Bishop John DuBois (August 24, 1764 – December 20, 1842) was the third bishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of New York.[1] He was the first presiding bishop to reside in the diocese.
He was ordained a priest on September 28, 1787 and ordained a bishop on October 29, 1826.
Father John DuBois, S.S.(1800–1811) was a especially significant person in the early days of St. John the Evangelist Church in Frederick, MD. He was a refugee from the French Revolution, who later became a Sulpician priest. In 1800 he began the construction of the first brick church on the North side of Second Street and named his church after St. John the Evangelist. The cornerstone of that structure was laid on May 15, 1800 and can be seen now in front of the present church. Father DuBois, S.S., later spent nearly eleven years as pastor of St. John's and twenty more in Emmitsburg, where he founded Mount St. Mary's College before being called to be bishop of the Catholic Diocese of New York.
Bishop DuBois served the diocese of New York as bishop from October 29, 1826 until his death on December 20, 1842.
In 1837 he traveled to Salina near Syracuse, to perform the marriage of Silas Titus and Eliza McCarthy, daughter of Thomas McCarthy (nominated first Mayor of Syracuse, New York) and sister of Dennis McCarthy. The marriage certificate became the first catholic record in Onondaga County. John McCloskey, later to become the first Archbishop of New York to be created cardinal, accompanied Bishop Dubois to Salina as a sherpa.[2]
According to a book entitled John Dubois: Founding Father by Rev. Richard Shaw (US Catholic Historical Society, 1983), Bishop Dubois is buried under the sidewalk at the entrance to Old St Patrick's on Mott Street, which he requested, so that people could "walk on me in death, as they did while I was living". He provides pictures which show a plaque at the entrance to the old church.
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| Preceded by John Connolly |
Bishop of New York 1826-1842 |
Succeeded by John Hughes |
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