Saint Mary's Industrial School

Based on the article from The Passionist, Ruth was Baptized once again at St. Mary's Industrial School. St. Mary's was a reform school and orphanage. Located on Wilkens Avenue, the site is presently occupied by Cardinal Gibbons School. The image at the right is sponsored by http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StMarysPreFire.jpg as of 2008.

The Church registers for St. Mary's were microfilmed in 1978. One place they may be viewed is at the Maryland Archives, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, MD. It is given the Special Collections number MSA SC 2535. There is only one microfilm in this collection and it is Microfilm M1632. Since this film covers Baptisms up until 1949 it is restricted. Post 1930 Baptisms require written permission. We filled out a card at the desk giving the film number and the dates of interest.

The beginning of the microfilm has a sheet showing how the film is divided. The microfilm has six sections for St. Mary's School. It is Baptism index, Baptisms, Communion Index, Communions, Confirmation Index and Confirmations. Using the index, we find the place in the main Baptism register. George is at the top of page 13. He was Baptized August 7, 1906. Patrick Fogarty was a sponsor for all the boys. Francis Murrmann, C.P. was the priest. The "date of Confirmation" column was later filled in on May 9, 1907. It is cited as Baptism, George Ruth, 07AUG1906, St. Mary's Industrial School Baptisms, Md Archives, Special Collections SC 2535, Film M1632, Item 2, Page 13.

This record is not rich with information as George's 1895 Baptism. According to the Passionist article, they wanted to be sure that he was Baptized before receiving Holy Communion 8 days later.

Using the same microfilm, we advance to the 4th section covering first communions. We find George on page 16. It is August 15, 1906 and he is number 12 from the top. Next to his name is "convert" just like it said in the article. It is cited as First Communion, George Ruth, 15AUG1906, St. Mary's Industrial School First Communions, Md Archives, Special Collections SC 2535, Film M1632, Item 4, Page 16.

Using the same microfilm, we advance to the 6th section covering confirmations. If you were not given a middle name at birth in the late 1800s, Confirmation names sometimes became the middle name. George is at the top of page 19 of the Confirmation register dated May 9, 1907. He is the only one with a chosen name - Herman. It may be that he always went by his father's name, George Herman Ruth. The sponsors John G. Johnson and Henry A. Bosse were sponsors for all the boys that day. It is cited as Confirmation, George Ruth, 09MAY1907, St. Mary's Industrial School Confirmations, Md Archives, Special Collections SC 2535, Film M1632, Item 6, Page 19.


LINKS
Cardinal Gibbons School

MSASC2535

Microfilm M1632


NEXT POSTING: 11August2008 - A Monument for Katie

Copyright 2008 BabeRuthGenealogy

Update: 04 March 2010
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has announce that it will close Cardinal Gibbons High School after this school year. The Baltimore Sun article is at the following link: Catholic School Closings. This link may be available for a few weeks.

St. Peter the Apostle

Based on the article from The Passionist, Ruth was first Baptized at St. Peter the Apostle. From the mid to late 1800s, St. Peter was noted for tending the needs of the Roman Catholic Irish imigrants. St. Peter is at the corner of Hollins and Poppleton Street and is about 8 blocks WNW of 216 Emory Street.

About thirty years ago the Baltimore Archdiocese allowed the Maryland Archives to microfilm all church records. Films were made available to libraries and history societies. The Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore is a large repository of resources for the family historian. It is located 201 W. Monument Street and has on site parking.

The library catalog may be searched online at the following link: MDHSSearch. If we type in "St Peter the Apostle" , three results are returned. The third one down is the one we need. Proceeding through that link reveals that there are 6 microfilms in this collection. We need the following film as listed:

Call Number: Micro 3118
Location: Main Reading Room
Item ID: Q040069901
Media: Microfilm
Item Title: Baptisms 1872-1902 with index

The help desk will politely show you about. The microfilm #3118 contains the pages of the church's register. The front part has a sorted index. That would be handy, if we did not know the Baptism date.

We found the Ruth Baptism on page 111. It is cited as Baptism, George Ruth, 07FEB1895, St. Peter the Apostle Roman Catholic Church. Baptisms, Maryland Historical Society, Film Micro 3118, Baptisms, Page 111.

The Latin states "Baptism date March 1, 1895, I, the undersigned, Baptized George, born on 7 of Feb., son of George Ruth of the City and Katie Schamberger of the City, godmother Mrs. Lena Fell. J. T. O'Brien".

We learned a new name - Lena Fell. Usually, a Baptism sponsor is a relative. We can use records like this to tie members of a family together. If Lena is a sister of either George or Katie, this document will not tell if she is either a Ruth or a Schamberger.

In the case of this project it was easy to solve. Using a "Google" search for: Ruth and "Lena Fell" (in quotes) we find the first result points to a page at the Babe Ruth Museum that says Lena Fell is Katie's sister. The article also goes on to say that Babe Ruth's mother had an unmarked grave for 96 years. It can be read at the following link: BRMuseumArticle.

Next time we will finish up George's other Baptism and Confirmation record.

LINKS
St.Peter the Apostle

MDHS
MDHSSearch

BRMuseumArticle


NEXT POSTING: St. Mary's

Copyright 2008 BabeRuthGenealogy