St. Francis Xavier Cathedral Burials, Rapides Parish La Submitted by Jane Parker McManus ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHEDRAL BURIALS - Rapides Parish Although there is no cemetery at the Cathedral, there were several priests buried under the sanctuary floor in the old church. When that church burned and the new one was built in the present location, those burials were re-interred under the floor of the Cathedral. An article in the local newspaper (1) listed the burials in St. Francis Xavier's Church. "Father Bres' burial today will make the fifth priest that has been interred under the St. Francis Xavier's Church. The first was Father Duggan who was buried under the main altar. Father Hayes was next buried at the head of the left hand aisle as you enter the church. Father Bellier was interred at the head of the right hand aisle as you enter the church. Father Avenard was buried in front of St. Mary's Altar at the right hand corner of the edifice. The remains of Father Bres will be buried this morning on the left hand corner of the church, in front of St. Joseph's altar." A brief history of the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral and the priests who are buried there was provided by Dorothy Carr of Alexandria LA in 1997. Ms. Carr is currently a docent at the Cathedral and is well versed on its history. Submitted by Jane Parker McManus History In 1722, a traveler, his two daughters, and three Indian guides left New Orleans headed for the post at Natchitoches. The party was attacked by hostile Indians who killed the traveler, and threw the body into the Red River. The two daughters were taken as hostages by the Indians. It was after this incident, sometime between 1722 and 1743, that the Louisiana Governor decided to establish an army post near the Red River rapids which stretched for about a mile. As the soldiers stationed at the Rapides Post were Catholic, priests had to travel from Natchitoches or Lafayette to conduct Mass. In a short while, trappers and settlers in the area heard of the service and brought their families to hear Mass. Thus began the first Catholic congregation in the Rapides area. The first Catholic Chapel was built soon after the town of Alexandria was established, and was in use in 1817. After much research, there is still no information available on what happened to the small chapel. In 1834, St. Francis Xavier Church was established near the banks of the Red River, and was the only church in Alexandria at that time. Although churches of other denominations were built in the town in the ensuing years, they were all destroyed during the Civil War. St. Francis Xavier was the only church left standing in 1864 when Alexandria was burned by the Union Army. Father Bellier stood in the church with pistols in hand and let the army know in no uncertain terms that they were not going to destroy the building. Several years later, Sister Marie Theresa Bellier wrote to Bishop Martin on June 7, 1869 concerning her brother's death. She wrote that her "brother died suddenly at Pineville, not receiving the sacraments as Fr. Louis, professor of Rhetoric at the Seminary, was abroad in France. He was buried in the Church in Alexandria in the very spot where he stood some years ago, his revolvers in his hands to defend the Tabernacle. Such act of bravery surprised the world at large." Sister Marie Theresa was Father Bellier's sister. (2) On December 3, 1895, a cornerstone was placed on the property where the cathedral now stands between Beauregard and Elliott streets. Before construction began on the new site, the old church was destroyed by a fire on December 30, 1895. "There were ashes at one end of town, and a cornerstone at the other end of town, and nothing in between." (3) After the fire, a building was erected on the new property, and the bodies of six priests buried on the old church site were moved to the new location. Local residents supplied the bricks for the new building, and sand from the river was used as mortar. Native pine boards were used on the inside. By November 1899, the church was ready for dedication. The focal point for the cathedral has always been the altar. The oak altar resembles a cathedral and was furnished by the Ladies Altar Society in 1899 for just $720, and was in place before the first Mass was conducted in the new building. A plain Table of Sacrifice in front of the altar has been used since the 2nd Vatican Council. The altars for Mary and St. Joseph were donated in 1903; fourteen Italian families provided the Blessed Mother Altar and 12 Syrian families provided the St. Joseph Altar. The church tower was added in 1907, along with three bells of different sizes and weights. The clock atop the tower was placed there in 1908. As the population of Alexandria continued to grow, the Catholic Church officially transferred the diocese from Natchitoches to Alexandria in August of 1910. St. Francis Xavier was now officially a cathedral, and a Bishop's throne was added in the sanctuary. The Cathedral was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1980. (5) Burials: Father Robert Doogan , First Resident Priest in Alexandria - ca 1813 / 2 October 1843 [buried under main altar] Father Robert Doogan was the first priest to be ordained from among those who studied at the Diocesan Seminary of St. Vincent de Paul. He received Holy Orders on 22 March 1840 in the Church of the Assumption at Plattenville at the hands of Bishop Blanc. He was 27 years of age and his first assignment was in Alexandria. Father Doogan was more than a parish priest. His post covered a very large territory and he visited the missions as often as he could. On one visit to an Indian village, he contacted a fever. Without sufficient rest, he became very