Samuel Eccleston

The Most Reverend Samuel Eccleston P.S.S.
Fifth Archbishop of Baltimore
See	Archdiocese of Baltimore
Appointed	March 11, 1834 (Coadjutor)
Installed	October 19, 1834
Term ended	April 22, 1851
Predecessor	James Whitfield
Successor	Francis Kenrick
Orders
Ordination	April 24, 1825 by Ambrose Maréchal
Consecration	September 14, 1834 by James Whitfield
Personal details
Born	(1801-06-27)June 27, 1801 Chestertown, Maryland
Died	May 22, 1851(1851-05-22) (aged 49) Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Denomination	Roman Catholic Church
Parents	Samuel Eccleston and Martha Hyson
Previous post(s)	Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Richmond (1835–1840)
Signature

Samuel Eccleston, P.S.S. (June 27, 1801 – April 22, 1851) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland from 1834 until his death in 1851.

A convert to Catholicism as a young man, Eccleston attended St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, was ordained to the priesthood and then entered the Sulpician Order. After attending seminary in France, he served as a teacher and later president of St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. Eccleston was named coadjutor archbishop of Baltimore by the Vatican and then became archbishop of Baltimore.

Eccleston is known for inviting several men's and women's Catholic religious orders into the archdiocese to establish seminaries, schools, and parishes for the rapidly expanding Catholic population. In recent years, he has been criticized for his efforts to disband an African American religious community in the archdiocese.