Carmelite Nuns of Port Tobacco

Prior to the American Revolution, a woman who was called by God to the Catholic faith, had to travel to Europe and enter a monastary. In 1790, Father Ignatius Matthews wrote to his sister, Mother Bernardina Matthews. "Now is your time to found in this country, for peace is declared and religion is free." She arrived with four other nuns and founded the Carmalite Nuns of Port Tobacco. Upon arrival, they first stayed at Chandler's Hope, but soon found this location unacceptable. Apparently, Port Tobacco wasn't quiet enough for the nuns. They were given land just north of town at a place called Durham.

By 1830, the buildings were falling into decay and the nuns were called to Baltimore and Mt. Carmel was sold to Edward Sanders. One hundred years later, in 1935, the land was purchased by the Archbishop and a group called the Restorers of Mt. Carmel was formed. In 1954, a new brick chapel was constructed and the nuns returned in 1976. The monestary is located directly across from the campus of The College of Southern Maryland.

I'd like to take a moment to introduce everyone to the new web site for Grave Concerns. Please stop and visit: http://www.historicalgraveconcerns.com/ The site is in its infancy and will grow often with new material to see. A big thanks to April for all her help with this web site!