The Jesuits at Fort St. Joseph in Southwest Michigan

Abstract

Abstract The site of Fort St. Joseph in southwest Michigan began as a mission in the 1680s when the Jesuits were granted a tract of land by the French crown along the St. Joseph River. For almost eighty years, the Jesuits tended to the souls of the Fort St. Joseph community. The presence of a marriage and baptismal register (1720–61) and archaeological remains testify to their religious activities in the eighteenth century. While it is difficult to measure Jesuit success at winning converts and the sincerity of the beliefs of both the French and Natives in their flock, documentary and material evidence inform on Jesuit practices. Catholicism endured among the denizens of the fort and was adopted by nearby Native peoples.