Ferdinand Steinmeyer (13 October 1720 – 17 August 1786), also known as Ferdinand Farmer, was a German Jesuit missionary who worked in North America.

Biography

He was born in

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

, southern Germany and studied medicine for three years before entering the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

at Landsberg in September 1743. He desired to labor on the missions in China but was sent to America instead, arriving in 1752. His first mission was at

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

. where he remained until 1758. He was then transferred to St. Joseph's Church in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to look after the German settlers in that area.Schuyler, H
Ferdinand Steinmeyer
''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912, accessed 13 January 2018

Travels

Steinmeyer made horseback tours throughout eastern Pennsylvania and northern and central New Jersey every spring and autumn, ministering to the scattered groups of Catholics at Mount Hope, Macopin, Basking Ridge, Trenton, Ringwood, and other places. He also crossed over into

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, even though by a law of 1700 a priest rendered himself liable to life imprisonment for attempting to enter New York while it remained under British rule. He kept a separate registry in New York of baptisms performed there.Daley S.J., John M., "Pioneer Missionary, Ferdinand Farmer S.J.", ''Woodstock Letters'', Volume LXXV, Number 3, 1 October 1946
/ref> Farmer made irregular visits to the southern New York iron region, during and after the Revolution. Parish archives of Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia record his trips to the Revolutionary War depot near Fishkill, New York in 1781, where he baptized over a dozen children of French-Canadian and Acadian parents. Most of the men were members of the

1st Canadian Regiment The 1st Canadian Regiment (1775–1781) was an Extra Continental regiment of the American Patriots' Continental Army, consisting primarily of volunteers from the Province of Quebec. The 1st was raised by James Livingston to support Pat ...

of the Continental Army, recruited in 1775 by James Livingston in anticipation of an invasion of Quebec. As the expedition failed, they, their families, and the American militias were driven out of Canada. In 1781 and 1782, Farmer regularly celebrated Mass in the house of a German fellow-countryman in Wall Street, in a loft in Water Street, and wherever else they could find accommodation; and he practically founded St. Peter's Church. In October 1785, he founded St. Stephen's in

Warwick, New York Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets ( Amity, Bellvale, E ...

. In 1779, Farmer was appointed one of the first trustees of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, while as a philosopher and astronomer his reputation had reached the learned societies of Europe with whom he corresponded. He was an elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1768. Farmer died in Philadelphia at the age of sixty-five, a few months after returning from a missionary trip to New York."Father Ferdinand Farmer", The Diocese of Harrisburg, February 2, 2018
/ref> His funeral was held at St. Mary's Church and his remains were interred in old St. Joseph's.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinmeyer, Ferdinand 1720 births 1786 deaths 18th-century German Jesuits University of Pennsylvania people German Roman Catholic missionaries Jesuit missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States German expatriates in the United States