Benedict Joseph Flaget
First Bishop of Bardstown, born Contournat, France , 1763 ; died Louisville, Kentucky, 1850 . Educated at the Sulpician Seminary, Clermont, he joined the Society of Saint Sulpice in 1783 ; and was ordained priest at Issy, 1787 . He taught dogmatic theology at Nantes and at Angers, but left France during the Revolution and arrived at Baltimore , 1792 . He was appointed missionary to the Indians at Fort Vincennes, 1792 ; professor at Georgetown College, 1794 ; and then was sent to help found a college at Havana, 1798 . He returned to Baltimore , 1801 , and was consecrated Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky, 1810 . The diocese was large, having within its jurisdiction at first the territory now approximately comprising 10 states; it was devoid of funds and in need of spiritual care. Bishop Flaget consecrated his cathedral at Bardstown in 1819 . In 1834 his diocese was limited to Kentucky and Tennessee, and it soon had a seminary, 4 colleges, 3 religious orders of men, 3 convents , several academies, and an orphan asylum. A visit to Europe, 1835 -1839 , netted him financial aid for his diocese , which was transferred to Louisville, 1841 . Here he built a convent for the Religious of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd of Angers, 1843 , with his private funds.