Pierre Toussaint

Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853) was a Catholic layman. Born a slave in Haiti, he was freed in New York and became a successful business-man and philanthropist.

Scenes: Bottom right, Pierre reading a Kempis as a boy; Bottom left, Pierre practicing his trade of hairdressing; Left, his niece Euphemia; Top Left, buying treats for orphans with Euphemia; Top Right, attending mass at St Peter’s parish in NY; Right, his wife Juliette Toussaint.

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Venerable Pierre Toussaint was born a slave to the French Catholic Berard family in Haiti in 1766. Their daughter, Aurora Berard, stood as his godmother and he was educated by the family tutor. It may have been in the family library that he discovered Thomas a Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, who he quoted from memory well into old age. (Bottom right scene in the illumination)

When Pierre was a young man, M. and Mme. Berard and her two sisters fled to New York to escape the mounting tensions on the island. They took with them five slaves, including Pierre and his sister Rosalie. In New York, the Berards apprenticed Pierre to a hairdresser. Soon afterwards, M. Berard lost their fortune and died, leaving his wife penniless. Though scarcely an adult, the responsibility of providing for the entire household fell on Pierre’s shoulders.

Fortunately, his hairdressing business proved a solid success. Madame Berard, who by this time remarried and became Madame Nicolas, began a steady decline in health. Pierre, who had a genuine affection for her, tried his best to cheer her up. He would often surprise her with cakes and trinkets bought with his personal savings.  Eventually, Mme. Berard did die, but it was not until her death-bed that she chose to free Pierre. Pierre bought Rosalie’s freedom, and soon after freed and married a young woman named Juliette. (Portrait to the right)

Meanwhile, his business was booming. “As a hair-dresser for ladies, he was unrivalled: he was the fashionable coiffeur of the day; he had all the custom and patronage of the French families in New York [French was his first language]. Many of the most distinguished ladies of the city employed him; we might mention not a few who treated him as a particular friend.” (Bottom left scene) One such distinguished lady was Mrs. Philip Jeremiah Schuyler, the sister-in-law of Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy Schuyler. Despite being the confidant of the most fashionable ladies, he never succumbed to spreading gossip. His memoir tells how a lady once asked him for the inside scoop on another lady’s business. “‘Do tell me, Toussaint,’ said she, “I am sure you know all about it.’ ‘Madam,’ he replied with dignity, though with the utmost respect, ‘Toussaint dresses hair, he no daily journal.’”

Unfortunately, Rosalie married a negligent husband and died several months after giving birth to her daughter Euphemia. Pierre and Juliette adopted the baby girl and raised her as his own. Euphemia’s family and friends spoiled her with many gifts, but none the less, Pierre and Juliette instilled in her the importance of serving God and neighbor. “‘On Euphemia’s saint’s day,’ he said, ‘I always took her with me to the cake shop, and we filled a large basket with buns, jumbles, and gingerbread, which we carried to the Orphan Asylum.’” (Top Right) Sadly, Euphemia died of tuberculosis at only fourteen.

Pierre took his Catholic faith very seriously. Throughout his whole life he had a deep compassion for the suffering. As one of his friends said, “his pity for the suffering seemed to partake of the character of the Saviour’s tenderness at the tomb of Lazarus.” He gave generously, and when he couldn’t support the cause on his own, he organized fairs and raffl. When a friend once asked him why he continued to work, since he was already so rich, he answered “Madam, I have enough for myself, but if I stop work, I have not enough for others.” For sixty years he walked to Mass at St Peters, until only a few months before his death. (Top right) Coincidentally, this church was also the home parish of St Elizabeth Ann Seton and Billy the Kid. Pierre Toussaint died in 1853. In 1996 Pope John Paul II proclaimed him Venerable.