4.7 Chaptico (St. Mary's County, Md.), 1897 - 1970

Sub-Series

Scope and Contents

Subseries 4.7 contains records pertaining to the Jesuit House at Chaptico in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. Materials include Litterae Annuae, Historia Domus, diaries, announcement books, financial records, correspondence, census, newsclippings, photographs, and histories.

The Chaptico House was established in St. Mary’s County, Maryland in 1914 at the head of the Wicomico River, bordering the area served by the Newtown House. Its initial seat was the chapel of Our Lady of Loretto; the House then moved to Our Lady of the Wayside Church after it was constructed in 1939. Like the priests stationed at other Jesuit Houses in St. Mary’s County, the priests of the Chaptico House ministered to both African American and white parishioners, who often attended the same churches but were separated into different sodalities and schools based on race. Between 1958 and 1968, the Maryland Province transferred its pastoral ministry in this region to the Archdiocese of Washington.

The following churches were served by the Jesuits of Chaptico:

- Our Lady of the Wayside (Chaptico, Md.), 1914-1966 (Seat of the Chaptico residence; Alternative names: Loretto Chapel, Our Lady of Loretto Church)

- Sacred Heart Church (Bushwood, Md.), 1755-1964 (Established as part of the Newtown residence)

- Saint Joseph’s Church (Morganza, Md.), 1759-1966 (Established as part of the Newtown residence)

- Immaculate Conception Church (Mechanicsville, Md.), 1878-1966 (Established as part of the Newtown residence)

- Church of the Holy Angels (Avenue, Md.), 1902-1958 (Established as part of the Newtown residence)

If these churches are active, sacramental records may be available to genealogists by consulting the churches or their successors directly. Researchers also should consult the Archdiocese of Washington.

**Please note: the finding aid contains Scope and Contents notes for each folder. This folder-level description has been imported from an older finding aid. Researchers may encounter outdated or potentially offensive terminology and occasional inaccuracies. If you would like to notify Special Collections of any issues that need correcting, please contact us.**

Conditions Governing Access

Most materials dated 1900 and later have not been digitized. Materials dating 1900-1939 are available for research use at the Booth Family Center for Special Collections. All materials dated 1940 and later are restricted.

Dates

1897 - 1970

Conditions Governing Access

The Maryland Province Archives is on deposit at Georgetown University and is the property of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus. As stewards of the Archives, the Georgetown University Library’s Booth Family Center for Special Collections is responsible for managing access to the material based on policies set forth by the USA East Province. Researchers may view these materials in the Reading Room of the Booth Family Center for Special Collections. General policies for using Special Collections can be found here.

Access to the Archives is governed by the USA East Province and is subject to all Library and Special Collections policies and procedures in addition to the specific guidelines below. These guidelines are a summary of access policies; the Archives may include materials that fall outside the scope of these general guidelines. For information on access to specific materials, please contact the Special Collections staff.

Guidelines:

1. All Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring before January 1, 1940, shall be open for review unless otherwise restricted, subject to Library policies and procedures.

2. All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the Provincial or someone designated by the Provincial.

3. Researchers may quote from the materials.

4. Researchers may take their own photographs of the material for scholarly and research purposes. Allowing photographs is not an authorization to publish or to deposit the material in another library or archive.

5. Written permission from the USA East Province is required for the publication of substantive portions of any material or publication-quality reproductions of any material.

6. Material not yet processed is not available to researchers; permission will not be granted to access any unprocessed material.

7. Audiovisual, microfilm and other material in the Archives, the original of which is held in another archive, may be consulted and transcribed only. Written permission from the archive holding the original material is required for any duplication, reproduction, or publication of that material.

8. Use the Permission Request Form to request permission (i) to access any restricted processed material or (ii) to publish reproductions or quote substantive portions of the material. Send the completed form by email to the Booth Family Center for Special Collections (speccoll@georgetown.edu).

Extent

From the Collection: 308 boxes (212 regular boxes, 25 oversized boxes, 58 restricted regular boxes, 13 restricted oversized boxes, plus 14 card catalog drawers )