Welcome to St. Mary Basilica Archives
Lithograph taken from stone in archival collection.
The struggles and sacrifices of our ancestors in the faith, who have given to us a heritage not only of material buildings but of a tradition of faith and zeal, should be to us a source of inspiration urging us to carry on, that we too may do our part in building up the Kingdom of Christ.
Cradle Days of St. Mary's at Natchez (1941)
Most Rev. Richard O. Gerow
Seventh Bishop of Natchez
New Additions to the Archives website
Madame Benoist---
“French Lady...with an accent”
Madame Marguerite Justine Belhomme (Marchand) Benoist Mezeix, (she had 3 husbands) was a milliner by trade. She was born in 1814 in Angouleme, France, where she was baptized and made her First Communion. Her early years were marked by the last years of the Napoleon Era and the start of the Bourbon King, Charles X… Read more
Madame Marguerite Justine Belhomme (Marchand) Benoist Mezeix, (she had 3 husbands) was a milliner by trade. She was born in 1814 in Angouleme, France, where she was baptized and made her First Communion. Her early years were marked by the last years of the Napoleon Era and the start of the Bourbon King, Charles X… Read more
Our Great Grandfather, Patrick Burns
Our great grandfather, Patrick Burns, was born in Clonalig on the Emerald Isle in 1837 (the year that Pope Gregory designated The See of Natchez). He experienced poverty at an early age due to the potato famine of 1840’s. He was among three thousand who emigrated to America in… Read more