The  present  Bishop  of  Mobile  was  born  in  Boston,
Massachusetts,  on  March  17,  1853,  and  received  his  edu-
cation at  St.  Mary's  College,  Emmitsburg,  where  he  was
ordained  to  the  priesthood  on  December  17,  1881.  Three
years  later  he  was  appointed  President  of  Mount  Saint
Mary's  and  was  designated  Bishop  of  Mobile  on  April  10,
1897.  The  late  Cardinal  Gibbons  consecrated  him  Bishop
in  the  Cathedral  at  Baltimore  on  May  16,  1897.
III.  Diocese  of  Natchez  (1837)

The  Diocese  of  Natchez  was  erected  on  July  28,  1837,
by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  The  Reverend  John  J.  Chanche  was
appointed  its  first  Bishop  on  December  15,  1840.
The  territorial  limits  of  the  Diocese  when  erected  were
and  still  are  confined  to  the  State  of  Mississippi;  an  area
of  46,840  square  miles.
Janssens  (F.).  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  City  of
Natchez,  Mlssissip2n,  Natchez,  1886;  DeCourcy-Shea,  op.  cit.,  p.  601
seq.;  Shea,  History,  Vol.  iv,  p.  275  seq.;  CHR,  Vol,  di,  p.  131.
1.  Chanche.  John  M.
Bishop  Chanche  was  born  on  October  4,  1795,  at
Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  at  the  age  of  eleven  he  entered
St.  Mary's  College.  Archbishop  Marechal  ordained  him
to  the  priesthood  on  June  5,  1819.  Sometime  later  Father
Chanche  joined  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice  and  was  made
a  professor  in  St.  Mary's,  of  which  he  became  president
in  September,  1834.  Appointed  to  the  See  of  Natchez  on
Decemb'er,  1840,  he  was  consecrated  at  Baltimore  on  March
14,  1841,  by  Archbishop  Eccleston.  While  visiting  at
Frederick,  Maryland,  he  was  attacked  >vith  an  illness  which
resulted  in  his  death  on  July  23,  1852.
