Ou,· C atlioli& Heritage i11, T e:xas
Vicar-General of the Diocese of Mobile and rector of the Cathedral, con- sequently, well equipped for his new duties. Born in St. Augustine, Florida, on December 7, 1824, he had made his studies at the Jesuit College of Spring Hill, near Mobile, Alabama. While yet a college stu- dent, he had decided to devote his life to the service of God. He had been ordained on October 15, 1850 by Bishop Michael Portier in Mobile. He served for a number of years in St. Peter's Church in Montgomery, Ala- bama, and at the same time looked after several outlying missions. Shortly before his appointment as the first Bishop of San Antonio, Pellicer had been transferred to Mobile. The Bishop-elect had been quite successful in Alabama, both as a builder and administrator, as the splendid church in Montgomery and the orphanage for boys in Mobile testify. Anthony Dominic Pellicer was consecrated in the Cathedral of Mobile on December 8, 1874, by N. J. Perche, Archbishop of New Orleans, assisted by John Quinlan, Bishop of Mobile, and Claude Marie Dubuis, Bishop of Galveston, as co-consecrators. Pellicer immediately set out for San Antonio, where he arrived on December 23. Four days later, he was solemnly installed and given possession of the Diocese in the old church of San Fernando in the presence of what was officially declared to have been "an immense concourse of people from all the parishes of the city." The sermon was preached by his friend, Father Cornelius Moynihan, rector of the New Orleans parish of St. Peter and St. Paul. Among those present was Father John Claude Neraz, rector of San Fernando at the time, and destined to succeed Pellicer as second bishop. After the cere- mony, the new Bishop, the clergy, and their guests were given a modest banquet by the Sisters of the Incarnate Word in their hospital (Santa Rosa) opposite Military Plaza. 56 Pellicer immediately threw himself into his work with great zeal. In order to acquaint himself with conditions, he undertook a visitation of his extensive Diocese as soon as possible. Like his predecessors, he fre- quently had to travel on horseback for days and sleep on the open prairies under the stars. 56 Shea, Tlie Hierarchy of tlie United Staies, 359; Tiu Archdiocese of San Antonw, 1874-1949, :n-23; Bishop Anthony Dominic Pellicer, D.D., 1874-1880 (MS.), prepared by Laurence J. FitzSimon, Bishop of Amarillo, (copy in author's posses- sion). This sketch was printed with minor alterations in the diamond jubilee publi- cation of the archdiocese cited above. For an account of the installation and act of possession, see copy of ceremony signed by Neraz in Cnanery Archives, San Antonio. The date of possession has erroneously been given as Christmas Day. Code states that the Co-consecrators were Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rocle, and Bishop J~mes Gibbons of Richmond, Va.
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