The Most Reverend James Joseph Hartley, D.D.

James J. Hartley was the eldest child of Irish immigrants Edward Hartley and Catherine McManus Hartley. He was born June 26, 1858, in Davenport, Iowa, where his parents had immediately moved following their marriage at St. Patrick Parish in Columbus. Soon after the Hartleys returned to Columbus and St. Patrick Parish with their newborn son. The Hartley's eventually had five more children. Mr. Hartley kept a saloon on West Maple Street, and the family lived upstairs. He was also a Columbus policeman for many years.

James attended the parish school at St. Patrick's, then entered St. Aloysius Seminary in Columbus. When that seminary closed, he attended Mt. St. Mary of the West in Norwood, Ohio, then the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels in Niagara, New York. On July 10, 1882, James was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood by Bishop Watterson in St. Joseph Cathedral, Columbus.

Fr. Hartley's first assignment was assistant pastor of St. Peter Parish in Steubenville, then he was named pastor of Holy Name Parish in Steubenville in 1885. While pastor of Holy Name, Fr. Hartley organized a school, a high school, and had a new church built.

On December 10, 1903, at the age of only 45, Fr. Hartley was chosen as the fourth Bishop of Columbus by Pope St. Pius X. He was consecrated by his predecessor Bishop Moeller on February 25, 1904 in Holy Name Parish in Steubenville. He was installed in St. Joseph Cathedral March 1, 1904.

Immediately, Bishop Hartley set about the work of building up the Diocese of Columbus. In 1905 he erected his first parishes: Holy Rosary, which reflected his devotion to the Blessed Mother, and St. Aloysius in Columbus' Hilltop area in honor of his former seminary. In January, 1906, he announced that the debt on St. Joseph Cathedral was retired. Within the first five years of his episcopate, Bishop Hartley had begun or dedicated more than 25 churches, schools, and chapels.

In addition, Bishop Hartley established St. Charles Seminary and many high schools, which numbered 31 by the time of his death in 1944. Other institutions he established included St. Joseph Cemetery, St. Ann Hospital, Mercy Hospital in Portsmouth, Good Samaritan Hospital in Zanesville, Mercy Hospital in Mount Vernon, and St. Therese Shrine. He also had St. Joseph Cathedral remodeled, giving it its present medieval appearance.

Bishop Hartley died January 12, 1944, at the age of 85. He was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Columbus. His episcopate remains the longest in the history of the Diocese of Columbus.