Catholic Church. Diocese of Bardstown (Ky.)

On April 8, 1808 the Roman Catholic dioceses of Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Bardstown (Ky.) were established. The Kentucy diocese included: "Kentucky, Tennessee, the Territories northwest of Ohio, and extending to the Great Lakes, and which lie between them and the diocese of Canada, and extending along them to the boundary of Pennsylvania ..." (p.308, The Catholic Church in Detroit, 1701-1888 by George Pare.) The bull erecting the Detroit Diocese was issued on March 20, 1827. Father Gabriel Richard was named as its first bishop, but that was suppressed until his death on Sept. 13, 1832. In 1818 six parishes were begun by the new Bishop Joseph Flaget, including: Monroe, Ecorse, Rouge, Grosse Pointe, St. Clair, and a site between Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron. Detroit was again made a diocese on March 8, 1833, and included: Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and portions of North and South Dakota (p. 10-11, Development of the Catholic Church in the Great Lakes Region, 1962.).