St. Dominic Catholic Church (Washington, D.C.) opened on March 19, 1854. It was set in an area of the city known as "The Island" because, at that time, a canal ran where Constitution Ave. is today which connected the Potomac and the Anacostia Rivers. As the congregation grew it was recognized that a new sanctuary was needed to hold all the congregants. This new church was dedicated on June 13, 1875 by Most Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley, Archbishop of Baltimore. After President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, St. Dominic's joined other local churches in an "Appeal to Heaven"
Charles J. Guiteau had been legally insane at the time of the shooting (because God had taken away his free will), he was not really medically insane, which was one of the major causes of the rift between him and his defense lawyers. Edward Charles Spitzka, a leading alienist, testified as an expert witness. Spitzka had stated that it was clear "Guiteau is not only now insane, but that he was never anything else." While on the stand, Spitzka testified that he had "no doubt" that Guiteau was both insane and "a moral monstrosity". Spitzka came to the conclusion that Guiteau had "the