#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 38 On the Map: Great Uncle Arthur and Halley's (AKA Storer's) Comet

If you know anything at all about astronomy, you've probably heard of Halley's Comet, that great fireball which periodically soars across our skies.  I bet you didn't know that before it was called Halley's Comet, it was called Storer's Comet, in honor of my great-uncle (10X) Arthur Storer, America's first astronomer, or at least the first named astronomer.  

Arthur was born in Leicestershire, England, about 1645, the youngest child of Edward Storer and Katherine Babbington. Arthur's father died in 1644, shortly before Arthur's birth, and his mother, with four young children, married again to William Clarke, an apothecary in Grantham, Lincolnshire. 

Isaac Newton

Growing up in Lincolnshire, Arthur became friends with Isaac Newton, a few years his senior, who boarded with the Clarkes while both he and Arthur  attended the King's School in Grantham. (Newton reportedly developed a crush on Arthur's sister Katherine, although they did not marry.)  It was during this time that Newton developed his interest in science and began his experimentations.  It is alleged that Arthur had a role in spurring Newton to excel.  Apparently the two boys got into a fight over their respective academic talents and Arthur bested Newton, thus inspiring him to work harder to beat out his rival. Newton became the top-ranked student at the school, but remained lifelong friends with Arthur, mentioning him several times in his journals. 

While Newton went on to Trinity College, Cambridge, there is no evidence that Arthur attended Cambridge, but he certainly kept up his interest in science.

In 1672, Arthur's step-sister Anne (my 9X-great grandmother) emigrated to Calvert County Maryland with her husband James Truman and three daughters: Martha, Anne, and Mary.  Arthur went to Maryland with the Truman's and was a witness to James Truman's will in July of 1672.  Truman died shortly thereafter, and Anne married for the second time to Robert Skinner.  

Arthur kept detailed notes of his scientific observations, and often wrote to his friend Isaac Newton back in England to share his work.  In 1680 and again on August 14, 1682, he described the appearance of comets in the sky over the Patuxent River, the later comet being what is now called Halley's Comet.  His notes say that the comet stayed visible until September 18, 1682.  His notes include this poetic description:  “It was a very great amazement …to see a long bright stream in form like a sword streaming from the horizon about 30 degrees in altitude…so nearly after sunset.” Storer's observations were considered to be the most accurate of his contemporaries, with the exception of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, and the comet was thereafter referred to as Storer's Comet.

So, how did it become Halley's Comet?

At the time of Storer's observations, comets were considered singular phenomena, that is, they appeared once and then vanished off into the ether. The appearance of a comet was often regarded as an omen linked to everything from the death of kings to natural disasters. But it was regarded as a temporary phenomenon, flashing through space and then disappearing. Now, however, scientists believe that this particular comet has been around for thousands of years and is probably the comet referenced by Greek astronomers in 466 BC and by Chinese, Babylonian and Roman astronomers in later centuries. [See History.com for more examples.] 

It was Edmond Halley who postulated (using Newton's gravitational theory) that this was actually the

Edmond Halley

same comet periodically revisiting Earth's atmosphere.  In 1705, Halley predicted that the comet observed by Storer in 1682 and by others earlier would reappear in 1758 and approximately every 76 years after that. 

Halley was eventually proved correct, although he did not live to see the proof.  He died in 1742, but the comet appeared in the sky on Christmas night 1758, right on schedule.  Its appearance was hailed as a triumph of scientific reasoning and Newtonian physics:

“By its appearance at this time, the truth of the Newtonian Theory of the Solar System is demonstrated to the conviction of the whole world, and the credit of the astronomers is fully established and raised far above all the wit and sneers of ignorant men,” the British publication the Gentleman’s Magazine wrote. [History.com ]

Shortly thereafter, the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis Lacaille named the comet in Halley's honor. 

OK.  Halley probably deserves the honor, but really, if Arthur hadn't beat up Isaac Newton back in Grantham,  Newton might never have been motivated to excel, and might never have developed his gravitational theory, and Halley might not have been able to theorize a recurring comet.  So I still think Uncle Arthur deserves some credit.

Arthur Storer died in Calvert County MD late in 1686 leaving a will with bequests to his mother, his sisters Katherine and Anne and brother Edward.  

Arthur is memorialized in Calvert County with the Storer Planetarium at Calvert High School, located on the property where Storer's sister Ann Truman Skinner lived and where he is probably buried. 

#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 37 Back to School: Mother Rosalie Hill and the University of San Diego

I first became aware of Reverend Mother Rosalie Hill RSCJ when I was going through a box of mementos from my grandmother and found an invitation to the Golden Jubilee celebration for Mother Rosalie, held in 1957 in San Diego.  I was intrigued; I was fairly sure she was related, but was not sure how, so I did some research. 

As it turns out, Mother Rosalie was the first cousin of my grandfather, Paul Summers.  But further, she was quite a remarkable figure in her own right, a leader in developing higher education for women, and one of the founders of the University of San Diego.  Her story deserves to be told.  

