Abstract of Letter from Father Joseph Quérat at Refugio, Texas
to
Archbishop John Mary Odin, C.M., New Orleans, Louisiana

1864 Feb 2

A copy of the original letter with complete text
can be ordered from  the Archives of Notre Dame. 

Source:  The abstract below was prepared by archivists at Notre Dame and is posted on their website for researchers.  It has been re-printed here solely for the purpose of including the surnames in a search of this site.

"1864 Feb 2

"Quérat, Father (Joseph)
Refugio, (Texas)

"To Archbishop (John Mary Odin, C.M.
New Orleans, Louisiana)

"He offers (Odin) his prayers and respect. He would describe all the trials and difficulties caused by the war, but he knows they are even more severe in Louisiana. There is not one left to cultivate the land; the drought is so serious that everything will be ruined in a few weeks; there is no one to gather feed and the animals die by the thousands. Bishop (Claude Mary) Dubuis visited him in October. He accompanied the Bishop to Victoria for the consecration of a church which is the jewel of Texas. Despite wartime conditions there was an enormous gathering. Father (Sebastian) Augagneur died in September. Father (Antoine) Borias has gone to Brownsville to join the Oblates. Father (John) Gonnard is at Corpus-Christi since Borias left. The work is hard, and his health is weak. Joseph Fagan died in Arkansas. Captain James W. Byrne of Lamar has also died.

"P.S. Mrs. Gregory of Lamar, sister of Byrne, asks that Odin give the attached letter to her brother, Charles Byrne. Quérat has just learned that Father Borias died on the way to Brownsville. His horse froze to death, and Borias was found unconscious. A Mexican took him to Brownsville.

VI-2-h A.L.S. (French) 3pp. 10"

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