Religious Leader. He was the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Upper Michigan. A priest to the Ojibway Indians, his efforts to evanglize these Native Americans and to improve their lives was well known.  A county, a village, a street, a township and numerous shrines have been named for him.  For twenty years he labored to compile grammar and dictionary of the Ojibway language.  The manuscript ran to 1,700 pages and is still the most authoritative source for that native tongue today.  Beginning in 1835, he served the Ojibway in Michigan’s upper peninsula, first as priest, then as bishop, until his death.  He was often the first “blackrobe” the Native Americans had seen since the French Jesuits evangilized the region 150 years earlier.  He was consecrated as the first bishop of northern Michigan on All Saint’s Day, 1853.  It is said he baptized some four thousand Native Americans during his mission years. (bio by: David M. Habben)