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PRIESTS
The early white settlers in these parts were mainly of French descent and to a lesser extent, Spanish. Most of these were Catholic, so they brought with them French priests to minister to their spiritual needs. The early Missionaries to this area were mostly Jesuits who resided either in Mobile or New Orleans, and in their travels to either city, would visit these areas seeking to maintain the faith and to make converts. However, their visits were too infrequent to have any major effect on the lives of the settlers. One of these early Jesuit missionaries was attacked and murdered by a band of Indians These Missionaries referred to this area of Mississippi as the Three Rivers - a name that continued for quite a few years. Their earliest records pertaining to this area are to be found in the Cathedrals of New Orleans and Mobile.
In the year 1837 (July 28th), the first Catholic diocese was established at Natchez, it being a busy river city in those days. John Joseph Chanchc, S.S., was appointed as the first bishop. John Chanchc had refused the position of bishop at Baltimore, Boston, and New York, and under Pope Gregory XVI, accepted the appointment as Bishop of Natchez. A few years after that (1843), the parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established in Biloxi, to make it the oldest parish on the Coast. Some early records of this area are also maintained there. Ten years after the establishment of the diocese, Bishop Chanche established a new parish, Our Lady of the Gulf, in Bay St. Louis. He appointed Rev. Louis Stanislaus Mary Buteux as its first pastor.
In his diary, Fr. Buteux wrote, ?Saturday, July 31, 1847-the feast of St. Ignatius: Bishop Chanche told me at Natchez that he confides to me Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian. Pearl River, Jourdan and Wolf River, as far as 20 to 25 miles to the North.?(4) Fr. Buteux had been bom in Paris on July 2, 1808, and was ordained in Paris in 1836. He volunteered for the missions in Indiana, but found the climate of the North too severe, and was forced to seek a mission in the South. Bishop Chanche welcomed him into his diocese and appointed him as the first Pastor of Bay St. Louis. At that time there was no church in the Bay area, and his flock was scattered and poor. He offered Mass in the courthouse or in the home of some private family until 1848 when a cornerstone for a brick Gothic-style church was laid. At that time it may have been the largest church in the state. Bishop Chanche blessed the completed structure on August 19, 1849. (5>
After the completion of the church, Fr. Buteux was determined to have a school, and in 1852, he opened a school for boys, placing the Christian Broth-
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ers in charge. However, an epidemic of yellow fever in 1853 forced him to dismiss the boarders and close the school. Among the victims of the fever were many of the teaching staff (whose graves are well marked in a cemetery in Pass Christian). In 1854, he reopened the school and placed the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in charge. This school was called St. Stanislaus, in honor of his patron saint.
In August of 1854, Fr. Buteux sailed to France and while there obtained three sisters from the order of St. Joseph of Bourg to open a school for girls in his parish. The sisters arrived in January 1855 to begin the foundations of St. Joseph Academy (or the present-day Our Lady Academy.) That boarding school for girls continued until 1969 but was damaged by Hurricane Camille and closed as a boarding school after that. Our Lady Academy was opened as a High School for girls in 1971. Fr. Buteux went to France again a few years later to request additional sisters for his parish and mission. He was encountering some difficulties in his endeavors, so while travelling through Ars in France, he consulted the saintly Cure - John Vianney. His letter to the Rev. Mother petitioned for more sisters and he wisely had the Cure countersign his letters, and his request was granted.(6) St. Joseph?s Academy was the first foundation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg in the United States. Fr. Buteux, due to ill health, resigned as Pastor in 1859 and died in Boston in 1875. The bishop of that time, Bishop Elder, paid him tribute ?After years of fruitful labor and others spent in patient suffering, still occupied with the service of the souls.? (7) In the intervening years, 1853-1855, J O. Van de Velde, S.J. served as Bishop of Natchez. Bishop William Henry' Elder took over as bishop in 1857 until 1889, when he became bishop of Cincinnati until his death in 1904.
During these years since the establishment of a parish in Bay St. Louis, the priests would visit as best they could, either by boat or on horseback. These visits would have been difficult at best, and very time consuming. The records for this area are still kept at O.L.G. as the priests resided there from 1847-1869. Records indicated that a little church was built on the banks of the Jourdan River in these years and was simply called the Jourdan River Mission. The next pastor in Bay St. Louis was Fr. Henry (Pere) LeDuc, bom in Nantes, France, on January 1, 1834, and ordained there in 1859 (January 30th). Little did he know that Bay St. Louis was to be his one and only assignment, and that for the next 38 years, he would spend himself, and be spent, in the service of that parish.? Under his guidance, the church prospered and the schools ourished. His signature is still to be found on many of the early church
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