On October 24, 1847, John Stephen Bazin was consecrated the third Bishop of Vincennes. The ceremony took place in the Cathedral of St. Francis Xavier and was presided over by Bishop Michael Portier of Mobile, assisted by Bishop Purcell of Cincinnati and Bishop de la Hailandiere, his predecessor.
Born in Duerne, Archdiocese of Lyons, France, October 15, 1796, Bazin was ordained a priest at Lyons, France, on July 22, 1822. He came to the United States in 1830 and began his work among the Catholics of 
Mobile, Alabama, where for seventeen years he toiled zealously for the religious instruction of the young, organizing the Sunday schools and establishing the Catholic Orphan Asylum Society. He was also the vicar-general of the diocese. In 1846 at the request of Bishop Portier, Father Bazin went to France to secure the services of the Society of Jesus for the College of Spring Hill, Alabama, the college still operates as a Jesuit institution. Bazin also served as President of the college. While in France he also secured the services of the Brothers of the Christian Schools for the Boys’ Orphan Asylum.
When the Bishop Celestine de la Hailandiere, Bishop of Vincennes, resigned his see in 1847, Father Bazin was consecrated his successor on the 24th of October of that year. His episcopal career, which promised to be one of great usefulness to the Church, was cut short by his untimely death.
He is buried in the crypt of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in vincennes, alongside Bishops Brute, Hailandiere and St. Palais.
