.org are for the individuals that were identified to be enslaved.2023-2025French, EnglishBaltimore, MD1796-1835Membership ListSacramental or Religious RegistrySt. Mary’s Seminary Chapel Records, Archives of St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Associated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore, Maryland.The Sulpician priest Rev. Jean-Marie Tessier (1758-1840) was Superior of the U. S. Sulpician community, 1810-1840, director of the special ministry to the Haitian refugee community, 1796-1827, and spiritual director of the chapel’s confraternities, 1796-1833, during which time he maintained the membership lists for the confraternities and the Easter duty lists. A native of France, his records were written in French. Transcribers made the decision to translate the terms used by Rev. Tessier from French into English. The French names of members were not Americanized, but transcribed as written with the exception of accents. Because the use of accents was inconsistent throughout the records, it was decided to transcribe the names without them.A separate entry has been created for every name recorded on each list. In instances where an entire or partial name was crossed out, the decision was made to create an entry for the name, unless it was obvious that the name had been mistakenly entered as a duplicate and appears elsewhere on the list. It is noted in the comments if the name was crossed out.Names have been transcribed and recorded to the best of our ability. In instances where a last name was not recorded, the term “Surname” has been entered. In cases where a first or middle name was not recorded, the field was left blank. If a name was indecipherable or could only be partially transcribed, this was noted. Dashes were used to indicate unreadable letters and question marks to denote uncertainty or a possible spelling. If a nickname was recorded, this information was entered in the field for First Name. The first name and nickname are separated by a forward slash. Please note that the spelling of names was not consistent. It is always best to check under different variations when searching the records.In a number of instances, abbreviations were used in place of the full name (first, middle, and last). In such cases, transcribers made an effort to identify the full name, placing the added letters in brackets to indicate when an abbreviation was used, for example, Vol. – Volunbrun.Dataset Repository: Harvard Dataverse, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GP4JTOLinked Data Representation: Enslaved.orgAssociated Archives at St. Mary’s Seminary & University
Tricia Pyne (Wed,) studied this question.