Page 35 - Georgetown Prep - Endowment of Tears, Hope for Reconciliation

Gone But Not Forgotten
ripped away from them. Louisa Mahoney Mason, who had fled into the woods with her family to escape the roundup of 1838, did not forget. She was welcomed back to St. Inigoes by Father Carbery, who then proceeded to purchase her from Henry Johnson. Louisa and her family were the last slaves emancipated by the Jesuits in 1864 during the Civil War. Louisa’s religious faith and great piety deeply impressed Black Catholics and the many Jesuits whose lives she touched. Louisa remained with her family at St. Inigoes until her death at the age of 97, in 1909. Many of her descendants have been associated with the Maryland Jesuits. Louisa’s 4th-great-grandson, August Matthews, attended Prep as a member of the Class of 2020.
An intriguing entry in a Maryland Province financial ledger in the early 20th century claims that Louisa managed to maintain contact – how, is not yet clear -- with some of the Maryland exiles sent to Louisiana. An entry in the Maryland Province Day and Cash book in 1860 shows that the Maryland Jesuits had also not completely forgotten about those sent to the Deep
leaders such as Cornelius Hawkins, who as an adult had emerged as a lay black Catholic leader in Iberville Parish, Louisiana. His cabin was used for religious services as he sought to
maintain the Catholic faith of his community in the near absence of priests.
Emancipation Record of Louisa Mahoney Mason and Family
1860 Entry in Ledger Book,
for “Beads, Crosses, medals, books, etc.”
August
Corporation of the Roman Catholic
Church Clergymen by Rev. I.B. Meucer-Owner May 30, 1867
Woodstock Archives Louis Mahoney Mason
(seated with kerchief on her head), her son, Robert, and Robert’s wife and son. Louisa had escaped the dragnet in 1838 and remained thereafter at St. Inigoes in Maryland. She and her family were the last Jesuit slaves emancipated in 1864.
GSA