The American Connection - Part 2 [Gen-035]

[Editor, 2025: The entry in the Table of Contents is as the title above, but the heading on the page is actually The American Connection - Part 2 Toolan/ Dowd / Toolen /Stromeyer/Lucas. Kelly / Sweeney.]

Thomas Toolen's Family

Thomas Toolan (surname became Toolen in America), son of William
Toolan and Bridget Toolan of Co. Roscommon, married Mary Dowd of Strokestown, Co. Roscommon. They emigrated to the United States in 1845. They had a store in Locust Point Section of South Baltimore, Maryland, in the Parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Editor's addition, 2025

Der Deutsche Correspondent (Baltimore, MD.) of November 17, 1894 published a list of properties due for compulsory auction in lieu of taxes due. One such notice describes a property, referencing Thomas Toolan's [sic] site as a boundary, close to the junction of Hull Street and Fort Avenue

The transcribed text of the original, as well as the translation (see caption below), are provided here to make them better findable in an internet search.

Nr. 1053. Beginnt an der Südostseite der Hullstraße in einer Entfernung von 94 Fuß nordöstlich von der durch die Schneidung der Südostseite der Hullstraße und der Nordostseite von Fort-Avenue und an der nordöstlichen Ecke einer dort belegenen Alley gebildeten Ecke und laufend dann südöstlich grenzend an besagte Alley 75 Fuß, dann nordöstlich 12 Fuß an der südwestlichen Linie einer Lot, vermutlich Thomas Toolan gehörend, dann nordwestlich grenzend an besagte Lot, 75 Fuß zur Hullstraße, und dann südwestlich grenzend an besagte Straße 12 Fuß bis zum Anfangspunkt. Gebäulichkeiten Nr. 1459 ein 2-stöckiger ziegelsteinerner Laden und Wohnhaus und 2-stöckiges ziegelsteinernes Hintergebäude. Abgeschätzt an Michael Gunning für Staats- und Stadtsteuern für 1892 und 1893 - $25.05

They had six children:

• William A. Toolen, born 4th July 1878. Died 16th May, 1954. Further details are given [below].
• Thomas Joseph Toolen, born 28th February, 1886. Died [no date given]. Further details are given [below].
• John died at the age of nine.
• Anne died in infancy.
• Winifred became Mrs. Kelly and one of her daughters, Mary Kelly, married John Strohmeyer and had two children John and Winifred (see below).
• Mary became Mrs. John Sweeney but died without issue.

Monsignor William A. Toolan

William A. Toolen After receiving his elementary education in the Parochial School of Baltimore, and attending Loyola High School and Loyola College, he entered St. Mary's Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood on 20th December, 1902. On July 15, 1927 he was appointed pastor of St. Edward's parish in Baltimore where he remained until his death. He was appointed a Domestic Prelate on 5th June, 1939. He was
appointed Prothonotary Apostolic on 15th December, 1952 and became Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Baltimore on 30th November, 1953. 

Monsignor Toolen was awarded an honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from Loyola College and following his death a tribute was paid to him on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. An  appreciation of Monsignor's life and work was the subject of the leading editorial in "The Catholic Review" of the Diocese of Baltimore.

He was stated to be an efficient administrator, a lover of punctuality and to have a particular interest in the sick and poor of his parish and in the welfare of his assistant priests.

In Baltimore he served under three Archbishops - His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons, who ordained him, Most Rev. Michael J. Curley, whose family came from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, and Most Rev. Francis P. Keough.

Archbishop Thomas Joseph Toolen

Thomas Joseph Toolen, D.D., LL.D., Litt. D., Archbishop - Bishop of the Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham. Attended Our Lady of Good Counsel parochial elementary school, Baltimore; Loyola High School and College, Baltimore; St. Mary Minor and Major Seminaries, Baltimore; Catholic University at Washington, D.C..

He was ordained priest by His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons in the Basilica of the Assumption, Baltimore on 27th September, 1910. He served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore for 17 years; 15 years as Assistant at St. Bernard Parish and 2 years as Diocesan Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

His Holiness Pope Pius XI, on the 28th February, 1927 named him sixth Bishop of Mobile to succeed Bishop Edward L. Allen. Archbishop Michael Curley of Baltimore consecrated him in the Basilica of the Assumption, Baltimore, on the 4th May, 1927. On the 18th May, 1927 he arrived in Mobile to both a liturgical and civic reception.

In October, 1949, His Holiness Pope Pius XII bestowed on him the title of Assistant at the Papal Throne. In July, 1954 he was raised to the rank of Archbishop "ad personam" and the diocese of Mobile was redesignated the diocese of Mobile-Birmingham. Most Rev. Joseph A. Durick was assigned to him as Auxiliary Bishop in January, 1955. In January 1962, his Cathedral Church in Mobile was raised to the status of a minor Basilica.

In the forty years of Archbishop Toolen's episcopate up [to] 1967, a total of 709 buildings had been erected in the diocese These included 189 churches or chapels; 95 grade schools; 17 High Schools; 119 Rectories; 112 convents; 104 parish halls; 23 hospitals/ nursing homes, and 50 other buildings. A total of 80 parishes had been established.

In 1961, Italy gave the Archbishop its Commander of Order of Merit. Lebanon gave him its Order of Cedars medal in 1962. The Knights of St. Peter Claver gave him the "St. Peter Claver Medal" for services to the Negro race. In 1966, the State of Alabama gave him a "Certificate of Appreciation" and a plague and in the same year, the national Catholic Polish Union gave him a Polish Citation.

