Father Louis Stanislaus Marie Buteux
photo copied from The Sea Coast Echo
November 13, 1903
A Brief Biography
By Brother Xavier Werneth, SC
Louis Stanislaus Marie Buteux was born in Paris, July 2, 1808, into a well established Catholic family. The Buteux family of France had given a martyr to the Church in the 17th century. Father Jacques Buteux, a Jesuit missionary priest working among the Attikamegues Indians in Canada, was put to death by the hostile Iroquois on May 10, 1652. Inspired to become a priest, young Stanislaus entered the Seminary of St. Sulpice in Paris where he proved himself to be a brilliant student. With the Sulpicians, Stanislaus received a solid theological education and pastoral training with a strong emphasis on spiritual formation… Read more
The Archives Committee is interested in anecdotes, short stories, and recollections of people and events about St. Mary Parish and Catholicism in Natchez. Oral history of the parish complements the printed word.
You may be the only person who can recall and relate a specific event, tell about a personality, or reveal pertinent historical information. All submitted material is subject to review and editing by the committee for publication on the archives web site.
Please share your information with the archives committee. (Material can be sent or delivered to the church office.)
View our past articles From The Archive Desk
St. Thérèse Chapel (Donated by A. W. Berdon 1936)
By J. E. Guercio
This dedication is on a small bronze plaque that has recently been reinstalled in St. Thérèse Hall. When you enter the hall look on the left wall. Thank you Walter Maier for returning this memorial to a place of honor. In this brief historical article we give thanks to all our benefactors that have supported the Catholic Church in Natchez. Thank you Anne Berdon-Allmand and Bernice Berdon in keeping our church history alive. Mrs. Peter (Thérèse) Burns shares a beautiful story… Read more
St. Mary Chapel, Laurel Hill Plantation
The following information is a quotation from The Unhurried Years, which explains the history of St. Mary Episcopal Chapel and Laurel Hill Plantation.
"I do not know who designed the building , but the builder of the Chapel was a competent, and very eccentric, carpenter and contractor, old Mr. Hardy of Natchez. It is a brick building, stucco covered, about fifty by twenty-five feet, with a Gothic spire capped with an iron cross. The window frames and all the woodwork are beautifully made and the tall, pointed windows filled with glass of excellent quality, the one at the back over the chancel being an oriel window about four feet in diameter, of lovely stained glass… Read more
The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin
By J.E. Guercio
What's in a name? Plenty, when it concerns the dogma of the Catholic Church.
Recent research of the large painting of Mary in the Rectory parlor has revealed that the name Assumption of the Virgin after the 17th century Spanish artist Murillo is actually The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin. There are over twenty known versions of The Immaculate Conception by Murillo and his studio. Ten of these are easily found on the internet in museum collections. Of these ten, one is the source of the copy in the Rectory parlor. The original The Immaculate Conception is presently in The National Gallery of London, England… Read more.
History of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church
By Donnie Verucchi
An Italian from Vicksburg, a man named Tirelli, who worked for the large plantation owners as an agent, conceived the idea of introducing Italian peasant farmers to the nearby sections of Louisiana and Mississippi. He was known to be ruthless… Read More.
Archives
By Joseph N. Latino, Bishop of Jackson
I would like to thank the St. Mary Basilica Archives Committee for inviting me to share some thoughts on their web site. I have always been very interested in history. The events that have shaped civilization… Read More.
St. Mary’s Archives: A Personal Recollection
By Charles E. Nolan
My first visit to the St. Mary’s in Natchez was in early October of 1975. As part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ gift to the nation in honor of the upcoming U.S. Bicentennial, I was commissioned to prepare and publish “an inventory of the oldest Catholic documents in the province.” At the time, Alabama and Mississippi… Read More.
Chevalier Joseph Nicolas Nicollet and the Reverend Pierce Connelly in Natchez
By Jeanne Marie Guerin, SHCJ
Two brilliant men encountered each other in Natchez, Mississippi, in the early 1830s. Most likely they met at a social gathering in the home of Major Henry Chotard, a successful planter who owned the lovely Somerset house. Major and Mrs. Chotard and their three daughters… Read More.
Gilbert's Place: 1818-2009, Jefferson County, Mississippi
By: Sister Virginia Delaney, D.C.
God certainly knows where Gilbert’s Place is because He sent some special people there to live and many that came to minister to the people. The home, which was completely built with logs and no nails, was constructed… Read more.
Accomplishments, Donations and Discoveries
By J. E. Guercio
St. Mary Basilica Archives Committee was founded on 24 October 2005. It evolved out of the Religious Education Committee. We meet every Tuesday morning after Mass… Read More.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Canonized September 14, 1975
In Memory of Mary Agnes Burns Frye
Stained glass panel above the sacristy door
St. Mary Basilica, Natchez, Mississippi