Ste. Anne Church / Gabriel Richard

On July 26, 1701, two days after his arrival, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the founder of Detroit, built a chapel dedicated to Saint Anne, patron saint of New France. Father François Vaillant, a Jesuit, and Father Nicholas Constantine Delhalle, a Franciscan, were instrumental in the founding of the parish. The church records, which date from 1704, are now the second oldest continuous Roman Catholic parish records in the nation. From 1833 to 1844, Ste. Anne’s was the Cathedral Church for the diocese of Michigan and the Northwest. The cornerstone for the present Gothic Revival building, the parish’s eighth home, was laid in 1886. The handsome structure, designed by parishioner Leon Coquard, displays the oldest stained glass in the city. In the Gabriel Richard Chapel, enclosed in a marble tomb, lie the remains of Father Gabriel Richard. Gabriel Richard Father Gabriel Jacques Richard, S.S., (1767-1832)—pastor, educator and public servant—arrived in Detroit in 1798. In 1802 he became the pastor of Ste. Anne Church. He brought a printing press to the area and in 1809 printed Michigan’s first newspaper, The Michigan Essay or Impartial Observer. In 1817 Richard and the Reverend John Monteith, a Presbyterian, became the first professors of the University of Michigania, the territory’s pioneer educational establishment. Richard also established schools for girls and for Indian children. From 1823 to 1825 Richard was Michigan Territory’s delegate to the United States Congress. As a delegate, he was instrumental in gaining support for the Territorial Road, which linked Detroit and Chicago, opening Michigan to settlement. He died of cholera on September 13, 1832.