MORRISCY, WILLIAM (1841-1908)

MORRISCY, WILLIAM, Catholic parish priest, Renous, 1868-77, and Bartibog, 1877-1908; and medical practitioner; b. Halifax, 16 Jul 1841, s/o Timothy Morriscy and Eliza (Brennan) Kehoe; ordained 1864; d. Chatham, 30 Mar 1908.

William Morriscy grew up in Halifax, where he attended school, worked in a dry-goods store, and studied medicine for two years with a licensed physician. When James Rogers was appointed bishop of the new diocese of Chatham in 1860 he recruited a number of candidates for the priesthood, including Morriscy, to study theology under him and teach in St Michael's male academy, the boys' school which he opened in connection with the church in Chatham. Unlike most of the other seminarians, Morriscy received all of his training for the priesthood from the bishop. "I had intended to send him to the Grand Seminary [in] Montreal to perfect his clerical education," Rogers stated, "but the paucity of Priests at the time, and the great need of good zealous workmen such as he proved himself to be, forced me to retain him on the missions of the Diocese." He taught for at least three years in the academy and in 1864 was the first priest to be ordained by Rogers.

Morriscy's initial assignment was at St Margaret's, and his second, a few months later, was at Caraquet, as assistant to Father Joseph-Marie Paquet. In addition to carrying out his priestly duties, Father Paquet practiced medicine among his parishioners, and Morriscy used the knowledge which he had acquired as a medical student in Halifax to assist him. Morriscy returned to Chatham to teach at St Michael's male academy in 1865-66 and then had an appointment at West Bathurst for two years.

In 1868 Morriscy was named parish priest at Renous. The Renous mission had been founded by Father Michael Egan in 1853 and was served personally by him for the first ten years. Father John J. O'Leary was assigned to Renous in 1863 and spent about a year there before being transferred to Restigouche. Various priests supplied until 1866, when Father F. X. L. De Langie, formerly of Prince Edward Island, was posted there. He stayed for two years, but his conduct was far from satisfactory, and he was dismissed from the diocese in 1868.

At the start of his term Morriscy's field included the churches of St Bridget's at Renous, Our Lady of Mount Carmel at The Forks, and St Thomas the Apostle at Red Bank. To these were added St Anne's Church at Eel Ground, which was opened by him in 1872, and the 'Old Chapel' at Boiestown, which was erected in 1874 on land which he acquired for the purpose. Nothing has been published concerning his practice of medicine in these years, but the many Micmac Indians in his flock would have given him ample opportunity to pursue the study of traditional healing, which was an important component of his practice in later years.

In 1877 Morriscy was appointed parish priest at Bartibog, and he remained there for the rest of his life, serving as both pastor and physician. An official publication from 1886 shows him as resident priest of the church of Sts Peter and Paul at Bartibog and as serving the St Ann Indian mission at Burnt Church and the church of St Andrew at Black Brook. Twice annually, for periods of two or three days, he also attended missions at Grand Dunes, Upper Bartibog, and Millbank. Near the end of his life he took the initiative in having All Saints' Church erected at Millbank. This church was dedicated on 1 November 1908, seven months after his death.

Morriscy's medical practice at Bartibog soon became much more widely known than his pastoral work. There were times when he was being consulted by as many as twenty patients a day at the rectory. His services were available to persons of all religious denominations, at no charge. He was a believer in herbs and balsams but also prescribed conventional medicines. He did not pretend to be a medical magician, but he was considered to be the best diagnostician on the Miramichi. People came from many parts of New Brunswick and beyond to be diagnosed by him. When a medical act was passed by the New Brunswick government in 1881 restricting the practice of medicine to licensed professionals, an exemption was allowed for "clairvoyant physicians." It was popularly believed that this proviso was intended to permit Morriscy to continue to practice. In the view of the Union Advocate, no member of the Assembly from Northumberland or Gloucester county "would have stood a chance of re-election had he voted to stop Father Morriscy's work among the sick."

One of the first breaks in Morriscy's well-established routine came in 1896 when he was selected by Bishop Rogers to accompany Father Thomas F. Barry on a visit to Rome. Another came in 1898 when he was struck by a serious illness and confined to the Hotel Dieu Hospital. He was never free from sickness afterwards, and he spent the last several months of his life as a hospital patient. On the day of his funeral flags were flown at half mast in Newcastle and Chatham, and Chatham businesses were closed. As many as 1500 attended, including Lieut. Gov. Lemuel J. Tweedie. Father Morriscy was "the only man we ever knew," observed the Chatham World, "who undoubtedly loved his neighbor as himself."



This priest of God, the people's faithful friend.

All creeds and classes mourn, in sorrow blend



- Michael Whelan