Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

---

Gallitzin, Prince Demetrius Augustine 1770-1841

Clergyman; born in The Hague, [8] Holland, Dec. 22, 1770, where his father was Russian ambassador. He belonged to one of the oldest and richest families among the Russian nobles. In 1792 he came to the United States for the purpose of travel, but determined to become a Roman Catholic priest. He entered the St. Sulpice Seminary in Baltimore, and was ordained a priest March 18, 1795, being the first priest who had both received holy orders and been ordained in the United States. He was sent on missions, but was recalled in consequence of his impetuosity and over-zeal. In 1799 he was appointed pastor at Maguire's settlement. He purchased 20,000 acres in the present Cambria county, Pa., which he divided into farms and offered to settlers on easy terms. Although constantly hampered by lack of money to carry out the grand schemes he contemplated, his colony took root and soon sent out branches. He had adopted the name of Schmettau, which was anglicized into Smith, but in 1811 he resumed his own name. He died in Loretto, Pa., May 6, 1841.