Northeast
Historic Maryland church opens doors to visitors 320 years after closing down
Visitors have been able to step into a reconstructed 17th-century Catholic church in Maryland for the first time – an opportunity over 320 years in the making.
Historic St. Mary’s City, an archaeological organization, opened up its Brick Chapel on April 12. The building was originally constructed in 1667. St. Mary’s City is a colonial town located in St. Mary’s County, off the western shore of Chesapeake Bay.
Fox News Digital spoke to Henry Miller, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at Historic St. Mary’s City, about the opening, the result of multiple excavations since 1988. (See the video at the top of this article.)
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While a wooden chapel was first built on the site in 1645, the structure burned down when Maryland was attacked by troops from the English Parliament.
“But in the 1660s, things had settled down, and the Brick Chapel, the first major brick building in Maryland, began to be constructed,” Miller said. “It was a very significant architectural achievement for the time and place.”
The church was “the center of Catholic worship in Maryland” until 1704, said Henry Miller, Ph.D., when a Protestant governor closed the church down. (Historic St. Mary’s City)
In the colonial era, it was generally forbidden by law for Catholics to have any churches, but Maryland offered a notable exception.
“It was only because of Lord Baltimore’s policy of liberty, of conscience and freedom of religion that [the church] could be erected,” the expert said.
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“So [the church] is really an important statement about the beginnings of religious freedom in what is now the United States and beyond.”
The Brick Chapel was the center of Catholic worship in Maryland until 1704, when the colony’s Protestant governor shuttered the building’s doors, Miller said. The sheriff “locked the door, [took] the key with him, and never again allow[ed] that building to be used for worship.”
Historic St. Mary’s City, an archaeological organization, opened its reconstructed Brick Chapel on April 12 after decades of historical work. (Historic St. Mary’s City)
“The freedom of belief, the freedom of religion that Lord Baltimore had championed totally ended at that time period,” the archaeologist said.
“A few years later, the building was demolished, and it basically disappeared from view and memory for over 200 years.”
“That building could not have been constructed anywhere else in the English-speaking world at this time.”
The church was entirely forgotten about until 1938, when an architectural historian spotted peculiar remains of a cross-shaped brick building.
Today, the Brick Chapel – rebuilt between 2004 and 2009 – has a recently finished interior that accurately captures what a 17th-century Catholic church would have looked like at the time.
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Miller recreated the building’s interior through several means, such as researching similar churches and obtaining art that was commonly used in Jesuit churches, he said. Not many artifacts survive at the site, thanks to Jesuits who dismantled their church and reused the materials elsewhere.
“The Jesuits were some of the first recyclers … They took everything above ground away and reused it,” Miller said.
“What we found were lots of fragments of plaster, of mortar and the five-foot-deep, three-foot-wide brick foundation.”
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“We actually let visitors see some of that original brickwork,” Miller added. “There was weird stone we found there in pieces, [and] we now know that they imported 14 tons of stone from Europe to pave the floor of this building.”
But the church still retains some original features. Miller also noted that the original tabernacle of the church survived, along with 17th-century lead coffins that visitors can view under a glass floor.
The chapel required extensive construction work and research to determine what a 17th-century Catholic church would have looked like. (Historic St. Mary’s City)
“The graves are both all around and inside the chapel,” Miller said. “There’s maybe 60 or 70 graves in the chapel, but there’s 300 to 400 outside.”
He added, “This was the largest 17th century cemetery in Maryland. So the grave distribution showed us also where the altar area, the formal area, began.”
Still, the process has been challenging – and Miller was only able to find one written description of the chapel, dating back to the late 1690s.
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“A Protestant governor, Francis Nicholson, was very anti-Catholic,” the archaeologist said. “And he said in a report, ‘The Catholics have several chapels in Maryland, including a good brick chapel at Saint Mary’s.’”
“We want you, as a visitor, to walk in and have a sense of what a 17th-century person would have seen.”
Miller joked, “Oh, how we wish he was a verbose kind of guy who would have given us more information. But for him to even say it was ‘good’ was probably a significant clue there.”
