John Bertram Peterson (July 15, 1871 – March 15, 1944) was an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Manchester in New Hampshire from 1932 until his death in 1944. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston in Massachusetts from 1927 to 1932

Biography

Early life

Peterson was born in Salem,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, to a

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n sea captain and an Irish mother. He attended a

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and then worked at Pope Manufacturing Company; he also served as a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. After deciding to join the priesthood, Peterson entered Marist College in Van Buren, Maine. He then studied at

Saint Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889, it is named after Saint Anselm of Canterbury. As of 2024, the college's enrollment was 2,094 students. History ...

Goffstown, New Hampshire Goffstown is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The compact center of town, where 3,366 people resided at the 2020 census, is def ...

, from 1893 to 1895 and then entered St. John's Seminary in Boston.

Priesthood

Peterson was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston by Auxiliary Bishop John Brady on September 15, 1899. After two years studying church history in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Peterson returned to Boston. Peterson was appointed as a faculty member in 1911 at St. John's Seminary, teaching economics. He was later appointed rector, staying at the seminary until 1926.

Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

On October 7, 1927, Peterson was appointed

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of Boston and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Hippos'' by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on November 10, 1927, from Cardinal William Henry O'Connell, with Bishops George Albert Guertin and John Gregory Murray 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 Churche ...

. During his time as auxiliary bishop, he also served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of St. Catherine of Genoa Parish in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. While in Somerville, Peterson gained a reputation as a good administrator and educator. He also held several diocesan positions during this period. In 1930, U.S. President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

appointed Peterson to a national commission to survey education in the United States.

Bishop of Manchester

Peterson was named the fourth

Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Manchester, Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.) The current bishop is David Walker (Bishop of Manchester), David Walker who w ...

by Pius XI on May 13, 1932. He was installed by Cardinal O'Connor at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Manchester on July 14, 1932. New Hampshire Governor John Winant attended the installation, along with 600 priests from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and several hundred parishioners from St. Catherine of Genoa Parish in Massachusetts. A major area of tension in the diocese came from ethnic strife between the Irish and

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

communities. A French speaker, Peterson told a Manchester dinner audience in 1932 that he condemned all religious and ethnic hatred and would not support any cause based in hatred. He was able to gain the trust of French Canadian Catholics in the diocese with his words and actions. On March 5, 1933, in the middle of the national

bank run A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many Client (business), clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe Bank failure, the bank may fail in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking sys ...

after the stock market crash of 1929, Peterson reassured parishioners that the banks would survive. In May 1933, Peterson settled a contentious labor strike in Manchester between the Amoskeag Company and its 7,400 unionized mill workers. The union called a walkout when company management tried to lower wages by 40%. The New Hampshire National Guard had been deployed to the city and had clashed with the strikers. After canvassing many union members, Peterson went to the company management and successfully negotiated a 15 cent per hour wage increase, settling the strike. In April 1934, in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Peterson enacted austerity spending measures for the diocese. He was a member of a New Hampshire delegation that traveled to Washington D.C. in March and April 1935 to lobby the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

for help for the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

in New Hampshire. That same year, Pius XI appointed Peterson as an attendant to the papal throne and a county of the

Vatican City state Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. In 1936, Peterson was named as president general of the National Catholic Education Association, serving in that role until 1946. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Peterson urged parishes and parishioners to invest in war stamps and

war bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are Security (finance)#Debt, debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an un ...

s. The diocese opened a

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

center for servicemen and women in Manchester, and he urged parishioners to support the organization with donations.

Death

Peterson died on March 15, 1944, at age 72 in Manchester. One of his former students at St. John's was the future Cardinal Richard Cushing, who delivered the eulogy at Peterson's funeral. According to Cushman, Peterson would tell his students, "Take your priesthood seriously, never yourself."Dever, Joseph. ''Cushing of Boston''
Branden Books, 1975 , p. 39 Peterson was buried in the crypt at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, John Bertram 1871 births 1944 deaths Saint Anselm College alumni Saint John's Seminary (Massachusetts) alumni People from Salem, Massachusetts Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Roman Catholic bishops of Manchester 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Religious leaders from Massachusetts Catholics from Massachusetts