French-Speaking Community Hallmark

French-Canadian Catholic heritage in America

Story by Mathias Kamin

On August 23, 1853, the Rev. Jean-Pierre Bernard came to Plattsburgh with nine dollars in his robe and a plan to create a Catholic church for the French-speaking residents of the North Country. Bernard had been chosen two days prior by the Rev. J.P. Santoni, Provincial of the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, to create the church that would become St. Peter's. The Oblate Fathers were Catholic priests from France who came to Canada to do missionary work. After the War of 1812, the British Crown left the Canadian colonies to fend for themselves. The little assistance that did come from England was not passed down to the remaining French- Canadians.

“In the mid 1800s many Quebecois left Canada for America in order to find industrial Jobs,” says Father John R. Yonkovig, the current pastor of St. Peters Church.  In 1854, one year after Father Bernard became their first priest, St. Peter's church listed in its records 600 parishioners, 200 living in Plattsburgh and 400 in the surrounding area. Between the fall of 1853 and the blessing of the sacristy on February 4, 1855, church services were held temporarily in Louis Chauvin’s home. Chauvin was one of five original “syndics,” or trustees, who signed the church’s charter, which was written entirely in French. Chauvin’s home was at the corner of Elm and Oak streets, and is now the New Jerusalem Baptist Church.

"My father came over to Plattsburgh because that’s where the teeth were."

Dr. John Boule is a lifelong parishioner of St. Peter's and a second generation French-Canadian. His father, Dr. Isidore Boule, settled in Plattsburgh to practice dentistry in 1911. “My father came over to Plattsburgh because that’s where the teeth were,” says Boule, whose son and daughter have since taken over the family practice.

“I remember back in the 40s the Mass was in Latin, but the sermon or what is known now as the homily was given in French,” Boule’ says.

Deacon Mark Bennett says, “Last year we had a few Masses in French in response to parishioners wanting to highlight their heritage.”

Up until 1964, Catholic priests all over the world practiced their masses in Latin, but were allowed to give their sermons in whichever language the lay people spoke. After 1964, St. Peter's Masses switched from Latin to English.

“I remember, though I was young, that the priests also went from facing the altar during Mass to facing the people,” says Denise Tetreault, a secretary and lifelong parishioner of St. Peter’s.

Tetreaults parents, Slyvia Guay and Charles Filion, were married at St. Peter’s in 1958. Her and her twin Lise were born a year later. Tetreault and her husband, Scott, were married in 1987 by his relative Father Tetreault.

Today, Saint Peter’s has more than 1,800 parishioners, the largest congregation in the Ogdensburg Diocese, and around 75 percent claim a French-Canadian background.

"For a large number of French-speaking Catholics, there was a very close bond with this church."

 “Before ’65, and even in a certain way today, Catholicism was an integral part of these people’s lives. For a large number of French-speaking Catholics, there was a very close bond with this church, a strong identity and ethnic community”, says Father Yonkovig. “Children played hockey every winter on a rink behind the church. Even today, despite the fact that people have moved out of town, they come back for midnight Christmas Mass.”

St. Peter’s Church’s impact on the community of Plattsburgh has been far from limited to just its parishioners; the church has run a soup kitchen for many years, and in 1971, Father Roland H. St. Pierre was elected mayor of the City of Plattsburgh. Father St. Pierre ran three times, first as a Republican, then as a Democrat, and finally as an Independent. He won all three times, and is believed to be the first Catholic priest elected mayor of a city in the United States.

Father Yonkovig remembers Father St. Pierre, “He was an interesting character and a great man. A community organizer before the word became popular. Very humble, and when he passed away, he asked to not have an obituary printed.”

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