William Hickley Gross
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The Most Reverend William Hickley Gross, C.Ss.R. |
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|---|---|
| Archbishop of Oregon City | |
 |
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| See | Oregon City |
| Installed | March 31, 1885 |
| Term ended | November 14, 1898 |
| Predecessor | Charles John Seghers |
| Successor | Alexander Christie |
| Other posts | Bishop of Savannah (1873–1885) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | March 21, 1863 by Francis Kenrick |
| Consecration | April 27, 1873 by James Roosevelt Bayley |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 12, 1837 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Died | November 14, 1898 (aged 61) Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Buried | Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
| Parents | Jacob Gross & Rachel Haslett |
William Hickley Gross, C.Ss.R., (June 12, 1837 – November 14, 1898) was an American member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer who was a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Savannah (1873–1885) and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oregon City (1885–1898).
William Gross was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Jacob and Rachel Haslett. His father was German and his mother was Irish; his paternal ancestors came to the United States from Alsace during the nineteenth century. Following his mother's death, his sister assumed responsibility for William and his five brothers. He enrolled at St. Charles College in Ellicott City at age 13. In 1853 he returned to work in his father's store after St. Charles decided that he was not suited for the priesthood.
In 1857, Gross entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (more commonly known as the Redemptorists) at Annapolis.
Following the outbreak of the Civil War, the Redemptorists received permission from the Holy See to advance Gross to Holy Orders sooner than permitted in Church law in order for him to avoid the military draft. He was ordained a priest by Francis Kenrick, the Archbishop of Baltimore, on March 21, 1863. After six months of further studies, Gross was assigned as chaplain to the wounded Civil War soldiers at Annapolis. He was also charged with a chapel for Confederate prisoners on the outskirts of Baltimore, and worked among the freedman. From 1865 to 1872, he served in a Redemptorist Mission Band, which performed parochial missions throughout Maryland, New York, Florida, and Georgia. Gross, after recuperating his health in Baltimore over the next three years, returned to Georgia and thence continued his missionary work in Baltimore, at St. Alphonsus Church in New York City, and Boston, Massachusetts, where he served as superior of the Redemptorist community at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission.
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