Henry Gabriels (October 6 1838 – April 23 1921) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

-born

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who served as bishop of the

Diocese of Ogdensburg The Diocese of Ogdensburg ( la, Dioecesis Ogdensburgensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in New York. It was founded on February 15, 1872. It comprises the entirety of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jeff ...

in Northern New York from 1892 until his death in 1921.

Biography

Early life

Henry Gabriels was born on October 6, 1838, at Wannegem-

Lede Lede may refer to: * Lead paragraph (US English), the first paragraph of a composition Places * Lede, Belgium, a municipality in Flanders * Lède, a river in France * Lede Formation, a geologic formation in Belgium People * Marquess of Lede of ...

East Flanders , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of Oost-Vlaanderen.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van O ...

in Belgium. He studied classics at St. Mary's College in

Oudenaarde Oudenaarde (; french: Audenarde ; in English sometimes ''Oudenarde'') is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenaarde proper and the towns of Bevere, Edelare, Eine, Ename, Heu ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the St. Joseph Minor Seminary in Ghent. In 1858, having decided to enter the priesthood, he enrolled in St. Nicholas Seminary in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, where he studied theology for two years. In late 1860, Gabriels entered the University of Leuven in Leuven.

Priesthood

Gabriels was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on September 21, 1861. He received a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1862 and a

Licentiate in Theology The Licentiate in Theology or (in Britain) Licence in Theology (LTh or, in Australia, ThL) is a non-degree qualification in theology awarded in Canada and previously awarded in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. A qualification simila ...

in 1864. That same year, Archbishop

John McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first American born Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his death in 1885, having previously served as Bishop of ...

of New York was attempting to establish a provincial seminary in New York, which would train priests for multiple dioceses in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

. He asked Bishop

Louis-Joseph Delebecque Louis-Joseph Delebecque (1796–1864) was the 21st bishop of Ghent, in Belgium, from November 1838 until his death.A. Simon, "Delebecque, Louis-Joseph", in ''Biographie Nationale de Belgique''vol. 30(Brussels, 1958), 323-327. Life Delebecque was ...

of Ghent to suggest some priests who might want to work at the new St. Joseph's Seminary in Troy, New York. Delebecque proposed four new priests, including Gabriels. When McCloskey offered him a faculty chair at St. Joseph's, Gabriels eagerly agreed. Gabriels arrived in New York on October 17, 1864. He served as professor of

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

for seven years at St. Joseph's. He was able to visit his family in Belgium in 1867. In 1868, Gabriels learned about a small community of German and

Irish Catholics Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...

near

Sand Lake, New York Sand Lake is a town in south-central part of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. Sand Lake is about 13 miles east of Albany, New York. Within the town are three hamlets: Averill Park, Glass Lake and the hamlet of Sand Lake. Its four la ...

, who did not have a church or a priest. Since Gabriels spoke some German, he started spending time there, celebrating

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

in a private residence and organizing a new parish. By 1870, Gabriels was also teaching

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

at St. Joseph's. On July 1, 1871, now Cardinal McCloskey appointed Gabriels as president of St. Joseph's, a position he would hold until 1892. In 1882, the University of Leuven awarded Gabriels an honorary

Doctor of Theology Doctor of Theology ( la, Doctor Theologiae, abbreviated DTh, ThD, DTheol, or Dr. theol.) is a terminal degree in the academic discipline of theology. The ThD, like the ecclesiastical Doctor of Sacred Theology, is an advanced research degree equiva ...

degree. When the Fourth Provincial Council of New York was held in New York City in 1883, he served as secretary. For the

Third Plenary Council of Baltimore The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three national meetings of Catholic bishops in the United States in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. During the early history of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States all of the dioces ...

in Baltimore, Maryland in 1884, Gabriels was named as a general secretary.

Bishop of Ogdensburg

On December 20, 1891, Gabriels was appointed as the second bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. He received his episcopal

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on May 5, 1892, from Archbishop

Michael Corrigan Michael Augustine Corrigan (August 13, 1839May 5, 1902) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third archbishop of New York from 1885 to 1902. Early life Michael Augustine Corrigan was born August 13, 1839, in Ne ...

, with Bishops

Francis McNeirny Francis McNeirny (April 25, 1828 – January 2, 1894) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Albany from 1877 until his death in 1894. Biography Francis S. McNeirny was born in New York City, and receiv ...

and

Patrick Anthony Ludden Patrick Anthony Ludden (February 4, 1836 – August 6, 1912) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Syracuse in New York from 1887 until his death in 1912. Biography Earl ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, New York. He was installed at St. Mary's Cathedral in Ogdensburg by Bishop Bernard McQuaid on May 11, 1892. In 1894, the Gabriels Sanitarium for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

patients opened in a hamlet that became known as

Gabriels, New York Gabriels is a hamlet in the town of Brighton in Franklin County, New York, United States, inside the Adirondack Park near Paul Smiths. The village developed around a tuberculosis cure facility, the Gabriels Sanatorium, which was opened in 1897 by ...

. Charles George Hebermann, editor of the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'', gave this description of Gabriels:

Conscientious in the discharge of his duties, ever ready to go where duty called, affable to all, both rich and poor, zealous for the interests of the Church, he was soon known in every part of the diocese, and where he was known, he was loved and respected.

On August 1, 1906, Gabriels met in Rome with

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

, giving him a message from U.S. President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and a

Peter's Pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in England and spread through Europe. Both before and after the ...

contribution of $1350. Gabriels wrote the "Diocese of Ogdensburg" article for the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. He was an officer of the Order of Leopold.During his twenty-nine years as bishop, he established several churches and

schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

Death

Henry Gabriels died on April 23, 1921, at age 82. The Gabriels Sanitarium campus was purchased in 1965 by Paul Smith College, then sold to the

State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

to become Camp Gabriels, a

medium security prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

, in 1982. The prison closed in 2009. The hamlet of Gabriels still exists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriels, Henry 1838 births 1921 deaths People from East Flanders Belgian emigrants to the United States 19th-century Belgian Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic bishops of Ogdensburg Contributors to the Catholic Encyclopedia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States