The Barber Conversion, Part II
Part II In the cold New Year of 1823, an eager Virgil H. Barber - newly-ordained Father Barber – climbed into a stagecoach in Boston bound for the ten-to-twelve day trip to his hometown, Claremont, New Hampshire. (1) It seemed providential that he was returning to start the first Catholic church in New Hampshire. Virgil was a former Episcopal minister who attracted international attention when he severed the bonds of his marriage and began studying for the Catholic priesthood. Arrangements were made for his wife and three oldest daughters to be placed in a convent. His two youngest children were placed with a bishop’s mother until they were old enough for boarding school. It took him six and a half years, but his dream came true. Now it was time to build the kingdom of God, to bring the people of his hometown to the one, true church. (2) New England was still virulently anti-Catholic, and there wasn’t a single Catholic church in New Hampshire. But Virgil was st