Joseph Rosati letter, Missouri, to Abbé Pelagand, Lyon, 1828 August 3 : manuscript.

Perry County, Missouri, 1828 August 3.

1 item (12 pages)

French

In French.

Purchased from William Reese Co. on the Thomas W. Streeter Fund, 2018.

This material is open for research.

Joseph Rosati (1789-1843) was a Catholic bishop and missionary. Born in Sora, Kingdom of Naples, Rosati joined the Congregation of the Mission in 1808 and arrived in Perry County, Missouri in 1818, where he founded St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary. Rosati served as the apostolic administrator of the New Orleans diocese from 1826-1829, and as the first bishop of the Saint Louis diocese from 1827-1843.

Autograph letter, with manuscript corrections, by Bishop Joseph Rosati sent from St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perry County, Missouri, to Abbé Pelagand in Lyon, France, on 1828 August 3. The letter reports on the administration of Catholic parishes and missions in Missouri and Louisiana, including discussions of Jesuit communities, missionary activities among Native Americans from the Osage and Kansa (Kaw) tribes, education offered by the clergy, the offering of sermons in both English and French, the construction of new church and seminary buildings, and a lack of priests to cover the dioceses.

A version of the letter was published in the Annales de l'Association de la propagation de la foi (Lyon, 1828).

April 12, 2019

Joseph Rosati Letter to Abbé Pelagand. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Joseph Rosati Letter to Abbé Pelagand. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.