Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Fr Casserly graduated from Boston College in the mid-1880's. He became interested in the Paulists after attending a mission given by Fathers Walter Elliott and Alexander Doyle. He was professed on September 7, 1890 and was ordained a priest in New York on September 21 of the same year.
An energetic young priest, he was first assigned to St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York, founding many different lay societies, notably a temperance association that became the largest of any American parish numbering over 1,500 members.
One of his closest friends was the newly-appointed New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he worked closely in fighting corruption and intemperance. As Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography years later, "After he made up his mind that I was really trying to get things decent in the department, and to see that law and order prevailed, and that crime and vice were warred against in practical fashion, he became very intimate with me and helped me in every way."
While giving a mission and visiting his family in Chelsea in late 1896, Fr Casserly contracted pneumonia and died at his family home. He was 37 years old and had spent six years as a Paulist priest.
Fr. Casserly's presence and authority in the New York parish were remembered this way by Theodore Roosevelt: If one of the boys was wild, it was Father Casserly who planned methods of steadying him. If on the other hand, a steady boy met with some misfortune -- lost his place or something of the kind -- it was Father Casserly who went and stated the facts to the employer." Working with Casserly, Roosevelt quickly realized "we could trust [the Paulists] implicitly to tell exactly who was good and who was not."
An energetic young priest, he was first assigned to St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York, founding many different lay societies, notably a temperance association that became the largest of any American parish numbering over 1,500 members.
One of his closest friends was the newly-appointed New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he worked closely in fighting corruption and intemperance. As Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography years later, "After he made up his mind that I was really trying to get things decent in the department, and to see that law and order prevailed, and that crime and vice were warred against in practical fashion, he became very intimate with me and helped me in every way."
While giving a mission and visiting his family in Chelsea in late 1896, Fr Casserly contracted pneumonia and died at his family home. He was 37 years old and had spent six years as a Paulist priest.
Fr. Casserly's presence and authority in the New York parish were remembered this way by Theodore Roosevelt: If one of the boys was wild, it was Father Casserly who planned methods of steadying him. If on the other hand, a steady boy met with some misfortune -- lost his place or something of the kind -- it was Father Casserly who went and stated the facts to the employer." Working with Casserly, Roosevelt quickly realized "we could trust [the Paulists] implicitly to tell exactly who was good and who was not."
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Fr Casserly graduated from Boston College in the mid-1880's. He became interested in the Paulists after attending a mission given by Fathers Walter Elliott and Alexander Doyle. He was professed on September 7, 1890 and was ordained a priest in New York on September 21 of the same year.
An energetic young priest, he was first assigned to St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York, founding many different lay societies, notably a temperance association that became the largest of any American parish numbering over 1,500 members.
One of his closest friends was the newly-appointed New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he worked closely in fighting corruption and intemperance. As Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography years later, "After he made up his mind that I was really trying to get things decent in the department, and to see that law and order prevailed, and that crime and vice were warred against in practical fashion, he became very intimate with me and helped me in every way."
While giving a mission and visiting his family in Chelsea in late 1896, Fr Casserly contracted pneumonia and died at his family home. He was 37 years old and had spent six years as a Paulist priest.
Fr. Casserly's presence and authority in the New York parish were remembered this way by Theodore Roosevelt: If one of the boys was wild, it was Father Casserly who planned methods of steadying him. If on the other hand, a steady boy met with some misfortune -- lost his place or something of the kind -- it was Father Casserly who went and stated the facts to the employer." Working with Casserly, Roosevelt quickly realized "we could trust [the Paulists] implicitly to tell exactly who was good and who was not."
An energetic young priest, he was first assigned to St. Paul the Apostle parish in New York, founding many different lay societies, notably a temperance association that became the largest of any American parish numbering over 1,500 members.
One of his closest friends was the newly-appointed New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he worked closely in fighting corruption and intemperance. As Roosevelt wrote in his autobiography years later, "After he made up his mind that I was really trying to get things decent in the department, and to see that law and order prevailed, and that crime and vice were warred against in practical fashion, he became very intimate with me and helped me in every way."
While giving a mission and visiting his family in Chelsea in late 1896, Fr Casserly contracted pneumonia and died at his family home. He was 37 years old and had spent six years as a Paulist priest.
Fr. Casserly's presence and authority in the New York parish were remembered this way by Theodore Roosevelt: If one of the boys was wild, it was Father Casserly who planned methods of steadying him. If on the other hand, a steady boy met with some misfortune -- lost his place or something of the kind -- it was Father Casserly who went and stated the facts to the employer." Working with Casserly, Roosevelt quickly realized "we could trust [the Paulists] implicitly to tell exactly who was good and who was not."
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