| OCR Text |
Show 1836- 1837] Flagg's Far West 165 after its settlement, the Roman Catholic faith prevailed exclusively in St Louis. The founders of the city and its earliest inhabitants were of this religious persuasion; and their descendants, many of whom are now among its most opulent and influential citizens, together with foreign immigrants of a recent date, form a numerous and respectable body. The names of Chouteau, Pratte, Sarpy, Cabann6> Menard, Soulard, & c, & c, are those of early settlers of the city which yet are often heard. 11* The " Cathedral of St. Luke" is a noble structure of Joseph Rosati ( 1789- 1843) went to St. Louis in 1817 and was appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of St. Louis, created two years earlier. Active in benevolent work* he founded two colleges for men and three academies for young women, aided in establishing the order of Ladies of the Sacred Heart, and was the chief promoter in the organization of the Sisters' Hospital and the first orphan asylum. He was called to Rome in 1840, and at the Feast of St. Andrew, 1841, appointed Peter R. Kenrick as his coadjutor. Bishop Rosati died at Rome, in 1843- ED. tt> John B. Sarpy and his two younger brothers, Gregoire B. and Silvestre D. came to America from France about the middle of the eighteenth century. After engaging in the mercantile business in New Orleans, John B. went to St Louis ( 1766) and was one of its earliest merchants. After twenty years' residence there, he returned to New Orleans. His nephew of the same name, at the age of nineteen ( 1817) was a partner with Auguste Chouteau and was later a member of the firm of P. Chouteau Jr. and Company, one of the largest fur companies then in America. Pierre Menard ( 1766- 1844) was in Vincennes as early as 1788. He later made his home at Kaskaskia, and held many positions of public trust in Illinois Territory. He was made major of the first regiment of the Randolph County militia ( z795)> w u appointed judge of common pleas in the same county ( x8ox), and United States sub- agent of Indian affairs ( 18x3). He was also a member of several important commissions, notably of that appointed to make treaties with the Indians of the Northwest His brothers, Hippolyte and Jean Francois, settled at Kaskaskia. The former was his brother's partner; the latter a well- known navigator on the Mississippi River. Michel Menard, nephew of Pierre, had much influence among the Indians and was chosen chief of the Shawnee. He founded the city of Galveston, Texas. Pierre Menard left ten children. Henry Gustavus Soulard, the second son of Antoine Pierre Soulard, was born in St Louis ( 1801). Frederic Louis Billon, in his Annals of St. Louis ( 1889), mentions him as the last survivor of all those who were born in St Louis prior to the transfer of Iionisiana to the United States ( 1803). For short sketches of the Chouteaus, see James's Long's Expedition, in our |
