Early life

He was born James MacMaster in Duanesburg, New York

Duanesburg, New York

Duanesburg is a town in Schenectady County, New York, USA. The population was 5,808 at the 2000 census. Duanesburg is named for James Duane, who held most of it as an original land grant. The town is in the western part of the county.-History:...

 the son of a Presbyterian minister. He entered Union College

Union College

Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...

 but left before graduation. He briefly read law.

He entered the General Theological Seminary

General Theological Seminary

The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church is a seminary of the Episcopal Church in the United States and is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York....

 in New York to become an Episcopalian priest. While there, he converted to Catholicism under the influence of the writings of John Henry Newman. He enrolled in an Ultramontane, Redemptionist

Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a Roman Catholic missionary Congregation founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.Members of the Congregation, priests and brothers,...

 seminary in Belgium, but did not take holy orders.

McMaster had either three children, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia

The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...

, or four children, according to his New York Times obituary. His son Alphonses became a physician.. According to the Encyclopedia, two daughters became nuns, one a Carmelite and one who joined the Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Society of the Holy Child Jesus

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of nuns that was founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. Cornelia converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1835. The Society was approved in 1887 by Pope Leo XIII, and the rules and constitutions were...

. According to the New York Times, there were three daughters, two of whom became Carmelite nuns and one who joined the Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Society of the Holy Child Jesus

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of nuns that was founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. Cornelia converted to the Roman Catholic Church in 1835. The Society was approved in 1887 by Pope Leo XIII, and the rules and constitutions were...

.

Career

MacMaster returned to New York, and in 1848 became the editor of the Catholic newspaper, The New York Freeman

New York Freeman

The New York Freeman formally the New-York freeman's journal and Catholic register, was an American Catholic newspaper. It was owned at its inception by Bishop John Hughes....

. He changed his name to McMaster, an Irish-looking name with more appeal to the paper's largely Irish-American readership than the Scottish-spelling MacMaster.

McMaster strongly opposed sending Catholic children to public schools and supported slavery and the secession. He opposed the Wilmot Proviso

Wilmot Proviso

The Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed...

, advocating the right of Americans to hold slaves in every state. He wrote that, "There has never been a day in which Catholics in the community of the Church and uncensored by her, have not held slaves." In 1860 he urged Southerners "not to throw away their future, and all the bright aspirations of American liberty, for the sake of four million black slaves." According to the New York Times, "he had bold things to say and he said them without fear." The Times also asserted that he was regarded by Americans as "chief" in a "bold scheme to make Rome the director of the United States.

According to the Times, McMaster's advocacy of the idea that Catholics should be exempt from paying taxes to support public schools because, "their articles of faith were not taught in them", made him the most "assailed" man in America, excepting only Archbishop Hughes

John Hughes (archbishop)

John Joseph Hughes , was an Irish-born clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his death in 1864....

McMaster was jailed during President Lincoln's

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

 suspension of the writ of habeas corpus

Habeas corpus

is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

 at the start of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.