Francis Bennon Ducrue

Who was Francis Bennon Ducrue?

Francis Bennon Ducrue was a missionary in Mexico, b. in Munich, Bavaria, of French parents, 10 June 1721; d. there 30 March 1779. He became a member of the Society of Jesus in 1738, and ten years later was sent to California, where he laboured zealously until the expulsion of the order in 1767. When that untoward event took place, Ducrue was the superior of all the California missions. He submitted uncomplainingly to the decree of expulsion and even cooperated with the royal commission in enforcing its provisions. The Jesuits withdrew, taking with them only their clothes and a few books; this was all the wealth they carried away from California after seventy years of work in its missions. Ducrue eventually returned to his native land. He wrote in Latin A Journey from California through the district of Mexico to Europe in the year 1767 which was translated into German for the Nachrichten von verschiedenen Ländern des spaniscvhen Amerika of Christoph von Murr, and was translated into French and published by Fr. Carayon in his Documents Inédits. Murr also gives some interesting specimens of the language of California, which were communicated to him by Ducrue.