Rosalie Clifton Hill was the second of nine children of Peter Henry Hill, (the brother of my great-grandmother) a respected businessman in Washington, and Elenora Young, born in the District of Columbia 13 March 1878.  After attending private schools near her home, Rosalie was sent to the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Montreal in September 1898 to finish her education.  After receiving her first taste of convent discipline, she begged her mother to let her come back home.  Her mother declined and Rosalie eventually grew to love the convent so much that she entered the order in 1901 and in 1907 made her final profession of vows in France, where the order had been founded in 1800 by Madeline Sophie Barat. Two of her siblings, Mary Theresa Hill and Elizabeth Livingston Hill followed her lead into the order. (All three became Reverend Mothers in the order.  The family refers to them as "The Everlasting Hills.")

Returning to the United States, Rosalie taught at schools in Philadelphia, Providence RI and New York.  

Interestingly, Mother Rosalie had a role to play in the canonization of her order's foundress.  As the superior of the Sacred Heart Convent in Manhattanville NY, she was naturally concerned at the dire illness of one of her sisters.  Sister Rose Coyne was dying of consumption and at the urging of Mother Rosalie, she began a novena to Madeline Sophie Barat.  On the night of 24 May 1919, Sister Rose was cured, her illness gone and her health completely restored.  The cure was attributed to Barat and was one of the miracles accepted toward her canonization in 1925.  

From the beginning the Sisters of the Sacred Heart focused on education and the order had a remarkable record of establishing colleges for women.  Between 1914 and 1949, the order established ten colleges, more probably than any other single women's congregation in the United States. In her 32 years as head of the Western Vicariate (1929-1961) and sometimes earlier, Mother Rosalie had a hand in five of those institutions: Duchesne College in Omaha, Barat College in Lake Forest IL, Lone Mountain College in Menlo Park, The San Francisco College for Women and the San Diego College for Women (later the University of San Diego). 

Mother Rosalie loved building and design, a skill she said she learned from her grandmother, Nora Carroll Livingston.  Grandma Nora, she said, "showed me how to plan houses and rooms using quadrille paper which I would tirelessly cut and place in the desired position. An ability I was to use to great advantage in the years to come." In 1927 she took on her first building project, the construction of a chapel for the Overbrook Convent of the Sacred Heart in Philadelphia.  

The early 20th century saw enormous growth in demand for college-educated teachers for Catholic schools. The Church was demanding a Catholic school in every parish and had great need of well-trained women both lay and religious to teach in these schools.  

By 1929, Mother Rosalie was the head of the Western Vicariate for the sisters and had moved to Chicago, where she worked on expanding traditional Sacred Heart Academies like Duchesne with post-secondary offerings.  She also began planning for the opening of the San Francisco College for Women.  Mother Rosalie believed strongly in the power of beauty to attract the mind and heart to God, so in all her building projects she was insistent on surrounding the students with beauty.  "Beauty will attract them. Goodness will lead them.  The truth will hold them." 

In 1937, she was first approached by the bishop of San Diego about opening a school in his diocese. "It is my ardent hope," Bishop Charles Buddy told Mother Rosalie, "to have the Religious of the Sacred Heart take an active part in building up Catholicity in this newly formed diocese where faith is weak and Catholic traditions sadly lacking."   

Given the wartime restrictions and other obstacles, it took another nine years to find a suitable property, but in June 1946, Mother Rosalie took up residence in San Diego and began to direct planning for the new college to be located overlooking the city in what came to be called Alcala Park.  Mother Rosalie had decided on Spanish Renaissance architecture and produced some original designs for the decoration of the future buildings. With a $4 million endowment from the Religious of the Sacred Heart, construction began in 1949. 

Mother Rosalie's belief in the importance of beauty led her to pay close attention to the details of the building process, and she was legendary for following the architect and construction crews around the site inspecting and critiquing their work. At Mother Rosalie's direction, the original furnishings of the campus included ornate crystal chandeliers and gorgeous tapestries. 

In 1952, the San Diego College for Women opened with 50 students. 

Mother Rosalie continued her building projects with the design and construction of the Founders Chapel which was dedicated in 1954 and still in use, a favorite site for student weddings.  

Until her death, Mother Rosalie maintained the honorary position of president of the College.  In 1972, it merged with the Men's College to become the University of San Diego. 

Rosalie Hill Hall, the home of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, and the Mother Hill Reading Room in the Library, still commemorate her presence on the campus. Additionally, the University presents the Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Award annually to the alumnus/a who personifies the spirit and philosophy of the University. 

Mother Rosalie Hill Hall

Reverend Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill RSCJ died at the San Diego College for Women December 12, 1964.  According to her biographer, Jill Watson, (hill2.pdf (sandiego.edu)) all who met her were impressed by her gentleness and her beautiful gift of joy.  The University of San Diego, now a nationally ranked institution with thousands of students, stands as a monument to her determination to bring beauty, goodness, and truth to the world and pass it on to future generations.

PS: My Aunt Louise Summers Dwyer told me that she met Mother Rosalie once when she was a student at Stone Ridge Academy and Mother Rosalie was touring some of the Order's schools.