The Diocese consists of 58,821 square miles of territory covering the whole State of Alabama and 10 counties in Northwest Florida.

On December 16th, 1934, the first issue of The Catholic Week, the diocesan newspaper appeared. The paper received several awards for "general excellence" over the years from the Catholic Press Association.

The "Certificate of Appreciation" referred to [above] was presented by George C, Wallace, Governor of the State of Alabama, on 16th February, 1966:

This outstanding churchman has demonstrated a tireless zeal in caring for the needs of his flock, and especially the poor, the sick, the orphan and the student, in an effort which takes him annually and literally into every corner of the State; and the integrity, wisdom and unbounding enthusiasm with which he has fulfilled the duties of his sacred office have marked the fulfillment of his responsibilities as a citizen of the State of Alabama; and all Alabamiens have to some degree profited from his leadership and the splendid example of his life and work.

The Archbishop's motto was "Soli Deo Honor et Gloria" meaning '"To God alone be Honour and Glory". A description and explanation of his coat-of-arms is given [below].

Mary Toolen Kelly's and John Strohmeyer's Family

John Strohmeyer** 11 [sic, probably II] son of Mary Toolen Kelly and John Strohmeyer, married in Baltimore and had two children. He was in the US Navy.

Winifred Strohmeyer, daughter of Mary Toolen Kelly and John Strohmeyer, married Alfred Spear Lucas, Junior, on the [deleted to preserve privacy],1949 at 10 o'clock in St. Edward's Church, Poplar Grove Street and Lafayette Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland. (The wedding invitations were in the names of Most Rev. Thomas J. Toolen and Right Rev. William A. Toolen.) Winifred's name was given as Winifred Toolen-Strohmeyer.

Winifred and Alfred had seven children, four boys and three girls: Thomas, Mary, Winifred, John, Michael, William [and] Cecilia.

Note: It was rumoured that Thomas Toolen, father of Archbishop Toolen, emigrated to America because there was a price on his head because of his Fenian activities. However; the Fenian Rising took place in 1867.

Archbishop Toolen Memorabilia

Editor's addition, 2025 
The transcribed text of the original is provided here to make it better findable in an internet search.

Archbishop Toolen’s crest expresses his rank of Archbishop and also contains symbols representing Mobile and Birmingham.

His rank is shown by the use of the archepiscopal cross with its double traverse which goes before the Archbishop in processions. The mitre and crozier express the dignity and authority of all bishops. The Pontifical Hat, the mitre, the crozier, the cross and the tassels express the rank and dignity of Archbishop Toolen.

The other figures on the shield express the family name of the Archbishop and the name of his territorial jurisdiction, his Diocese. On the right of the crest is the Archbishop’'s own family heraldic ensign.

It has a green oak-tree on a silver background, taken from the heraldic family tree of the Irish Hoolen family from which the name Toolen is derived. Above the tree is a red background with two silver spears centered by a silver lily. The spears on the red background are in reference to St. Thomas the Apostle after whom the Archbishop is named. The lily is the traditional lily of St. Joseph from whom the Archbishop takes his second name.

The left impalement is the Mobile-Birmingham diocesan arms. The Archbishop’s motto, “Soli Deo Honor et Gloria,” translated, means: “To God alone be Honor and Glory.”

For the Mobile portion, in the top left of the shield, the three roses on a bush rising from a crescent recall Pierre LeMoyne, Sieur d'lberville, and his brother, Jean-Baptist LeMoyne, Sieur de Bienville, the founders of Mobile. The two famous brothers had three roses as their simple arms.

The crescent represents the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as patroness of the Cathedral at Mobile and also patroness of the United States under the title of the Immaculate Conception. This lunar symbol is derived from the Scriptural verse: “l saw a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet, and upon her head, a crown of twelve stars.”

For the Birmingham portion of the shield - the lower left quarte - the line of five diamonds across the Birmingham quarter of the shield comes from the coat of arms of the City of Birmingham in England. It has been a custom in the United States to base diocesan arms on those of the foreign city after which the American city has been named.

Above the diamonds, a sword has been emblazoned to honor St. Paul, whose name is borne by the Catholic Church at Birmingham which was raised to a co-cathedral when the diocese was renamed. The sword has a two-fold significance, representing St. Paul’s death in testimony of his faith and also symbolizing his militant apostleship in preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.

The three circles traversed with wavy bands above the sword represent fountains. This is an illusion to St. Paul’s martyrdom at Rome at a place called Three Fountains.

Below the line of diamonds is a cross, which is the Cross of St. Chad, whose name was given to the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England. The relics of this seventh-century bishop are preserved in the British cathedral.

Editor's addition, 2025 
The transcribed text of the original is provided here to make it better findable in an internet search.

[Handwritten] Oct, 1949
Mobile, Ala., Oct 18 (NC) - Bishop Thomas J. Toolen of Mobile has been elevated to the rank of assistant at the Pontifical Throne by His Holiness Pope Pius XII. 
He was informed of the high Honor bv His Excellency Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. The Archbishop's message also said that the Pontiff extended his heartfelt felicitations to Bishop Toolen.
Through the elevation Bishop Toolen becomes a Count of the Apostolic Palace and a member of the pontifical family. He is in his 23rd year as Bishop of Mobile.