PROULX, JEAN-BAPTISTE, (he signed some works with the pseudonym Joannes Iovhanné), Roman Catholic priest, professor, editor, university administrator, and author; b. 7 Jan. 1846 in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Lower Canada, son of Jean-Baptiste Proulx, dit Clément, and Adéline Lauzon; d. 1 March 1904 in the Ottawa General Hospital and was buried 5 March in Saint-Lin, Que. Jean-Baptiste Proulx was a descendant of Jean Prou & Catherine Pinel.
Little is known of Jean-Baptiste Proulx's early years. He entered the seminary of Saint-Hyacinthe in 1825, attended the minor seminary of Montreal in 1829-1830 and began his theological studies in 1831. Bishops Jean-Jacques Lartigue and Rémi Gaulin ordained him to the priesthood on July 26, 1835, in Montreal, and on September 26 he was assigned to Laprairie (La Prairie).
The following month, however, he was transferred to the diocese of Kingston, Upper Canada, where Bishop Coadjutor Gaulin planned to send him to Penetanguishene, where Catholics had tried to establish missions in the 17th century.
Significant demographic and administrative changes were taking place in Upper Canada when Proulx began his missionary work in Penetanguishene in early November 1835. Immigration had considerably increased the province's Catholic population, necessitating an expansion of church activity. Growing in strength, the Church resumed its missionary work among the Indians, and even succeeded in sending the French-speaking priest they had requested in 1833 to the Coldwater-Penetanguishene area. This progress was accompanied by significant changes in the policy and administrative organization of the Department of Indian Affairs. The reserve system, first introduced in the 1830s and designed to promote cultural assimilation, emphasized physical isolation, education and religion to "civilize" the Indians. This policy, coupled with the obtuse enthusiasm of Lieutenant-Governor Sir Francis Bond Head, led to the selection of Manitoulin Island as a reserve for the entire Indian population of Upper Canada. In 1836, the island was ceded to the Indians by treaty, but the project was to end in failure.
Proulx must have been particularly affected by these changes, as he was transferred to the island mission in 1837. The following year, the Church of England also founded a mission there, led first by Reverend Charles Crosbie Brough and then, after 1841, by Frederick Augustus O'Meara. The relationship between the two missions only exacerbated the differences that already existed between the Indians of Manitoulin Island. The village of Manitowaning, where the Department of Indian Affairs established its main office in 1837-1838 under the leadership of an experienced man, Superintendent Thomas Gummersall Anderson, remained the center of the "official" Anglican community: Catholic Indians and dissenters retreated to Wikwemikong, where they organized a kind of local "counter-culture". The Proulx mission became a focal point for this second community.
There were frequent quarrels between the communities of Wikwemikong and Manitowaning. The Department of Indian Affairs wanted to set up model farming communities; the Anglican mission complied, but found itself in a marginal position.
The Catholic mission, on the other hand, fostered a sense of independence from the government establishment, and the Wikwemikong band, while doing some farming, led a traditional life based on hunting and fishing. In Manitowaning, the bitterness engendered by Proulx's disregard of many of Superintendent Anderson's directives became even stronger in the face of Wikwemikong's growth and success. Between the Catholic missionary and the Indian Affairs office in Manitowaning, as well as the evangelical Irish Anglican clergy, relations were sometimes cold, sometimes hostile.
In addition to these political and administrative problems, Proulx had to contend with the usual difficulties caused by the rigors of winter and the cultural barriers created by the diversity of Indian dialects. But, despite this, he persisted and succeeded, apparently better than his counterparts in the Anglican clergy, in winning the affection of his flock. Brough himself recognized the zeal and energy displayed by this "industrious and enterprising Catholic priest". Proulx's success as a missionary was due to two things. The Catholic Church was more flexible than the Church of England in its goals for the Christian way of life, equating conversion with participation in the outward aspects of Church life rather than a radical change in lifestyle. On the other hand, by establishing himself at Wikwemikong, Proulx demonstrated his independence from Manitowaning, and the Indians who feared that center's aims were more attracted to the Catholic mission than to the Anglican one.
On December 19, 1846, the Catholic Bishop of Toronto, Michael Power, in whose diocese Manitoulin Island was then located, appointed this seasoned missionary to Newmarket, giving him responsibility for neighboring townships in York and Simcoe counties. In 1848, Proulx was transferred to Oshawa. Although he had expressed a desire to minister to the Indians of Red River (Manitoba), he was unable to leave due to the lack of priests in the diocese; instead, the missionary traveled throughout most of Ontario County for the next 12 years, ministering to the needs of the fledgling Catholic community. He directed the building and enlargement of churches in Highland Creek and Oshawa, where he founded a "separate" school, and arranged for the purchase of land for parsonages and other churches. In 1860, he was called to Toronto, where, after a brief stay at St. Michael's Cathedral, he was appointed Garrison Chaplain. Assistant to John Walsh at St Mary's parish in 1862, he became parish priest in 1867. Three years later, Bishop John Joseph Lynch appointed him Dean of St Michael's Cathedral, in recognition of his effectiveness as advisor and administrator. Proulx remained dean until his death. In 1879, he was honored with the title of domestic prelate. He died suddenly two years later, while visiting his brother in Terrebonne.
Proulx's career illustrates some important but often overlooked themes in Ontario history. The difficulties of implementing the Indian reserve system are evident from his years in Penetanguishene and Manitoulin, and the impact of large immigrant groups on religious structures is evident from his work in the Toronto diocese. Proulx's life spans the period during which the pioneer community of Upper Canada formed the province of Ontario, and the study of his career offers a useful perspective on this subject.
Ref. Douglas Leighton, "PROULX, JEAN-BAPTISTE (1808-1881)", in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 11, Université Laval/University of Toronto, 2003- , consulted Feb. 15, 2014,
http://www.biographi.ca/fr/bio/proulx_jean_baptiste_1808_1881_11F.html
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