The Reredos
Venerable Pierre Toussaint
Venerable Pierre Toussaint was born in Haiti in 1766 as a slave. When his owner relocated his family and slaves to New York, he arranged for Toussaint to work with a prominent hairdresser in the city, since it was one of the few jobs available to people of color at the time. Toussaint became a well-known hairdresser for the famous and elite of his time. Toussaint became a prominent philanthropist and a devoted Catholic. He donated his money to the city’s poor, attended Mass every morning at Saint Peter’s Church, and was known as a benefactor to St. Vincent de Paul Church, the City’s first parish in the city with Mass in French.
When Toussaint’s slave master died, Toussaint refused to buy his own freedom to continue financially supporting his master’s widow and family. The family emancipated Toussaint on July 2, 1807. Toussaint remained a faithful and supportive contributor to the charities of the Church. Toussaint was originally buried at Old St. Patrick’s Church, but was exhumed and reinterred in the crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral below the altar.