DOANE, GEORGE HOBART

Diocesan administrator; b. Boston, Mass., Sept. 5, 1830; d. Newark, N.J., Jan. 20, 1905. Although he graduated in 1852 from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., he decided to enter the ministry and was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church, New Jersey, of which his father, George Washington Doane, was bishop. In 1855 he became a Catholic; and after study at the Seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris, and the Collegio Pio, Rome, he was ordained for the Diocese of Newark by Bp. James Roosevelt Bayley on Sept. 13, 1857. Under Bayley he became pastor of the Newark cathedral, secretary to the bishop, and chancellor of the diocese. He served briefly as chaplain in the 1st New Jersey Brigade during the Civil War. Afterward (1868–69) he was instrumental in collecting funds to save the North American College in Rome. Under Bp. Michael Corrigan, Doane became a domestic prelate and vicar-general of the diocese, first president (1875) of the Catholic Young Men's National Union, and diocesan administrator (1876–77, 1880–81). Misunderstandings arose between Doane and Corrigan's successor, Bp. Winand Wigger, over the administration of the diocese and the rights of the pastor of the cathedral; but these were settled, and Doane was named prothonotary apostolic in 1889. In 1884 he declined the presidency of Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md., and was appointed theologian for Bp. John Salpointe at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. After attending the council, he was named to the diocesan posts of consultor, dean, and member of the cathedral committee. In honor of his contributions to Newark for more than half a century, a statue was erected by public subscription in 1908.

Bibliography: c. d. hinrichsen, The History of the Diocese of Newark: 1873–1901 (Doctoral diss. unpub. Catholic U. 1962).

[c. d. hinrichsen]