It all started when I read the obituary of John George Jerge. It mentioned a brother, Rev. J. M. Jerge, as a survivor. I had no information on Joseph M. Jerge so I decided to see what I could find out about this Rev. Jerge.

In the 1850 and 1860 Federal Census he is living with his parents and his brothers and sisters in Lancaster, New York. In the 1870 census Joseph is at Woodstock College in Baltimore, Maryland. An e-mail to Woodstock College revealed he was a student there. In the 1900 census Joseph is listed as a Clergyman at Saint Peter's Church and College in Jersey City, New Jersey. I knew that Father Jerge died in 1908 so I e-mailed Saint Peter's College and asked them if they knew what the Father Jerge's middle initial stood for and if he died there. The college archivist wrote back telling me that they had the following information on Father Jerge taken from the "Necrology of the Maryland, New York and New England Provinces of the Society of Jesus, August 15, 1879 – August 15, 1889." Fr. Joseph M. Jerge was born on March 7, 1841 in Lancaster, NY, entered the order of the Society of Jesus on July 14, 1864 and died September 3, 1908 at Saint John, NB. It was also suggested that I contact the New York Province office.

An e-mail from the archivist of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus stated, "The middle initial "M" in Fr. Jerge's stand for "Mary", which I found on the written renunciation of worldly goods, which he made before taking his final vows as a Jesuit." Now I had found where Fr. Jerge died and also what his middle name was.

I started searching Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada to find out what he was doing there. Nothing turned up until I searched the Government Records, "RS315A: Index to Saint John Burial Permits, 1889 – 1919". There I found Jerge, Joseph M., Age 67, Date 1908-09-03, Birth Place US-New York-Lancaster. At last I found a document placing him in Saint John. I assumed a burial permit was issued so he could be buried in Saint John. All I had to do was to find out where he was buried. My searches did not reveal anything.

Several e-mails to the New York Province put in contact with Fr. Frederick J. O'Brien, S.J., Province Archivist of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus. He mailed me a copy of pages 92, 93 and 94 from Woodstock Letters, VOL XXXVIII (1909) that read as follows.

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FATHER JOSEPH M. JERGE.

Father Joseph M. Jerge died piously in the Lord, Sep¬tember 3rd, 1908, at St. John, N. B., in the Convent of the Sisters of Charity. The following account of his illness and death is taken from the Nezv Freeman, of St. John, for September 5th, 1908.

There passed away on Thursday evening, September 3rd, at 11 o'clock in St. Vincent's Convent, Cliff street, a noted member of the Jesuit order, in the person of Rev. Joseph M. Jerge, who came here on July 31st to preach the annual retreats to the Sisters of Charity. Father Jerge began the exercises of a first retreat on July 31st, and this he conducted with great fervor and devotion.

The Retreat closed on August 8th, and on the evening of that day a second retreat was begun, but it was soon evident that the zealous priest was far from well. In fact from the very beginning of his stay he had complained of the chilliness of the climate here, and an attack of intestinal trouble was the result. This so enfeebled him that on August 12th he was unable to return to the Bishop's Palace from the Convent, and it was necessary to make temporary provision for him in the parlors of St. Vincent's Convent.

To add to the gravity of the situation an attack of heart trouble developed and soon precipitated a crisis. On August 21st, the zealous priest was so low that it was deemed advisable to administer the last rites of the church, and this was performed by Rev. A. W. Meahan, Rector of the Cathedral. On the morning of August 22nd, Father Jerge's Superior, the Rev. Thos. I. Gasson, s. j., President of Boston College, was telegraphed for, and he reached here the following morning. Everything was done to bring back the heart to its normal condition; the best medical skill was procured, the good sisters were unremitting in their care, but the malady daily increased in intensity, and it was evident to all that the case was hopeless. Every day had found him weaker and weaker, until the end came last evening.

In a letter to Rev. Father Provincial, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Casey, of St. John, writes thus of Father Jerge's holy death.
"Father Jerge has more than repaid us by the edification of his life and death for any little inconveniences he may have occasioned the Sisters, and, having taught them to aspire to and labor for the heights of sanctity in life, he showed them and us all how to meet death as a Saint. I thought that I had quite got over the experience of any lonely feeling in setting out on a mission of duty, but I really regretted to start out on a Confirmation tour leaving Father Jerge still in my own house. I found him here still on my return, and have told the Sisters what a blessing must be theirs that such a man went to Heaven from their midst."

During his sickness Father Jerge was daily visited by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Casey, the Redemptorist Fathers, the Cathedral clergy, while his Superior and the Sisters kept constant watch at his bedside.

The body was taken to Boston, and the funeral was held from the Church of the Immaculate Conception, at 10 o'clock, September 6th, 1908. The Mass was said by Rev. Father Provincial. There was a large congregation, including more than two score priests.

After the ceremony the body lay in state before the main altar until 2 o'clock, when in solemn procession it was taken from the church to the railroad station, from which place it was sent to Worcester. Interment was in the cemetery of Holy Cross College.

Father Jerge was born March 7th, 1841, of German parents, in New York State, near the Pennsylvania line. He made his college studies in St. Mary's, Montreal, where he distinguished himself by more than ordinary ability. He entered the Society of Jesus July 14, 1864, for the Canada Mission, becoming a member of the Maryland-New York Province after the union, Father Jerge made the usual
studies of the society, and was ordained at the end of his second year of theology, 1877, in Woodstock College. He continued for two years longer at Woodstock, and after his internship occupied various positions of trust and responsibility in the Province. From 1884 to 1887 he was Minister in St. Peter's College, Jersey City. The following years 1887 to 1890 were spent as operarius in St. Francis Xavier's, New York, and on Blackwell's Island. The next year he was Minister at Frederick. During the years 1891-1893 he was Socius to Rev. Father Provincial, and in 1893 became Rector of Woodstock College, a position he held until 1897, when he was transferred to Georgetown College, where he spent the years 1898 to 1900 as Treasurer. In 1900 he was again in St. Peter's as Prefect of Studies until 1902. This year he was appointed Superior of St. Joseph's, Willing's Alley, Philadelphia. From 1903 to 1907 Father Jerge was once more Socius, going to Boston College in the latter year where, he was Treasurer and operarius.

Always a hard worker, Father Jerge was indefatigable in giving retreats to sisters and pupils in convents and ladies of the world. He was much sought after as a Director of souls. R. I. P.

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After a number of e-mails to various departments I was put in contact with the Curator of Collections, New England Jesuit Archives, College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. In March, 2006 the following photograph was taken and mailed to me. So we now have the complete story of Joseph M. Jerge, a very interesting and accomplished man.