Charles Chiniquy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Chiniquy

Father Charles CHINIQUY (1809-1899) was of French-Spanish parentage; he was ordained a Catholic priest in 1833 for the diocese of Quebec. He visited the Chicago and the Bourbonnais region in 1851, and was invited by the bishop to found a parish for French-Canadian settlers. He chose a site 15 miles southeast of what was to become Kankakee in 1853. After serving as pastor of Maternity Parish in Bourbonnais for several months in 1852-1853, Father CHINIQUY moved to his new location, named St. Anne after the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in September of 1853. He was responsible for the migration of some 5000 Canadians into this area through his glowing accounts of the Illinois farm land, being noted for his eloquence.

Very soon, however, Father CHINIQUY became the center of stormy controvery; the same type of accusation for which he had reportedly be asked to leave Canada by his bishop was levelled against him in St. Anne: charges of immorality. He had been accused of burning down the church at Bourbonnais just before leaving that town, and was defended against the charge by none other than Abraham LINCOLN. (The case twice ended in a deadlocked jury). Fr. CHINIQUY also ran afoul of a local realtor, as well as other priests in the area. But what what actually precipitated his excommunication in 1856 apparently was heresy. The priest would say mass in French (anticipating Vatican II by over a century!) and holding up the Bible as the sole rule of faith. Refusing to turn over the church property to the bishop, Fr. Chinquy established his own "Christian Catholic Church of St. Anne" after two years of fruitless negotiations with church officials. Roman Catholic parishioners of St. Anne were forced to attend services at the church in Beaverville (Ste-Marie), seven miles away, for several years after the schism.

About three-fouths of the Catholic community followed Father CHINIQUY (some writers place the percentage even higher), although a number of these later returned to the faith of their ancestors. Many families were divided by the schism, including that of Pierre-Joachim LEVESQUE and Aglae SAINT-PIERRE.

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The New England Conference of the Methodist Church's "French Work" (converting French-Canadian Catholics to Protestanism) as reported by Rev. Louis N. BEAUDRY, at the Conference's Annual Meeting:

The July 1889 visit of the Rev. Charles CHINIQUY, and, "the large number he reached through his eloquent tongue" causing "a considerable number" of Catholics to renounce the Church of Rome.

Source: American-Canadian Genealogist Official Journal of the American-Canadian Genealogical Society