On this day (September 7), Bishop Francis Silas Chatard died in Indianapolis.
Chatard was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 13, 1834 — shortly after Simon Brute had become the first Bishop of Vincennes. Chatard was destined to bring the Catholic Church in Indiana into the 20th century.
Chatard began life as Silas Francis Marean Chatard. Marean being his mother’s maiden name. When he became a bishop he switched this first and middle names. His history prior to becoming the fifth Bishop of Vincennes and the first Bishop of Indianapolis has been written here before, however.
Chatard always seemed destined for bigger and better things, but they never materialized. He had been mentioned as a possible replacement for the Archbishop of Philadelphia in 1883 and in 1899 he suffered a stroke, which led to the naming of an Auxiliary bishop.
When he died, his body was interred in the crypt of the cathedral, Indianapolis. On June 8, 1976, Bishop Chatard’s remains were transferred from the cathedral, Indianapolis, to the Calvary Chapel Mausoleum, Indianapolis.
