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The World's Unrest and Its Remedy
The World's Unrest and Its Remedy | James Field Spalding
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LibraryThing
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TimSpalding
The World's Unrest and Its Remedy | James Field Spalding
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In the course of cataloging my parent's library, I've cataloged a few embedded, 'mini' libraries. I knew mother's father's library was in it. But I did not expect to come across books from my father's great grandfather, James Field Spalding (1839-1921), and I'm a little amazed. (cont'd) #cataloging

TimSpalding Spalding was a comer—Harvard and Oxford educated, a writer of theological books. They made him rector of Christ Church, the tony Episcopal church right next to Harvard—and he left it all behind, giving a final sermon announcing his intention to join the Catholic church, and walking right out the door. In late 19th century Boston society, this was NOT DONE! (edited) 5y
TimSpalding To high-class Bostonians then, going Catholic was about the worst thing you could do. As he put it, one would better 'become anything else, Deist, Buddhist, or Agnostic' than Catholic. To the tired English attacks on Papists such Bostonians added siding with the Irish, who cleaned their houses and were just then, by dint of sheer numbers, wresting Boston government from the the WASP elite! (edited) 5y
TimSpalding Anyway, his family didn't follow him. He made do by tutoring BC students, and later got a job there. But the shame didn't fade. My father wrote that his grandmother “made no secret that she thought it was a stain on the family to be hidden as completely as possible,“ and that his father never mentioned him. Note: They were not religious.

Four generations later, all three Spalding children turned Catholic, and I married a Boston Irish woman! 😄
(edited) 5y
See All 10 Comments
Caroline2 Wow, how fascinating!! 😯 5y
saresmoore That‘s pretty neat! 5y
Crazeedi Cool!! So great to know the stories of ones family 5y
Leftcoastzen What an interesting history! That is an amazing story. 5y
DarcysMom So awesome! 5y
TNbookworm Fascinating family history! 5y
wordzie So 😎 5y
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