- Jean Pierron
Jean Pierron (born at
Dun-sur-Meuse , France,28 September 1631 ; date and place of death unknown) was a FrenchJesuit missionary to Canada.Life
He entered the Jesuit novitiate at
Nancy , 21 November, 1650, and after studying atPont-à-Mousson he became an instructor atReims andVerdun . He completed the curriculum in 1665 and spent two years more as an instructor atMetz .On his arrival in Canada in June, 1667, he was sent to the
Iroquois mission ofSainte-Marie . in a letter written the same year he described his impressions of the country, the characteristics and customs of the Iroquois, and expressed an admiration for the Iroquois language, which reminded him of Greek. He arrived atTionontoguen , the principal village of theMohawk Nation , on 7 October, 1668, where he replacedJacques Frémin . These people were one of the most flourishing of the Iroquois nations: warriors, and difficult to convert.Father Pierron made use of pictures which he painted himself in order to make his teachings more impressive, and invented a game by means of which the Indians learned the doctrines and devotions of the Church. He taught the children to read and write.
He spent one winter in
Acadia to ascertain if it were possible to re-establish the missions which had been expelled in 1655, and travelled throughNew England ,Maryland (which at that time had a Catholic governor,Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore ), andVirginia . Returning to the Iroquois, he worked among them until 1677 and went to France the following year.References
*Ed. Thwaites, "Jesuit Relations" (Cleveland, 1896-1901);
*Campbell, "Pioneer Priests of North America" (New York, 1909)
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