# Michael Levadoux > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Levadoux > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Michael_Levadoux.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Levadoux > Source revision: 1265518793 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|French missionary (1746–1815)}} '''Michael Levadoux''' (1746–1815) was a French [Sulpician](/source/Sulpician), one of those who left France during the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution). He went to the United States and founded [St. Mary's Seminary](/source/St._Mary's_Seminary) in [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore). ==Life== Levadoux was born on April 1, 1746 at [Clermont-Ferrand](/source/Clermont-Ferrand), in [Auvergne](/source/Auvergne_(province)), France.{{Catholic Encyclopedia|inline=1|wstitle=Michael Levadoux |first=Arthur Edward | last=Jones}} He studied theology at the Sulpician Seminary at Clermont beginning on October 30, 1769. He spent one year at "Solitude", or Sulpician novitiate. He was the director of the [Grand séminaire de Limoges](/source/%3Afr%3AGrand_s%C3%A9minaire_de_Limoges) from 1774 to 1791. In consequence of the threatening aspect of affairs for Catholicism during the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution), [Jacques-André Emery](/source/Jacques-Andr%C3%A9_Emery), Superior-General of the Sulpicians, deemed it prudent to found a house of their institute abroad, and at the suggestion of [Antonio Dugnani](/source/Antonio_Dugnani), ''[nuncio](/source/nuncio)'' at Paris, the United States was chosen. Negotiations were opened with [Bishop Carroll](/source/Bishop_Carroll), recently consecrated, and after some delay [Francis C. Nagot](/source/Francis_C._Nagot) was named first director of the projected seminary at Baltimore. With him was associated Levadoux, [John Tessier](/source/John_Tessier), Gamier, and Montdésir, together with several seminarians. Delavau, canon of St. Martin of Tours, and [François-René de Chateaubriand](/source/Fran%C3%A7ois-Ren%C3%A9_de_Chateaubriand) joined the party, which sailed from [Saint Malo](/source/Saint_Malo), April 8, 1791, and after a tempestuous and roundabout voyage reached Baltimore July 10. For one year, Levadoux, as treasurer, assisted Nagot in organizing the Seminary of St. Mary's, and was then sent by the latter to the [Illinois](/source/Illinois) mission, for which Emery had at first destined Chicosneau, deeming Levadoux a better administrator of temporal affairs. Empowered as vicar-general by Carroll, he took his departure for the West on January 15, 1792. His missionary labors centred on [Cahokia](/source/Cahokia) and [Kaskaskia](/source/Kaskaskia). The registers of the latter place bear his signature from December 1792, and he seems to have spent most of his time from 1793 to 1796 at Cahokia, though after [Benedict Joseph Flaget](/source/Benedict_Joseph_Flaget) left [Fort Vincennes](/source/Fort_Vincennes) in 1795 he visited that post also. Meanwhile, as the health of Nagot, superior of the Sulpicians in the United States, was failing fast, he was desirous of having Levadoux near him at Baltimore, that he might be ready to succeed him in office; but Carroll was no less anxious to secure his services for [Detroit](/source/Detroit). The bishop's wishes prevailed, and Levadoux became parish priest of [Basilica of Sainte Anne de Détroit](/source/Basilica_of_Sainte_Anne_de_D%C3%A9troit) in 1796. [Gabriel Richard](/source/Gabriel_Richard) joined him as assistant priest two years later.{{sfn|The Story of Ste Anne de Detroit Church|1976|p=19}} It was Levadoux who performed the obsequies of [F. X. Dufaux](/source/F._X._Dufaux), missionary to the [Hurons](/source/Hurons) at the parish of the Assumption opposite Detroit, who died at his post September 10, 1796. After the death of Dufaux, Levadoux had frequent occasion to minister to the spiritual wants of the [Native Americans](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) and of other scattered Catholics from [Sandusky](/source/Sandusky%2C_Ohio) and [Mackinaw](/source/Mackinac_Island%2C_Michigan) to [Fort Wayne](/source/Fort_Wayne). [Gabriel Richard](/source/Gabriel_Richard) joined him on June 7, 1798,{{cite book|last1=Farmer|first1=Silas|title=History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present|date=1890|publisher=Silas Farmer & Co.|location=Detroit|page=531}} as the assistant pastor.{{cite web |url=http://gophouse.org/detroit-speramus-meliora-resurget-cineribus/ |title=Detroit: Speramus meliora resurget cineribus |publisher=Michigan House Republicans |year=2015 |access-date=27 September 2015 |archive-date=28 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928083605/http://gophouse.org/detroit-speramus-meliora-resurget-cineribus/ |url-status=live }} In 1801, Nagot recalled Levadoux to Baltimore. In 1803, Levadoux received orders from Emery to return to France, where he was soon appointed superior of the Seminary of St. Flour in Auvergne, and remained there until the dispersion of the Sulpicians by [Napoleon I](/source/Napoleon_I), in 1811. When their institute was revived, in 1814, Duclaux, successor of Emery, placed Levadoux at the head of the Seminary of Le-Puy-en-Velay. Levadoux died at [Le-Puy-en-Velay](/source/Le-Puy-en-Velay) on January 13, 1815. ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Bibliography== * {{Cite book |date=1976 |title=The Story of Ste Anne de Detroit Church, Detroit Michigan 1701-1976 |publisher=Custombook, Inc. |url=http://www.mipolonia.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Ste.-Anne_1701-1976_Detroit_MI.pdf |ref={{sfnref|The Story of Ste Anne de Detroit Church|1976}}}} {{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= France}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Levadoux, Michael}} Category:1746 births Category:1815 deaths Category:Sulpicians Category:French emigrants to the United States Category:French Roman Catholic missionaries Category:Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Michael Levadoux](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Levadoux) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Levadoux?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.