Item 1 - Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh

1 p.; typescript

Letter from Fr. Stephen Murtagh OFM Cap. to Fr. Colman Griffin OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, addressing an administrative oversight regarding unfulfilled Mass obligations. Father Stephen requested the Father General in Rome to ‘condone’ (reduce) the required stipend from $1.00 down to 50¢ per Mass. This allowed the total debt to be settled for $463.00, which was sent to Dublin to have the Masses finally said in Rome. To raise this money without further straining the Lincoln house, Father Stephen ‘assessed’ (taxed) the other American Capuchin houses based on their financial ability:
Highest Contributors: Saint Francis of Assisi, Los Angeles ($105) and Saint Mary of Angels, Burlingame ($90).
Moderate Contributors: Bend, Ukiah, and Wilmington (Saint Patrick’s Monastery).
Poorer Houses: Small amounts ($10 each) were taken from mission sites like Fort Bragg, Willits, Elk, and Hermiston to keep their burden ‘as light as possible’.