The Courant reported that Francis McFarland had purchased a residence in Hartford

McFarland’s move to Hartford became the first time that the Bishop of Hartford had lived in Hartford.  It also signaled the beginning of the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, as McFarland would move to buy the land for that building within the next year.

It isn’t clear exactly where the house sat at the intersection of Collins and Woodland, but based on both an 1869 and an 1880 map of Hartford it was probably located on the northeast corner.  The west side of the intersection and the southeast corner were owned by the Goodwins and the Collinses, respectively.

1. On August 3, 1871, the Courant would report that the Diocese of Hartford would be changed so as to include only Connecticut, with Rhode Island becoming part of a new diocese.
2. On August 6, 1872, the Courant would publish a correction to an earlier report that McFarland had bought property on Farmington Avenue for the future cathedral.
3. On September 10, 1872, the Courant would report that the priests of the Diocese of Hartford had presented McFarland with a gift of money to put toward paying off the debt on this house.

Francis McFarland was bishop of the Diocese of Hartford, but this article referred to him as “bishop of the diocese of Connecticut and Rhode Island.”

“It is probable that the reverend gentleman is to make this city his residence.”

1. $20,000 in 1871 is the equivalent of $503,321.31 in 2023.
2. The property that McFarland purchased, regardless of where it was located at the intersection of Collins and Woodland, is now part of the campus of Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center.

Unattributed.  “Bishop McFarland,” Hartford Daily Courant, July 22, 1871, page 2.