Matthew Carey Historical Marker

Matthew Carey–an Irish Catholic immigrant–established one of the most successful printing operations in America with encouragement from Benjamin Franklin and a $400 loan from the Marquis de Lafayette. At this location he published many periodicals and books including the first English Bible for Catholics in America (Douay-Rheims translation) as well Bibles for Protestants. Among Carey's supporters was John Carroll, the nation's first Roman Catholic bishop. Carey’s most successful traveling book salesman was Mason Locke “Parson” Weems, an Episcopal minister and famed author of George Washington’s mythical cherry tree chopping biography.