William Francis Gagnieur
| William Francis Gagnieur | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1857-05-10 Guelph, Upper Canada |
| Died | 1937-02-07 Sault Ste Marie, Ontario |
| Occupation | Jesuit missionary; Roman Catholic priest; translator; educator |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
William Francis Gagnieur (10 May 1857 – 7 February 1937 (aged 79)) was a Jesuit missionary priest, translator, and scholar who served as superior of the Immaculate Conception mission near Fort William in the early 1890s before spending over four decades as a missionary in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.[1]
Early life and education
Gagnieur was born on 10 May 1857 in Guelph, Upper Canada, the son of Étienne-François-Antoine (Anthony) Gagnieur, a French military officer originally from Lyons, France, and Elizabeth Allan, a native of Edinburgh who had converted from Presbyterianism.[1] He received his early education at home and by age 15 was serving as a church organist.[1]
On 6 September 1873, Gagnieur entered the Society of Jesus in Montreal.[1] He pursued his studies in London and at Louvain, Belgium, and subsequently taught at Collège Sainte-Marie in Montreal and at St Dunstan's College in Charlottetown.[1] He was ordained a priest on 26 April 1886 in Montreal.[1]
Missionary career
Manitoulin Island and Fort William
Gagnieur began his missionary work on 3 July 1889 at the Holy Cross mission at Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island, where he worked alongside Jesuits Paul Nadeau and Dominique Du Ranquet on the translation of an Ojibwa-French dictionary.[1]
In 1893, he became superior of the Immaculate Conception mission near Fort William (present-day Thunder Bay).[1] The mission had been founded in 1849 by Jesuits Nicolas-Marie-Joseph Frémiot and Jean-Pierre Choné.[1] Gagnieur remained there until August 1895.[1]
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
After leaving Fort William in August 1895, Gagnieur moved to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where he would remain for 42 years based in Sault Ste Marie.[1] In his first year there he served 40 missions and recorded 153 baptisms, travelling by canoe and dogsled through the regions around lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior.[1] In 1925 he helped establish Sacred Heart Church on Sugar Island.[1] When responsibility for the mission territory transferred to the Chicago Jesuit province in 1914, his superiors permitted him to continue serving in the territory he knew well.[1]
Scholarship and public life
Gagnieur was an accomplished linguist and scholar of Ojibwe and Indigenous place names. He contributed articles on Indigenous place names in the Upper Peninsula to the Michigan Historical Magazine, including studies published in 1918 and 1919.[2][3] He also wrote an unpublished biography of the missionary bishop Frederic Baraga, held at the Jesuit Archives and Research Center in St Louis.[1] Among his Ojibwe community he was known by the name Pekinawgay, meaning "winner."[1]
Gagnieur was a member of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society.[1] In July 1934 he presided over a tercentenary mass for explorer Jean Nicollet de Belleborne, attended by thousands of people.[1] A celebration of his 50th ordination anniversary was held in April 1936.[1]
The Indigenous priest Philip Gordon wrote of him: "To you, Pekinawgay, I shall always turn when the going is toughest. I shall always remember what you did for my people."[1]
Death
Gagnieur died on 7 February 1937 in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, and was buried in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan.[4][1]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Roy H. Piovesana."Roy H. Piovesana, "Gagnieur, William Francis," Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16."[website].Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 16 (University of Toronto/Université Laval).2026.University of Toronto/Université Laval.Link.(Rights: copyrighted | Access: open)
- ↑ William Francis Gagnieur."Indian place names in the Upper Peninsula, and their interpretation."[book].Michigan Historical Magazine.1918.vol. 2 (1918): 526–55.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ William Francis Gagnieur."Some place names in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and elsewhere."[book].Michigan Historical Magazine.1919.vol. 3 (1919): 412–19.(Rights: unknown | Access: open)
- ↑ Fort William Daily Times-Journal, 8 February 1937, p. 5