Monsignor Richard C. Madden papers

Collection

Identifier: A-03-1050

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains the research and writings of Monsignor Richard C. Madden, Roman Catholic priest, historian, and author. His research includes Ursuline nuns, colonial history, and history of the Diocese of Charleston. His writing consists mostly of various drafts of his manuscripts, Catholics of South Carolina: A Record; transcriptions of letters written by Madam Baptista (Ellen) Lynch, the superior of the Ursuline community in Columbia at the time of the Civil War, to her brother, Bishop Patrick Lynch, third bishop of the Diocese of Charleston; and copies of Madden’s dissertation, Joseph Pierre Picot de Limoëlan de Clorivière (1768-1826).

Dates

Created: 1861-1982, undated

Creator

Madden, Richard C., 1909- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Diocese of Charleston makes no representation that it is the owner of any copyright or other literary property in the materials contained in its archives. In providing access to or permitting the reproduction of any such materials, the Diocese of Charleston does not assume any responsibility for determining the nature of any rights, ownership or interest therein; nor for obtaining the appropriate permissions to publish or use; nor for determining the nature of any liabilities (for defamation and invasion of privacy) that may arise from any publication or use. This rests entirely with the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Richard Cain Madden, a Roman Catholic priest, historian, and author, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, to John J. Madden and Elizabeth Catherine Cain Madden in 1919. He attended St. Joseph’s Parochial School and Bishop England High School. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the College of Charleston in 1932. Madden attended St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and Suplican Seminary in Washington, D.C. He also received a master of arts degree in history from Catholic University of America in 1938. Emmet Walsh, bishop of Charleston, ordained Madden in 1938. From 1938-1946, Madden’s assignments included assistant pastor at St. Paul the Apostle, Spartanburg; St. Mary, Our Lady of Ransom, Georgetown; and Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Charleston. Madden was also the administrator of St. Frances de Sales, Columbia. He was the first resident pastor at St. Andrew, Myrtle Beach, in 1946 and pastor of St. John the Beloved, Summerville, from 1973 until his retirement in 1985. Madden was also the charter chaplain of the Knights of Columbus Flowertown Council 6629 in Summerville, now the Monsignor Richard C. Madden Council, named for him after his death. Pope John XXIII named him Domestic Prelate in 1962. He authored Catholics in South Carolina: A Record, “John England,” an article printed in the Encyclopedia Britannica, and articles relative to the Diocese of Charleston printed in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie Ecclésiastiques, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Catholic Historical Review, Records of the American Historical Society, and Reportorum Novum. Monsignor Madden died in 1988. He is buried at St. Lawrence Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.

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