Gabriel Richard (15 October 17 - 13 September 1832), is considered to be a 'second founder' of Detroit. The motto he first penned, Speramus mellora; resurget cineribus, is still used by the City of Detroit today.

• He was born in Saintes, in the then province of Saintonge, France to parents Pierre Richard and Marie Perrin.
• He entered the seminary in Angers in 1784 and was ordained on 15 October 1790.
• In 1792 Father Richard emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland and taught mathematics a St. Mary's College in Maryland until his assignment as a missionary in the Northwest Territory (Kaskaskia Illinois and then Detroit).
• In Detroit, he became the assistant pastor at Saint Anne's Church.
• In 1817 he founded a school which later became the University of Michigan.
• 1823-1825: he was the first Catholic priest to serve as a delegate to U.S. Congress from Michigan Territory.
• Father Richard's many accomplishments also include: Detroit's first Library, Detroit's first newspaper 'The Observer', helped to get a good road between Detroit and Chicago, co-founder of the Michigan Historical Society.

Sources

• Wikipédia
• World History Blog
• The Political Graveyard