Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg

Beginnings

The area covered by the Diocese of Ogdensburg was originally inhabited by the Iroquois. The 1600s saw the arrival of French, Dutch, and English fur-traders. Initially Catholics in the North Country were served by priests from Quebec.^[1]

In 1749, the Mission of The Holy Trinity was established by Sulpician Abbé François Picquet from Montreal, who built a mission fort named Fort de La Présentation near the junction of the Oswegatchie River and the St Lawrence River. Bishop de Pontbriand of Quebec visited in 1752. During the French and Indian War the fort was garrisoned by French-Canadian military, but abandoned in favor of Fort Lévis.^[2]

Diocese of Baltimore

During the Colonial Period and until the end of the American Revolution, the Church in New York State was under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate of London. The first settlers in the region were Protestants from New England. It was only towards 1790 that Acadian Catholic immigrants occupied lands around Corbeau, now Coopersville, near Lake Champlain, where they were occasionally visited by missionaries from Fort Laprairie, Canada.^[2] After the Revolution the area came under the Apostolic Prefecture of the United States, which became in 1789 the Diocese of Baltimore.

Diocese of New York

In 1808 the area became part of the new Diocese of New York. In 1818, a colony of French and German Catholics was brought to Jefferson County by Jacques Leray, son of Count Jacques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont, who built for them, and also for an Irish settlement, several Catholic churches. At the same time Irish and French Canadian immigrants began to arrive and soon there arose several Catholic missions.^[2] By 1833 there were congregations established in Ogdensburg, Carthage, and Plattsburg, although Carthage did not as yet have a church. Each of them served a number of mission stations, while Minerva, New York was served by Father J. Quinn, who travelled from Troy, New York, 100 miles away.

Diocese of Albany

In 1847 the northern section of the Diocese of New York was split off to become the newly created Diocese of Albany, and an influx of Irish immigrants saw an increase in parishes throughout the area. Missions were established at Antwerp, Belleville, Canton, and many other places. Under Bishop John McCloskey new parishes were founded at Cape Vincent, Hogansburg, Keeseville, and elsewhere. In 1860, Bishop McCloskey put the parish at Carthage under interdict for two years, when disputes between factions resulted in violent confrontations. In 1864 McCloskey established St. Joseph's Provincial Seminary at Troy, which trained priests for the Archdiocese until it was relocated to Dunwoodie in 1896.^[3]

On February 16, 1872 the Diocese of Ogdensburg was established.

Bishops of Ogdensburg

The list of bishops and their years of service:

1. Edgar Philip Prindle Wadhams (1872-1891)
2. Henry Gabriels (1892-1921)
3. Joseph Henry Conroy (1921-1939)
4. Francis Joseph Monaghan (1939-1942)
5. Bryan Joseph McEntegart (1943-1953), appointed Rector of The Catholic University of America and later Bishop of Brooklyn and Archbishop (ad personam)
6. Walter P. Kellenberg (1954-1957), appointed Bishop of Rockville Centre
7. James Johnston Navagh (1957-1963), appointed Bishop of Paterson
8. Leo Richard Smith (1963)
9. Thomas Andrew Donnellan (1964-1968), appointed Archbishop of Atlanta
10. Stanislaus Joseph Brzana (1968-1993)
11. Paul Stephen Loverde (1994-1999), appointed Bishop of Arlington
12. Gerald Michael Barbarito (2000-2003), Bishop of Palm Beach
13. Robert Joseph Cunningham (2004-2009), appointed Bishop of Syracuse
14. Terry R. LaValley (2010-present)

Coadjutor Bishops

• Francis Joseph Monaghan (1936-1939)

Auxiliary Bishops

• Joseph Henry Conroy (1912-1921), appointed Bishop of Ogdensburg