Illinois First Citizen Pierre Gibault

Pierre Gibault was born in Montreal in 1737. He was ordained in 1768 and subsequently ordered to the British Illinois Country, where he settled in Kaskaskia. He became known as the Patriot Priest for his actions during the American Revolutionary War, and was instrumental in securing both the allegiance of the local French to the American cause and acceptance by local merchants of rather worthless Virginia paper money for supplies. He dedicated the first church in St. Louis. He carried a flintlock musket and two pistols with him during his regular travels to Le Pe, Vincennes, Cahokia, St. Louis, Fort St. Joseph and Ste. Geneviève. Just how effective he was is shown in the British correspondence, “Could I catch the priest—Mr. Gibault—who has blown the trumpet of rebellion for the Americans, I should send him down unhurt to Your Excellency, to get the reward for his zeal.”