Jennesseaux, Joseph

• Joseph Jennesseaux, s.j.

Joseph Jennesseaux was born in Rheims, France on April 12, 1810; a trained woodworker, he entered the Society of Jesus in Aix-en-Provence in December of 1831 and proceeded to work as a carpenter at various Jesuit houses around France. After a miraculous recovery from an injury, Brother Jennesseaux vowed to volunteer as a foreign missionary, and was soon enlisted as one of the initial nine Jesuits who would accompany Pierre Chazelle, S.J. to Montreal in 1842 to re-establish Jesuit practice in Canada following the Suppression.

Brother Jennesseaux spent his first years learning Algonquin with the Sulpicians who were stationed at Oka (near Montreal). In 1843, he relocated to Sandwich, Canada West, to continue studying language before proceeding for the next six years to Walpole Island, Lake St. Clair. Here, Brother Jennesseaux was met with strong resistance from the local Indigenous population, evidenced by the burning of a chapel and residence; ultimately, the Governor General ordered the Jesuits to leave.

Brother Jennesseaux next relocated to the Holy Cross Mission at Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island where he would stay until his death, working for the church, teaching children, and supervising the construction and repair of buildings including a new stone church, classrooms, and a convent for the Daughters of the Heart of Mary. Additionally, Brother Jennesseaux worked as a language interpreter for the Mission’s doctor and helped distribute medicine; he set up a press at the Mission to print prayerbooks and schoolbooks.

In 1883, due to waning health, Brother Jennesseaux returned to France, where he died in 1884.