On July 22-24, 1863 – one week after the New York City riots – Fathers Francis Xavier Seelos and Adrian Van de Braak were in Washington to meet with President Lincoln about the draft. “I liked President Lincoln very much when I went to see him,” Father Seelos said, “He spoke to us in a sincere, free, and friendly manner.” The president promised to do everything in his power, and told the two priests that he would give them a private audience if they should return. Still, President Lincoln gave no explicit assurance that clergy, religious and seminarians would be exempt from the draft without providing the fee or securing a substitute.

Their next visits were to Postmaster General Montgomery Blair and William H. Seward, the son of the Secretary of State, who welcomed them cordially and placated their concerns with a promise to help. Seelos and Van de Braak would have been remiss had they not also paid a visit to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, but they were hardly prepared for the reception he gave them.

The vitriolic Mr. Stanton reveled in the enmity he created in becoming the most reviled man in Washington. He stood behind an imposing desk precisely one hour a day to greet the public, where he was described as an irritable schoolmaster whose piercing eyes darted behind steelrimmed spectacles. As the line proceeded, he rendered his decision to each of the petitioners in a low, soft voice.

When Seelos and Van de Braak sought the advice of the Secretary of War, the irascible Mr. Stanton was still seething with anger at the New York City draft riots and the role Irish Catholics played in them. Unable to contain his wrath, Stanton told his two visitors, “Keep your people from rioting! Keep your people from rioting! That’s your duty, that’s all you have to do.” Seelos, with characteristic humor, later remarked, “Should the Church ever decide to celebrate the feast of a rude rascal, Stanton would qualify easily, even with an octave.”

The singular moment when ‘Good Father Seelos’ met ‘Good Father Abraham’ should not be discounted. The president, while sympathetic, felt bound by his oath of office to uphold the terms of the Conscription Act. While their meeting did not change an act of Congress, it did change the course of action for Redemptorist students on a provincial level. In the end, it was a Redemptorist other than Father Seelos who devised a method of averting seminarians from the draft by having them register at a location where the draft board had a reputation for fairness. But it was Father Seelos who first proposed an idea that averted the seminarians from relocating to Canada! Moreover, less than ten Redemptorist priests and brothers stationed in various parishes were ultimately drafted, but all were exempted due to health reasons, citizenship requirements, or commutation fees provided.

One month after his meeting with the president, Father Seelos wrote, “Whether we have settled anything, or will settle anything, remains God’s secret and that of the Blessed Mother.” Perhaps it “remains God’s secret” on what impact, if any, did a man of religious conviction have in voicing his objections to the draft to the president of the United States. In any event, the purpose of Father Seelos’ meeting with the president was consistent with how he lived his life – on principles higher than those to country. About the War, he wrote, “Earthly things are truly quite secondary to me and I leave all to the wise Providence of God. He only knows how to bring good out of evil.”

While $300 could buy a way out of the military, the manner in which Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos went out of his way for his students and fellow confreres is priceless!

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Sources:

• Donald Cartmell, Civil War 101 (New York: Gramercy Books, 2001)
• Catherine Clinton, Life in Civil War America (Ft. Washington, PA: Eastern National, 1996)
• Michael J. Curley, C.Ss.R., Cheerful Ascetic (New Orleans: Redemptorists, 1969)
• Carl Hoegerl, C.Ss.R., Francisci Xaverii Seelos, Positio, Vol. II-2 (Rome, 1998)
• Marc McCutcheon, Everyday Life in the 1800s (Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1993)

 

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