242 



THE FRENCH BLOOD IN AMERICA 



Service as 

 Interpreter 

 and Guide 



A Tribute 



nots of Westchester, that wlieu Mr. Houdin and his 

 wife reached New York, in .Time, 1744, Governor Clinton, 

 suspicions of all Frenchmen, confined the strangers to 

 their lodgings, and set two sentinels to guard them. His 

 Excellency summoned them before him, when Mr. Houdin 

 first informed him that the French intended to attack 

 Oswego with eight hundred men, being long desirous of 

 possessing that town. After filling the office of mission- 

 ary for some years in Trenton, New Jersey, he was em- 

 ployed, in 1759, as a guide to General Wolfe, in his expedi- 

 tion against Quebec. Before he undertook this business, 

 he preached to the Provincial trooi)S destined for Canada, 

 in St. Peter's Church, Westchester, from St. Matthew 

 10:28: "Fear not them which kill the body." This 

 church, at that time, was the only parochial place of 

 worship) in a district of many miles, including Fordham, 

 New Rochelle, West Farms, etc. The chaplain escaped 

 the danger of the war ; but the gallant Wolfe fell, mor- 

 tally wounded, at the moment of victory, on the Heights 

 of Abraham, September 13, 1759. After the reduction 

 of Quebec, Mr. Houdin asked permission to return to his 

 mission again, but General Murray would not consent, as 

 there was no other person who could be relied on for in- 

 telligence concerning the French movements. 



Returning to New York in 1761, he was appointed to 

 New Rochelle, which village, as well as Fordham, was 

 considered within the spiritual jurisdiction of West- 

 chester Village, then the only parish in the county. The 

 French church was named Trinity, and received, at this 

 time, a charter from George the Third, dated 1762. Mr. 

 Houdin served until his death in 1766. " He was a man 

 of considerable learning and research, as well as of irre- 

 proachable character. He was not excelled in zeal and 

 energy by any of his predecessors, and was followed to the 

 grave by the regrets of his numerous parishioners. He 

 was interred under the chancel of the old French church, 

 in the same grave with Bondet and Stouppe. Since the 



