Toussaint

Venerable Pierre Toussaint was born a slave in Haiti in 1766 and died in New York City in 1853. As a slave he was brought to New York in 1787 and was apprenticed under a popular hairstylist in the city. He eventually became the most sought after hairdresser of high society women. Upon the death of his master he gained his freedom and was very successful as one of the country's first black entrepreneurs. He became wealthy, but instead of spending lavishly on himself, he supported the Church and the poor buying the freedom of many slaves. He and his wife sheltered orphans, refugees, and other street people in their home. He was the founder of many charitable works in the Catholic Church including one of New York's first orphanages and raised money for the city's cathedral. Even during yellow fever epidemics, Toussaint would risk his life to help others by nursing the sick and praying with the dying. On December 18, 1996 Pope John Paul II declared Pierre Toussaint VENERABLE in recognition of his heroic virtue. He is only lay person interred in St Patrick's Cathedral in New York City today.

Toussaint-L'Ouverture was one of the leaders in the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s.

This is the name of Sacajawea's abusive husband, a French Canadian fur trader.