"There should be no hyphen in American Catholic": Bishop John Timon and the Assimilation of Buffalo Catholicism

Abstract

Buffalo, New York, in the late 1840s was evolving into the gateway of the West. Because of its location on Lake Erie, the city became a haven for the Irish who built the Erie Canal and the Germans fleeing political turmoil in Europe. The Catholic Church responded to the growth, seeking to meet both the spiritual and secular needs of the growing immigrant and native-born Catholic population. The Diocese of Buffalo was established in 1847 with John Timon (1797–1867) as its first bishop. This American-born bishop fought religious, political, and cultural threats, resisting both Protestant and Catholic opposition, to solidify the Church's standing on the Niagara frontier. Through the formation of schools and institutions for health care and charity, he successfully established an assimilated American Catholic presence.