Reverend Frederic Baraga papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: S2360

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of photocopies or carbon copies of typed transcriptions. Papers are divided into three folders. Folders one and two contain correspondence from 1835 to 1847, from and pertaining to Reverend Baraga. Folder three contains Baraga's personal diary, the majority of which is written in German.

Correspondents include:

Ramsay Crooks, President, American Fur Company

T. Hartley Crawford, Commissioner of Indian Affairs

Robert Stuart, Acting Superintendent of Indian Affairs

William Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs

James Olto, Superintendent of Indian Affairs

James D. Hayes, Superintendent of Indian Affairs

Henry Schoolcraft, Explorer and Indian Agent

Rev. Edmund Ely

Antoina (Antoinette) De Hoeffer, Baraga's youngest sister

Dates

Creation: 1835-1860

Creator

Baraga, Frederic, 1797-1868 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Open for use in the Kathryn A. Martin Library, Archives and Special Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.

Biographical / Historical

Frederic Baraga was born on June 29, 1797, in the castle of Malavas, near Doberina, Austria. After receiving a law degree from the University of Vienna in 1821, he went to Laibach, Austria where he was ordained a priest September 21, 1823. After the founding in Vienna of the Leopoldine Society for Foreign Missions in 1830, Baraga volunteered for service in the United States and was sent to Cencinnati in 1831. In 1835, he was transferred from the Ottawa Missions to Western Lake Superior. Baraga arrived at La Pointe, Wisconsin, the American Fur Company's station on Madeline Island, on July 27, 1835. In his work he visited Grand Portage and Fond du lac, Minnesota. Baraga built the first Roman Catholic Mission at La Pointe, and the first Catholic Chapel, St. Joseph's, was dedicated August 9, 1835.

Baraga is well known for his study of the Ojibwe Language, on which he wrote several books, the most famous being Dictionary of the Ochipwe Language. Baraga died at Marquette, Michigan, on January 19, 1868.

Extent

0.50 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Physical Location

This collection is located at the University of Minnesota Duluth Archives. For more information about this collection or to make an appointment, contact us at libarchives@d.umn.edu or 218-726-8526.

General

This collection is part of the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, which are housed in the University of Minnesota Duluth Archives at the Kathryn A. Martin Library.