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These limited accounts of rather insignificant history do not suggest the potential of an extraordinary individual, but what follows shows that the choice made By Buteux?s superiors was well justified.
The next evidence about Buteux is the appointment as pastor in our area in 1847. He must have gone right to work, as the next year, he laid the cornerstone for a new church. Thus was created Our Lady of the Gulf.
The Hancock County census of 1850 lists a Catholic priest as occupying house #44-47, although the name appears to be written ?Buleaux.?
In 1852, he opened a boys school, calling upon the Christian Bothers order to staff it. The yellow fever epidemic of 1853, one of the worst in history, forced a closing of the first school, but it was followed in 1854 with the opening of St. Stanislaus College for young men. This school has had an outstanding record of developing young men for well over one and a half centuries.
Buteux returned to France on several occasions, in one case to secure additional Christian Brothers for his school. Later, he sailed again to France and appealed for help to open a girls school. He returned with three nuns, who in 1855 opened St. Joseph Academy, which became a highly respected institution for the education of young ladies.
There is mention in one document that both of these developments were being carved out of a wilderness area.
A fascinating part of this history is the shrine built by Buteux in what was once a wilderness. It was in fulfillment of a vow made on a voyage returning from France, when the shop was in danger of sinking. The shrine is located on the rear of the property of the academy, in a grove of cedars and ancient oaks. Though picturesque, it is simple and not immediately apparent to anyone walking by. Over the years, it has been in the midst of many hurricanes, and in spite of its age and the fact that it is made simply of plaster of Paris, it remains relatively undamaged.
Fr. Buteux served as pastor of Our Lady of the Gulf for 13 years, being succeeded by Fr. Henry Leduc. Buteux spent his last years in Boston, where he died in 1875. He is interred
in St. Mary?s Cemetery, south Boston.