Price:  $15.00            Size:  4 x 6 ½”

Post updated August 12 and September 4, 2025.

This card was found in an antique store in Dearborn, Michigan.

“En Souvenir du Jour de notre Ordination. P. V. Frecenon. Detroit, 18 9bre 95” 

Translated as “In Memory of the Day of our Ordination”  Signed P.V. Frecenon, November 18, 1895. (“9bre” was the standard French abbreviation at that time for November – the ninth month in the old Roman calendar.)

Rev. Fr. Joseph Frecenon (1851 – 1921)

Some years ago, when I was first researching this card – the fact that Father Frecenon’s signature seemingly shows, “P. V. Frecenon” – sort of threw me off. (Was he the same as the Rev. Joseph Frecenon showing up in Detroit city directories?) The answer is yes, he was/is. But we also see him in one city directory as “Rev. Francis J.” (could just have been an error) and then both, “Rev. Jos. E.” and “Rev. E. Jos.” in one of his own books. (Thanks to Brad P., who sent photos.) The fact that more given name variations were found in the revisiting of the post just seems funny to me. Funny as in an ethereal quality coming through….maybe there’s more to the story. Did he have a long baptismal name, perhaps? (Why am I getting so fixated on this? It’s that feeling of puzzle pieces hovering, close but invisible.) Anyway, so Fr. Frecenon is in the Detroit city directories, 1896 – 1904, as the assistant pastor of St. Joachim’s French Catholic Church. When I had contacted the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit back in 2013 they had let me know that they didn’t have a file for him because his ministry had not ended in that city, but I’d found that after Detroit he had been sent to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, 1904, about September.

A Chippewa County publication has a short biography:  The Rev. Joseph Frecenon was born in Martinique, West Indies, July 27, 1851. He was ordained October 28, 1874 in Paris. He was at Cellule, France for one year. He spent sixteen years at the French territorial islands, St. Pierre and Miquelon, south of the coast of Newfoundland. After that he was in Beauvais, France. Then (as far as we know) followed the assistant pastorship at St. Joachim Parish in Detroit. (St. Joachim sadly closed in 1989.) After St. Joachim he went to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, (1904) and was pastor there at Holy Ghost Church.

Thanks to Brad P., who has recently (2025) found the following (illustrated) book in Eau Claire, Wisconsin; author Rev. Jos. E. Frecenon. (Nice to have a little color introduced here!):

Checking old newspapers this time around is showing some clippings. (Did I not check the first time? Would have been quite negligent, if so):

New pastor, Fr. Frecenon in Chippewa Falls, September 1904:

A lengthy article that appeared in the Detroit Free Press, detailing the celebration for St. Joachim’s anniversary in 1911. Fr. Frecenon came from his parish in Chippewa Falls to participate, giving the sermon in French. It must have been a beautiful celebration:

From the Chippewa Herald Telegram, September 1913:

Obituary from the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, dated September 28, 1921:

Thank you again to Brad, for refocusing my attention back to Fr. F., but also to that particular time when the French Catholic churches were a still-close link to French pioneer history. As a Detroiter (albeit relocated) with heavy French and French-Canadian roots, and having grown up Catholic, I felt a particular poignancy and appreciation in reading the article on St. Joachim’s anniversary celebration. Note:  Family Search houses a small group of Caribbean records and does not have anything, as of this update, for Fr. Frecenon, though it would have been lovely to see a baptismal record. A more localized search would be needed and I won’t go there but Martinique records are now in the back of my mind.

Last but definitely not least, more from friend, Brad (huge thanks). The front and back covers of a Jubilee Souvenir, Chippewa Falls 1911 publication and within, the photo page of Fr. Frecenon (center) with Rev. A. J. Schmodry and Rev. Francis Olfen:

Sources:  Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995.

Frecenon, Rev. Jos. E., The Promises of the Sacred Heart. Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin (1909).

Chippewa County Wisconsin:  Past and Present:  A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement. Volume II. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, 1913. (books.google.com).

“Souvenir Album. In and Around Detroit 1910.” (freepages.rootsweb.com).

“To Close.” Catholic church closings. Detroit Free Press, January 9, 1989. Monday, p. 11. (Newspapers.com).

“Holy Ghost Church.” (ourladyofthefalls.org).

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, Archives Department. Detroit, Michigan, email contact September-October 2013.

“South Side Church.” Chippewa Herald-Telegram. September 18, 1904. Sunday, p. 3. (Newspapers.com).

“Anniversary of St. Joachim’s.”  June 19, 1911. Monday, p. 12. (Newspapers.com).

Chippewa Herald Telegram, September 28, 1913. Sunday, p. 7. (Newspapers.com).

“Rev. Joseph Frecenon.” Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), September 28, 1921. Wednesday, p. 8. (Newspapers.com).