He added, “So it is based on lots of different information. It is as accurate as we can come up with.”
Still, the historian emphasized that no formal worship will take place in the new building – instead, it will exist as an exhibit on the history of religious freedom in Maryland.
“The seeds of faith planted there … grew the church and the first diocese that was established in Maryland in the year 1790,” Miller said. “So it truly is the founding place of the modern Catholic Church in the United States.”
The Brick Chapel is an accurate reconstruction of the original 1667 structure on the same site (foundation seen here) — and it has taken historians decades to recreate the church. (Historic St. Mary’s City)
“But it’s also a symbol, and this is what’s important,” he said. “That building could not have been constructed anywhere else in the English-speaking world at this time.”
Visitors may be surprised by the elegance of the church’s interior. Instead of a classic colonial New England church filled with wooden pews, the Brick Chapel has no pews at all.
Miller noted that, in colonial-era Catholic churches, worshippers either stood or knelt.
“The pews are more of a Protestant innovation,” Miller added. “If you had a two-hour-long sermon, seating would be very helpful there. Catholic sermons were probably considerably shorter.”
Visitors will be able to view original 17th-century lead coffins through a glass pane in the chapel. (Historic St. Mary’s City)
Miller said that decades of work have created a “unique exhibit.”
“We also want you, as a visitor, to walk in and have a sense of what a 17th-century person would have seen,” the archaeologist said. “We’ve hidden the exhibits in the arms of the building, where you don’t see them until you get right up on top of them.”
“It’s one that we have worked on for over 37 years, but I am delighted that it will finally be completed and we can start more effectively telling this significant American story.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Curto and Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Come February a former New York Yankees first-round draft pick, will get a chance to prove himself to their longtime rivals.
Left-hander T.J. Sikkema, 27, is one of seven non-roster invitees to Red Sox spring training, the club announced Tuesday.
Catcher Jason Delay, infielder Vinny Capra, lefty Alec Gamboa, and right-handers Osvaldo Berrios, Hobie Harris and Devin Sweet round out the group.
The Yankees drafted Sikkema 38th overall in the ‘19 draft. He was one of three minor league pitchers they dealt to the Kansas City Royals for former Red Sox star Andrew Benintendi at the ‘22 MLB trade deadline.
Sikkema spent the last two years in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Last year he reached Triple-A for the first time, and pitched to a 3.47 ERA over five games (four starts) with nine earned runs allowed over 23.1 innings, following the late-August promotion.
While the Red Sox had a top-ranked farm system last year, their catching depth is notoriously thin. Delay, 30, has 134 games of big-league experience with the 2022-24 Pittsburgh Pirates, including 131 behind the dish, a career .231/.333/.400 line in the majors. He spent last season with the Double-A and Triple-A levels of the Atlanta Braves organization.
Capra, 29, appeared in 47 major league games last season, 24 with the Milwaukee Brewers and 23 with the Chicago White Sox. Since his debut with the ‘22 Toronto Blue Jays, he has played 67 big-league games over the last four years.
Though a lifetime .133/.181/.188 hitter in the majors, Capra brings defensive versatility to the table. In just 58 fielding games, he has already covered third base, second, shortstop, left and right field, and made three pitching appearances.
Gamboa, 28, comes to the Red Sox after a season split between the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets and the Lotte Giants of the Korean Baseball League. He was the Dodgers’ ninth-round pick in ‘19, and owns a 4.23 ERA over 131 career minor league games, including 41 starts.
Berrios is one of several former St. Louis Cardinals who will be in Red Sox camp next month. The Puerto Rico native split last season between Cardinals’ Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. Working primarily in relief, he logged a 5.12 ERA and struck out 62 over 58 innings (40 games, four starts).
Harris’ name will likely be familiar to Red Sox fans, as he spent all of last season in Triple-A Worcester. The 32-year-old righty posted a 4.05 ERA with 45 strikeouts over 31 relief appearances and one start. He also has 16 games of major league experience, from his time with the ‘23 Washington Nationals.