ill and died. He was buried under the main floor of the old church, and later re-interred under the main altar in the new Cathedral. Father Hayes - died ca 1849 [buried head of left hand aisle] Nothing is known of this priest. He was mentioned twice in the local newspapers -- the location of his grave beneath the old St. Francis Church; the second time when he was re-interred with the others beneath the new church. He died ca 1849 [this information provided by Father Menard as all records were destroyed when the church burned]. (6) Reverend Jean Pierre Bellier - born ca 1813 France / died 7 April 1869, Soldier - Priest - Educator - Musician [buried head of right hand aisle] Reverend Bellier was born in France about 1813. He was an officer in the French cavalry before entering the Priesthood. After his ordination he came to this country and was Rector of the Eudist Fathers' Seminary in Vincennes, Indiana; he also was founder of St. Gabriel's College in Indianapolis. Father Bellier ventured South to become President of Springhill College in Mobile, Alabama in 1844 & 1845. He was Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier Church in Alexandria from 1848 to 1850. He opened St. Charles Academy, a school for boys, and taught until the second year of the Civil War. It was during his second pastorate in Alexandria, that Father Bellier successfully defended St. Francis Xavier from destruction when the Federal troops burned the city in 1864. The church was located on Front Street at that time. His normal robust constitution was weakened by the rigors of the war, and he tendered his resignation as pastor of St. Francis to accept the Professorship of Modern Languages and Literature in the State Seminary of Learning in Pineville. He remained there until his death on 7 April 1869. Father Bellier was buried under the old St. Francis Xavier Church on Front Street. When the church burned in 1895, his remains were interred February 27, 1896 under the present St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. Father Bellier was an accomplished musician. He organized and directed the church choir and imposed his will on the choir members like a drill sergeant. It has been reported that the rose window in the east transept of St. Francis Xavier's was dedicated to the memory of Father Bellier by his surviving pupils. Avenard, Father Jean Baptiste - died 2 April 1883 [buried front of St. Mary's altar] Bres, Father Jerome - ca 1855 / 20 August 1884 [buried front of St. Joseph's altar] The report of Father Bres' death was taken from the Alexandria Daily Town Talk: (7) "On Wednesday Evening, August 20th, 1884, at 6:30 o'clock, Father Jerome Bres, aged 29 years, died. The death of this estimable Christian man, has cast a gloom over the entire parish. He had suffered for weeks past with that dread disease known as typhoid-malarial fever, supposed to have been contracted while attending to his church duties and ministering to the wants of the sick. Father Bres was loved by the members of the Roman Catholic Church because he really was a Father to his parishioners, always ready to attend the wants of the sick and afflicted. Kind and tender hearted - never a man more so. Father Bres was the son of Jerome Bres and Francis Ann Filhiol (the latter now deceased) and was born and raised up to the age of 15 years in Ouachita Parish, near Monroe, and was a grandson of John Jean Filhiol, who was Spanish Commander at Fort Miro, which was situated where the town of Monroe, Louisiana now stands. Father Bres leaves a father, two brothers, three half sisters and numerous other relatives throughout the state to mourn his loss. At the age of 15 he expressed a desire to become a priest, having been instructed by the priest then at Monroe, the Rev. L. Gergaud, who lost his life ministering to the wants of the yellow fever sufferers. At 15 years of age Father Bres was sent to St. Charles College, Maryland. He graduated at that college and went from there to the Theological Seminary at Baltimore, and was ordained priest in December, 1881. He returned from Baltimore to Monroe and assisted the priest there who had a disease of the eyes. At the death of Father Avenard, sixteen months ago, at Alexandria, Father Bres was appointed assistant priest with Father Menard, priest of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church at this place, where he remained until his death last Wednesday. Father Bres was a splendid speaker with easy delivery, and his sermons were the cause of a great many people attending the Catholic church who were not members. He took a great interest in the temperance cause, and before the local option election in this parish a few months since, spoke in public and by his fearless denunciation of that curse, strong drink, greatly assisted the temperance people in carrying the election. Though young in years to cross the dark river from which no traveler returns, his friends and relatives have the great consolation of knowing that no man was better prepared for death. The funeral will take place this morning at 8 o-clock at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Alexandria. According to custom his remains will be buried under the church." Father J. M. Ledreux - died 16 Nov 1884 [buried beneath altar of Blessed Virgin by the side of Fr. Avenard] Footnotes: 1 Alexandria Daily Town Talk, Alexandria, Louisiana, Friday, August 22, 1884, Pg. 3. 2 Letter G. P. Whittington to the Bishop, 8 October 1880, Manuscripts Department, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Library, New Orleans, LA. 3 Carr, Dorothy, Docent of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral, Alexandria LA (1991). 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Alexandria Daily Town Talk 7 Ibid.