Author: Matthew Namee
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The Kodiak Bell in the LA Times, 1923
Editor’s note: The following article appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 13, 1923, and was entitled, “Tolls Story of Old California.” An old and battered bell, hanging in an orange grove where…
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The Kodiak Bell should be returned to Alaska
On February 4, I wrote an article on an 18th century Russian bell that currently hangs in an old Roman Catholic mission in California. Thanks to Mr. Clifford Argue, I have since learned…
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Photos of the oldest Orthodox church in Texas
Way back in the summer of 2009, we went down to Houston to visit family, and while there, we made a special trip to the nearby city of Galveston. Really, my family was indulging…
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Iakov Babin & the Il’mena Island Massacre of 1815
Yesterday, we posted the St. Peter the Aleut entry from Richard A. Pierce’s Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary. In that excerpt, Pierce offered this theory: “Since the extermination of Indians on ‘Il’mena Island’ by…
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Excerpt: Richard Pierce on St. Peter the Aleut
Editor’s note: The late Dr. Richard A. Pierce was among the foremost historians on Russian Alaska, and his many books remain standards in the field. In 1990, he published Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary…
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Three bishops for America in 1870?
This article was originally published on October 30, 2009. On July 19, 1870, a Philadelphia newspaper called the North American and United States Gazette published the following report: The Russian Ambassador has received instructions…
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18th century Russian bell in California
Yesterday, Isa Almisry made a great comment full of fascinating links and references. One of the most intriguing is this one, on a Russian bell housed at the Mission of San Fernando el Rey…
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Primary sources on St. Peter the Aleut
Given the recent discussion about St. Peter the Aleut, I thought it might be worthwhile to publish some of the primary sources we have for his story. As I explained on Monday, there are four main…
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Fr. Oliver “reboots” the St. Peter discussion
Over on his blog, Fr. Oliver Herbel has decided to re-frame his presentation of the St. Peter the Aleut question. He’s taken down both of his earlier articles on the subject and replaced them…