Claude Allouez
| Claude Allouez | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1622-06-06 Saint-Didier-en-Forez, France |
| Died | 1689-08-27 near Niles, Michigan |
| Occupation | Jesuit priest; missionary; explorer |
Claude Allouez (6 June 1622 – the night of 27/28 August 1689) was a Jesuit priest, missionary, and explorer. In 1667 he went to Lake Nipigon to minister to Christian Nipissings who were living there. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography says he has the honour of having celebrated the first mass within the boundaries of the present diocese of Fort William.[1]
A plaque unveiled at Nipigon on 25 June 1967 by Chief Ben Wawia says he celebrated the first Mass west of Sault Ste. Marie on 29 May 1667 beside the Nipigon River.[2]
Life
Allouez was born at Saint-Didier-en-Forez on 6 June 1622 and entered the Jesuit noviciate at Toulouse on 22 September 1639. He arrived at Quebec on 11 July 1658. In 1665 he travelled to the west, arriving on 1 October at Pointe du Saint Esprit (Chequamegon Bay), which he made the base of his mission. From there, in 1667, he went to Lake Nipigon to comfort the Christian Nipissings, and later the same year — and again in 1669 — he went down to Quebec in search of more missionaries. In 1671 he spoke at the ceremony in which Daumont de Saint-Lusson took possession of the west in the name of the king of France. He died in Miami territory, near present-day Niles, Michigan, on the night of 27/28 August 1689.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Léon Pouliot, "Allouez, Claude," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 1 (University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1966).
- ↑ "Unveiling of Historic Plaques", Papers to 1967, Centennial issue (Thunder Bay Historical Society, 1967), p. 36. Archived: datum.locker.