of Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Quincy. He preached in English, German, and French. He arrived in Chicago on Friday, March 30, 1849. These first weeks set a pattern for his pastoral activities as bishop: he would perform remarkable feats of travel within Illinois to minister to a Catholic population which was very poor and short of priests. He traveled by "river packet, stage, carriage, 'mud-wagon', and towards the end, occasionally by railroad", despite his poor health and Illinois' extremes of weather. He traveled by horseback when necessary, and slept on the road or in the mud-wagons. He said Mass for Germans in the state capitol, Springfield, and was shocked to learn that some of them had not had access to a priest for as much as four years. Plans for his flock Installed as bishop on Palm Sunday, 1849, two days after his arrival in the city, Van de Velde did not stay long in Chicago. The brutal winter climate there aggravated his rheumatism to the point that, not once, but twice he asked the Pope to permit him to resign as Chicago's bishop and return to being simply a Jesuit. Despite his physical discomfort, Van de Velde embarked (and largely succeeded) in accomplishing his many resolute plans: the building of dozens of churches throughout Illinois, the start of what would become a major hospital which, in subsequent years became Rush Medical College, and continued to use the Sisters of Mercy as the nursing staff, creating orphanages for boys and girls left without families and homeless after the 1849 cholera epidemic. Baltimore Conference On April 30, 1852, he informed the faithful of his Chicago See of his intention of proceeding to Rome after a national plenary conference of Roman Catholic clergy to be held in Baltimore. He appointed an "Administrator and Vicar-General", Father P.T. (Patrick Thomas) McElhearne, to be his agent until his return. He was gone until December, 1852. The Baltimore conference began May 9, 1852. Among the issues decided by the Plenary Council was that Illinois should be divided into two bishoprics; Chicago in the north and Quincy in the south. However, Van de Velde believed this reduction of his workload would not satisfactorily address his health issues. Since it was known that he planned to visit Europe and petition the Pope about his desire to resign his bishopric, Van de Velde was chosen by the First Plenary Council