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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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GAYNOR, WILLIAM CLEOPHAS (1855-1917)

GAYNOR, WILLIAM CLEOPHAS, native son; Catholic priest and author; b. Chatham, 25 Sep 1855, s/o Thomas Gaynor and Catherine Buckley; brother of Thomas Mameotius Gaynor; ordained 1878; d. New Orleans, La., 28 Jul 1917.

William C. Gaynor's father, who was of "the best blood of historic Meath," was brought from Ireland to Chatham by his parents as a child. He attended town schools and was inordinately proud of the fact that, unlike most other Catholic boys of his age, he had been given an opportunity to study under the Presbyterian teacher James Millar. Although an ordinary working man himself he promoted the education of his twelve children, eight of whom survived to adulthood, and lived to see a number of them achieve remarkable academic and professional success.

Gaynor's mother was a native of Blackwater, Co. Clare, Ireland, and came to Newcastle as a child with her parents. She attended the "seminary for young ladies" which was conducted in the town by Margaret Merry, and she shared with her husband a deep pride, both in her Irish heritage and the educational opportunities which she had been afforded in Newcastle, as modest as these were in reality.

William C. Gaynor attended John Hamilton's school in Newcastle, as well as the school conducted there in the 1860s by the Sisters of Charity (to which a certain number of boys were admitted), and St Michael's male academy in Chatham. His higher education and theological training were acquired at St Joseph's College at Memramcook. After his ordination in 1878, at age twenty-three, he had assignments in Saint John and at Woodstock and Debec in Carleton County. In 1887 he went to California for health reasons. In 1889-90 he taught English at the Vermont Institute in Burlington, and between 1890 and 1893 he was on the teaching staff of St Joseph's College.

In 1893 Gaynor was assigned to pastoral duties in Sussex. In 1896 he was named curate of St John the Baptist Church in Saint John. Time which was not consumed by his official duties he divided between working with the poor in the south end of the city and pursuing literary interests. He was editor of The New Freeman, a Catholic newspaper published in Saint John, and president of the city's Excerpta Literary Club. In 1904-05 he served a term as president of the New Brunswick Historical Society. He had a number of stories, articles, and monographs published, and a photograph of him and a description of his literary accomplishments were featured on the "People in Print" page in Donohoe's Magazine.

In August 1907 Gaynor was accused of "immorality which had resulted in the ruin of a lady in his congregation," and of having absconded with a sum of money which he had been holding in trust for a parishioner. Gaynor had, in fact, fathered a child, and had panicked when word of this leaked out. However, he returned to Saint John several weeks after his initial disappearance, retained counsel, met with church authorities, gave interviews, and would seem to have refuted the accusation of theft, at least. He protested the validity of the charge of immorality as well, but Bishop Timothy Casey, upon investigation, found sufficient reason to "degrade" him from his priestly office and suspend all his clerical functions. In newspaper reports, this action was described as "final and unalterable."

Gaynor was staying at a cottage at Spruce Lake, near Saint John, in the fall of 1907. He was with the Canadian Literary Bureau, according to the city directory for 1908-09, but by January 1910, he had gone to Mobile, Alabama, where he had a brother living. In 1913/14 he was an affiliate of the Benedictine fathers at St Benedict Abbey, near New Orleans, La. In the fall of 1914, he volunteered his services to Canada in the war effort, but nothing came of this. Instead, he resumed a pastoral role - first as a stand-in priest in New Orleans, and then as assistant pastor of the Catholic church in Biloxi, Mississippi. His death in 1917 occurred in a New Orleans hospital.

Justice cannot be done here to Gaynor's considerable publication record, but of particular interest is his "Memories of the Miramichi," one of the only first- hand accounts of life on the river in the 1860s and '70s. Published anonymously in eleven installments in the Chatham World in 1913, it is reflective of his enthusiasm for life, his colorful prose style, and his love for the Miramichi, the province, and the country.

Gaynor's name was taboo in official church circles for decades, and because he was far removed from his native place during the last ten years of his life, his talents and achievements were largely lost to view. The publication of Memories of the Miramichi in book form in the year 2000 reintroduced him to the public, but his 'life and works' are deserving of additional attention.

Sources

[b] Morgan (CM&W) 1912 [d] Dispatch 22 Aug 1917 / Advance 1 Aug 1878,19 Jul 1888; Advocate 16 Sep 1914; Biog. Review NB; Ganong Collection (scrapbook #4); Globe 3 Sep 1907, 7 Sep 1907; Hist. RC Church of St John the Baptist; RC archives (New Orleans); Star 5 Sep 1907, 9 Sep 1907, 10 Sep 1907, 23 Sep 1907; Sun 1 Sep 1907, 7 Sep 1907, 9 Sep 1907, 24 Sep 1907; World 15 Dec 1909, 1 Aug 1917


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