GOESBRIAND, LOUIS DE

Bishop, author; b. St. Urbain, France, Aug. 4, 1816;d. Burlington, Vt., Nov. 3, 1899. He was the son of Marquis Henri de Goesbriand and Emilie de Bergean. After his education at the seminaries of Quimper, France, and Saint-Sulpice, Paris, he was ordained on July 13, 1840. His interest in the American missionary field brought him to the U.S., where he engaged in parochial work in the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, from 1840 to 1847. When Cleveland, Ohio, became a diocese in 1847, Goesbriand became its vicar-general and served until he was named first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Burlington, Vt., on July 29, 1853. He was consecrated on Oct. 30, 1853 in New York City, and arrived in Burlington on November 5. At that time there were only 20,000 Catholics and five priests in Vermont. With the exception of eight churches and a small parochial school taught by lay teachers, there were no institutions of any kind. Between 1853 and 1891 the number of priests increased to 52 and the number of churches to 78; eight academies and 16 parochial schools were established; and seven congregations of nuns were brought into the diocese to teach. In addition to his work as bishop, Goesbriand also wrote or translated a number of books and pamphlets, among which were: Catholic Memoirs of Vermont and New Hampshire (1886); Christ on the Altar (1890); History of Confession (1889); and St. Peter's Life (1893).

[j. d. sullivan/

g. e. dupont]