BARTHÉLEMY, MICHEL, priest, Sulpician, missionary; b. 1638 in the diocese of Paris; d. 11 April 1706 at Montreal.

Barthélemy arrived in Montreal in 1665. In the autumn of 1668 M. Thubières* de Queylus sent him, along with Dollier de Casson, to spend the winter among the Algonkins in order to learn their language and become familiar with their way of life, but the experiment was cut short. Not long after, perhaps in 1672, he went off to serve as a missionary to the Iroquois who had recently settled on the north shore of Lake Ontario, on the Bay of Kenté (Quinte); he joined Claude Trouvé and François de Salignac* de La Mothe-Fénelon, who had been there since 1668. He remained not quite seven years, endeavouring with his fellow religious to learn the Indians’ language, and to give instruction particularly to the young Indians, occasionally baptizing the dying, children or adults. But by 1675, because of the inconstant character of the Iroquois, serious thought was being given to abandoning the Mission, and in 1680 this step reluctantly had to be taken.

Barthélemy returned to Montreal in 1679 and first became the school-master at the Iroquois mission of La Montagne which M. Bailly* had been directing for three years. Then the following year we find him at Ville-Marie, where he was in charge of singing at the parish church and looked after the French primary schools in cooperation with M. Souart*. But ministering to the Indians still attracted him. He learned the Algonkins’ language, not to go as a missionary to their country but to take care of those among them who, old or sick, came in rather great numbers to seek aid from the French at Ville-Marie.

In 1686 he was sent to found the parish of Rivière-des-Prairies, north of Montreal Island. He is supposed to have built the first chapel there around 1690, but in 1692 he was obliged to return to the seminary at Montreal because of the depopulation of his parish resulting from the incessant incursions by the Iroquois; in 1689 he himself had been besieged in the mill at Rivière-des-Prairies by a band of Indians.

On his return to Montreal he took up again his office of curate and his ministry to the Algonkins. His concern for them was truly admirable. He was not content with taking care of them himself, but every year for nearly 30 years he requested that aid be furnished them, either by settling them on the Rivière de l’Assomption, or by joining them with the Iroquois at the fort at La Montagne, or by building lodges for them near Ville-Marie. But, although people admired his zeal and did not wish to discourage him, the reply was always that his projects appeared too costly or impracticable. He also urged that other missionaries study the Algonkin language, which he alone knew, and he offered his services to teach it to them in six months. In the end his insistence had favourable results. Thanks to it, the famous Algonkin mission of Île aux Tourtres, at the west end of Montreal Island, was founded in 1703 by M. de Breslay, parish priest of Sault-Saint-Louis.

Michel Barthélemy died at Montreal 11 April 1706.

Antonio Dansereau