Born: St-Denis-sur-Richelieu, (Lower Canada), September 17, 1826.
Took the habit: Bytown, November 8, 1848.
Vows: Bytown, November 8, 1849 (N. 261).
Priestly ordination: Bytown, December 24, 1849.
Left the Congregation: 1851.
Died: Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada, December 15, 1895.
Joseph Édouard Napoléon Mignault was born in Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu, then in he diocese of Québec, on September 17, 1826. His parents were Joseph Édouard Mignault and Libère Ménard. He studied at the college of Saint-Hyacinthe, entered the novitiate in Bytown (Ottawa) on November 8, 1848 and took vows on November 8 1849. On the preceding August 1, the general council had admitted him to profession with the following note: “This Brother, according to the notes provided by Bishop Guigues, is regular in his observance, has talents, does very well as a teacher in the new college in Bytown, and has other qualities to make him an apostolic man in our Congregation.”
Bishop Bruno Guigues ordained him to the priesthood on December 24, 1849. The young priest was immediately appointed director of studies in the college of Bytown (1849-185010, then superior (1850-1851). He left the Congregation and became pastor in L’Original, Ontario (1851) and ministered to the French-speaking population of Worcester, Massachusetts (1851-1853). Later he was in Keeseville, New York (1857), Hudson, Wisconsin (1857-1858), Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (1858-1859), Keshna, Wisconsin (1863-1864), and Saint Titus of Titusville, Pennsylvania (1864-1871). He was a military chaplain for four years during the war of independence and afterwards took ill. He retired to Saint-Hyacinthe (1889-1895) and died on December 15, 1895.
Yvon Beaudoin
and Gaston Carrière, o.m.i.