Like Sikkema, Harris is a former Yankees draft pick; they selected him in the 31st round in 2015.
The Red Sox signed Sweet to a minor league deal last month. He has seven games of big-league experience between the ‘23 Seattle Mariners and then-Oakland Athletics. He spent last season with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, with whom he posted a 5.08 ERA over 46 games, including two starts, and struck out 49 batters in 51.1 innings.
Tumbling from top spot
Entering last spring training, the Red Sox earned the top spot in Baseball America’s farm system rankings for the first time since the publication began their assessments in 1984.
“The Red Sox have returned to the top of the farm system rankings, even after dealing four prospects to the White Sox to bring Garrett Crochet to Boston,” Baseball America’s explanation stated. “No other organization can match the trio of Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer, and Boston’s pitching depth has improved as well.”
The publication’s annual Prospect Handbook ranks the Red Sox 14th.
Chalk some of that up to the aforementioned trio making their respective big-league debuts and progressing out of prospect eligibility. Players like Anthony don’t exactly grow on trees.
Other top prospects, like slugging outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, have since been traded away. (Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow has made a staggering 49 trades since taking the reins in November ’23.)
At present, most of Boston’s current top prospects are in the lower levels of the farm system. Three of the organization’s top five on MLB Pipeline are expected to debut in 2027 or later; the exceptions are lefties Payton Tolle (No. 2) and Connelly Early (No.4), who both debuted late last season but remain prospect-eligible.
A puppy is being cared for by the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh in Homewood after police said his owner zipped him inside a suitcase on Christmas Day.
When you see him, you would never know how his little life got started. The little white dog loves to play and has quickly become a favorite at HARP.
However, nearly two weeks ago, Pittsburgh police said his owner, 56-year-old Jayme White, zipped him inside a suitcase she was carrying on Christmas Day. They said a witness told them she was yelling at the dog and hit it several times before putting it in the bag.
Now White is facing several charges, including animal neglect and public drunkenness.
HARP executive director Dan Cody said animal control brought them the puppy the next morning.
“When the dog arrived, he was in relatively good condition, given the circumstances,” Cody said.
They couldn’t find any signs of physical abuse.
“He was a little bit shy, but he very quickly warmed up,” Cody said.
They believe he’s about two and a half months old now, and expect he’ll be a large breed. Most importantly, they said he’s completely healthy.
“He’s just so energetic and loving,” Cody said.
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office told KDKA that White has surrendered custody of the animal to the rescue, so once he’s neutered, microchipped and vaccinated, he should be up for adoption in the coming days.
“We’ll find a great home for him,” Cody said.
While the circumstances remain unclear, Cody hopes this case serves as a reminder that owning a pet comes with a great responsibility.
“If you do know someone who is struggling or needs help, we are a place where you can come for resources,” Cody said.
White is now out of jail after a judge ruled she get a mental health evaluation. Her preliminary hearing is set for April.
Connecticut
State opens investigation into former New Haven police chief amid stolen money allegations
Connecticut State Police and the Chief State’s Attorney have opened an investigation into former New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobsen and allegations that he misused public funds.
The City of New Haven reported the allegations to State’s Attorney John Doyle on Monday.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said Monday Jacobson admitted to stealing money from a fund used by the New Haven Police Department to pay for an support its confidential informant program.
Several officers flagged irregularities in the account and notified the three assistant chiefs in the department, according to Elicker. It was then that the assistant chiefs confronted Jacobson on Monday morning.
Elicker said after being confronted, Jacobson admitted to taking the funds. The assistant chiefs then notified Chief Administrative Officer Justin McCarthy, who then notified Elicker.
Jacobson was called in for a meeting with Elicker, where he was to be placed on administrative leave. Elicker said that before the meeting, Jacobson handed in his paperwork to retire, effective immediately.
The mayor was unable to share additional details on how much money was reportedly taken or for how long due to the ongoing investigation.
Assistant Chief David Zannelli has been appointed as the acting police chief.
State police will conduct the investigation and Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin has appointed New Britain Judicial District State’s Attorney Christian Watson to oversee the investigation to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
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