Bayley, James Roosevelt, Archbishop of Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, to Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1876 March 16

His health is so uncertain that he has decided to ask Rome to appoint Bishop James Gibbons of Richmond, Coadjutor of Baltimore. There is no need of sending three names since Gibbons is well known and would be acceptable to all. Archbishop Martin John Spalding named Gibbons his successor. He asks Purcell to tell Cardinal Alexander Franchi that Gibbons would be the right man. He would write in detail the reasons that made him come to this conclusion, but he knows Purcell will take his word for it. His illness is hopeless and can grow no better. He has worked himself out in the thirty years since he became secretary to Bishop John Hughes. It is not everyone who has Purcell's powers of endurance. :: II-5-f A.L.S. 3pp. 12mo.