Bible Dictionaries
Missouri

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

The 24th state to be admitted to the United States, August 10, 1821. The settlement of Saint Louis by Laclede in 1764 was antedated by those of Old Mines and Saint Genevieve by French miners and traders, c1735 By 1750 they were visited by Jesuit missionaries, and one of the oldest documents of the State is the register of the first little wooden church of Saint Genevieve which opens with the record of a baptism, February 24, 1760, by Father Philibert Watrin, S.J. He was followed by Father Jean Baptiste Salleneuve, and Father Jean Baptiste de la Morinie, who were driven away when Louisiana expelled the Jesuits, 1763. The devoted Father Sebastien Louis Meurin of the Kaskaskia mission in Illinois obtained permission to remain, and in 1765 he was stationed at Saint Genevieve. Cahokia records show that he baptized a little child at Saint Louis in 1766, in a tent, since there was as yet no church there. When Father Meurin withdrew permanently to the east side of the Mississippi on account of Spanish opposition, c.1767,Saint Genevieve was attended by Father Pierre Gibault, stationed at Kaskaskia in 1768. He blessed the first church of Saint Louis, built in 1770 on a plot allotted by Laclede, now the site of the cathedral. Meanwhile missions had been established at Saint Charles, 1762, and at Carondelet, 1767. The Capuchins were sent from New Orleans to the Missouri missions in 1772, and Father Valentine, the first resident priest of Saint Louis, started the building of the second church there in 1775. His successor, Father Bernard, erected a log church at Saint Genevieve in 1776. There was a church soon after at Florissant.

Catholic influence on the place-names of the state include,

Ecclesiastically, the state is governed by the archdiocese of

and the dioceses of

See also,

Bibliography Information
Entry for 'Missouri'. 1910 New Catholic Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ncd/​m/missouri.html. 1910.