The 14-year-old niece of Blessed Pierre Toussaint, a former slave from Haiti who is now a candidate for sainthood, Euphemie was born c.1801 to the holy man's sister, Rosalie, and a husband who'd later abandoned her. When Rosalie died of tuberculosis, Toussaint and his wife, who were childless, adopted Euphemie and raised her as their own daughter. Although the young girl suffered from tuberculosis all of her brief life, she found a loving home with the saintly couple, and grew to be a lively, happy teenager who thrived on song and dance. Blessed Pierre subsquently provided her with music lessons, and himself taught her to be literate in both French and English, requiring that she write two letters to him every week, one in each language. The on-going assignment produced some 500 letters, still in existence today, which give a charming account of life in lower Manhattan during the early 1800's from the perspective of a bright, endearing schoolgirl. Unfortunately, Euphemie died at 14 of the disease that had claimed her mother's life, predeceasing Blessed Pierre and Juliette Toussaint, who were profoundly grieved by her loss. They joined her in the Toussaint plot after their respective deaths in the mid-1800's. As the cause for Pierre Toussaint's canonization gained momentum a century later, his body was transferred uptown to the crypt at St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue in 1990. The remains of young Euphemie and Mrs. Toussaint are still together here in Old St. Patrick's churchyard, however.
"Anonymous" Grave Photo by Nikita Barlow, 2002
"Anonymous" Grave Photo by Nikita Barlow, 2002
The 14-year-old niece of Blessed Pierre Toussaint, a former slave from Haiti who is now a candidate for sainthood, Euphemie was born c.1801 to the holy man's sister, Rosalie, and a husband who'd later abandoned her. When Rosalie died of tuberculosis, Toussaint and his wife, who were childless, adopted Euphemie and raised her as their own daughter. Although the young girl suffered from tuberculosis all of her brief life, she found a loving home with the saintly couple, and grew to be a lively, happy teenager who thrived on song and dance. Blessed Pierre subsquently provided her with music lessons, and himself taught her to be literate in both French and English, requiring that she write two letters to him every week, one in each language. The on-going assignment produced some 500 letters, still in existence today, which give a charming account of life in lower Manhattan during the early 1800's from the perspective of a bright, endearing schoolgirl. Unfortunately, Euphemie died at 14 of the disease that had claimed her mother's life, predeceasing Blessed Pierre and Juliette Toussaint, who were profoundly grieved by her loss. They joined her in the Toussaint plot after their respective deaths in the mid-1800's. As the cause for Pierre Toussaint's canonization gained momentum a century later, his body was transferred uptown to the crypt at St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th Avenue in 1990. The remains of young Euphemie and Mrs. Toussaint are still together here in Old St. Patrick's churchyard, however.
"Anonymous" Grave Photo by Nikita Barlow, 2002
"Anonymous" Grave Photo by Nikita Barlow, 2002
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