Thomas Francis Hendricken (May 5, 1827 – June 11, 1886) was an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Providence in Rhode Island from 1872 until his death in 1886. Biography Early life Thomas Hendricken was born on May 5, 1827 in Kilkenny, Ireland, the third child of John and Anne Meagher Hendricken's six children, three of whom died young. His father descended from a German officer who had fought for James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland. John Hendricken died in 1835. Hendricken studied in St Kieran's College and in 1847 entered St Patrick's College, Maynooth. While in Maynooth, Bishop Bernard O'Reilly recruited him to immigrate to the United States and serve in the Diocese of Hartford. At that time, the diocese consisted of the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Priesthood Bishop O'Reilly ordained Hendricken to the priesthood on April 25, 1853, at All Hallows College in Dublin. Onboard the steamer Columbia sailing to the United States, Hendricken disobeyed the captain by entering the steerage area to tend to a dying woman who had requested last rites. The captain, president of a Know Nothing lodge in Maine and fearing the spread of disease, beat Hendricken unconscious. He would have thrown him overboard, but a Protestant clergyman rallied his group of German immigrants to protest. The Germans kept Hendricken safe for the remainder of the voyage. Upon arrival in Providence, Rhode Island, Hendricken was first assigned to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence, Rhode Island. He was then transferred to a pastoral position at to St. Joseph's Parish in Providence. Hendricken's next assignments were to St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and St. Mary's Parish in Newport, Rhode Island. Architect Patrick Keely was hired to designs churches for St. Joseph's in 1848 and St. Mary's in 1851. In 1854, Hendricken was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in West Winsted, Connecticut, before being assigned the following July to St. Peter's Parish in Waterbury, Connecticut. His sister Catherine and brother William later joined him there. Hendricken hired Keely to design a new, larger church. Built of red brick, with a tall spire, it stood on East Main Street. When it was dedicated by Bishop Patrick McFarland, it was renamed in honor of the Immaculate Conception, the first