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1. Daniel Rudd and the Establishment of the American Catholic Tribune
- University of Arkansas Press
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CHAPTER 1 Daniel Rudd and the Establishment of the American Catholic Tribune ﱱﱠﱱ We also had the great pleasure to meet our old instructor the Rev. Jno. S. Verdin S.J. . . . How well did we remember the musical sound of his kind voice. It seemed like childhood days again, when in Bardstown at old St. Josephs we received words of counsel and listened to his matchless oratory. D. RUDD OCTOBER Slavery in Bardstown Bardstown, Kentucky, was the childhood home of Daniel Arthur Rudd. It was one of the few rural communities south of the Ohio River with a numerically significant Catholic population. The region surrounding this community became known as Kentucky’s “Catholic Holy Land.” Bardstown’s first Catholic colony, made up of twenty-five pioneer families primarily from Maryland, was led by Basil Hayden. In this group of immigrants established the Pottinger Creek settlement about three miles from Bardstown. By six distinct Catholic settlements were located near the town. In Pope Pius VII (–) established America’s ﱱ ﱠ ﱱ first inland diocese at Bardstown. Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget (– ), the diocese’s first bishop, subsequently purchased the Thomas Howard plantation near Bardstown. Here the prelate constructed St. Thomas Seminary. In Flaget laid the cornerstone for the first cathedral west of the Allegheny Mountains, the Basilica of St. Joseph ProtoCathedral . Over the next couple of years the structure was completed.1 Elizabeth (Eliza) Frances Smith Rudd, Daniel’s mother, was born February . She may have been the offspring of an interracial union. Both the and censuses list her racial classification as “mulatto.” At an early age the young girl was accompanied by her grandmother to Bardstown. Sometime between and , Eliza was acquired by Bullitt County, Kentucky, native, Charles Haydon, and his wife, Matilda Rose Smith Haydon. Given that Eliza’s maiden name was “Smith,” it is possible prior to being acquired by the Haydons that she may have served as a slave in the home of Matilda’s family.2 About Charles Haydon constructed an elegant home to accommodate his growing family. This grand brick structure would, by a subsequent owner, be named “Anatok.”3 The home of Charles Haydon where young Daniel Rudd presumably served as a slave was located only a couple of hundred yards southeast of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral. In the time of Daniel’s youth, one could presumably stand on the front porch of Anatok, look out beyond the oak trees, and enjoy a commanding view of the majestic cathedral, its impressive columns, and towering steeple.This view of what one observer called the “most stately and capacious house of worship in the state” would have, no doubt, made an indelible impression on the young Daniel.4 Charles and Matilda were the parents of four children. Maria Haydon, the couple’s third child, was born in ; the fourth, John Polin Haydon was born in . Following their births there would have been plenty of additional work around the Haydon household. Eliza, Daniel’s mother, may have been acquired to meet this need.5 Robert Rudd, the father of the subject of this book, was born May .6 His first owner was Richard Rudd, a Catholic. By Richard’s estate totaled more than acres. Throughout his life the Bardstown native owned over thirty slaves. In Richard died, perhaps falling victim to the deadly cholera epidemic that struck the region in the spring of the same year.7 Robert had been sold or transferred to a second owner prior DANIEL RUDD AND THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC TRIBUNE [3.15.27.232] Project MUSE (2024-04-19 14:42 GMT) to Richard’s death, but a review of the slaveholder’s assets from this same year gives us a glimpse of the estate on which Robert previously had served. When Richard’s estate was appraised in , he counted among his earthly possessions over hogs, eighty-nine sheep, a herd of cattle numbering about thirty, three oxen, and twelve horses.The farm had roughly acres of corn under cultivation, and Richard was a partner in another acres. At the time of his death, the estate records indicate Richard owned twelve slaves valued at $,.The oldest slave on the Richard Rudd estate in was a fifty-four-year-old male who carried the same name as the subject of this book, “Daniel Rudd.” This same slave, born in , was valued at $. Considering that this elder Daniel worked on the same plantation as Robert, and was about twenty-two years his senior, it is plausible the DANIEL RUDD...
