ECCLESON, Samuel, R. C. archbishop, born in Kent County, Maryland, in 1801; died in Georgetown, D. C., in 1851. He entered St. Mary's College, Baltimore, and while there became a Roman Catholic. Pursuing his studies in the theological seminary there, he was ordained in 1825, and afterward took a course in the Ecclesiastical College of Issy, near Paris. On his return he successively filled the offices of vice president and president of St. Mary's College. In 1834 he was consecrated coadjutor archbishop of Baltimore, and succeeded Archbishop Whitfiehl in the same year.

Several new academies for the education of girls were built under his care and placed in charge of the nuns of the Visitation, and the Christian Brothers established a novitiate and training school of their order under his auspices. Parochial schools were multiplied and placed under the care of the Brothers of St. Patrick, and German parishes were organized under the direction of the Redemptorists. Dr. Eccleson founded the College of St. Charles in 1850, and shortly afterward introduced the Lazarists into his diocese. He presided over five provincial councils, and took the initiative in important legislation, including the law passed by the council of 1840, providing for the transmission of Church property from a bishop to his successor, and that of 1843, excommunicating Roman Catholics who should marry after being divorced by the state. During the exile of Pius IX in 1849 he was invited by Archbishop Eccleson to visit Baltimore and preside over the provincial council.