Chartier, Father Stephen, Rapides, Louisiana, to Bishop Anthony Blanc, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1844

Report of the pastor of Rapides and Avoyelles to be taken to the Diocesan Synod of 1844. Chartier, born December 26, 1798, was ordained in Québec on December 28, 1828. He was named pastor of St. Francis Xavier at Rapides at the end of last October. He knows of only 2 lots in Alexandria belonging to the church: the one on which the church is built and the other on which is the presbytery. He gives the dimensions of the church and a list of its furnishings and sacred vessels. Chartier took over the parish of St. Paul in Avoyelles on last July 23. He gives an estimate of the Catholic population and the dimensions of the church. There is a rural chapel 18 miles away on the other side of the Red River. He gives the pastor's salary and fees, the furnishings of the church, the number of baptisms and Easter Communions. There are three Catholic schools: one for girls, run by the Misses De Gééè ; one for boys by their cousin Edouard Géèè in Father Nicholas Francais ' house near the church; a third, mixed, run by an Irishman, near the rural chapel, whom he has not yet met. :: V-5-a Incomplete French 4pp. 4to.