Augustus Marie Martin

Who was Augustus Marie Martin?

Augustus Marie Martin was a French-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the first Bishop of Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Martin born in Saint-Malo, Brittany, and studied under Jean-Marie de Lamennais. As a seminarian, he was employed at the Grand Almonry of France in Paris under Cardinal Gustave Maximilien Juste de Croÿ-Solre. He was ordained to the priesthood in September, 1825. He served as pastor in Bleurais and Vern before being assigned as chaplain of the Royal College of Rennes where he served until 1839, when he accepted an invitation from Bishop Célestine Guynemer de la Hailandière to join the Diocese of Vincennes in Indiana.

After arriving in the United States, Martin served as pastor of St. Vincent's Church in Logansport and the Vincennes Cathedral and as vicar general of the diocese, in addition to engaging in the missions of Indiana. His health failing, he was then transferred to Louisiana, where he appointed to St. Martin's Church at Attakapas. In 1847 he became pastor of St. Joseph's in Baton Rouge, St. John's at the Plains, and St. Magdalen's in Manchac., and was transferred to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Natchitoches in 1849. He was made vicar forane of north Louisiana under Archbishop Blanc in 1850.