John Dubois
Roman Catholic Bishop of New York (1764-1842)
John Dubois (French: Jean Dubois) (August 24, 1764 – December 20, 1842) was a French-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of New York from 1826 until his death in 1842.
Dubois was the first Bishop of New York who was not Irish-born and, as of 2024, remains the only bishop or archbishop of New York of non-Irish ancestry.
Biography
Early life
John Dubois was born in Paris, France, on August 24, 1764. As a teenager, he attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. Deciding to become a priest, he studied theology at the Oratorian Seminary of Saint-Magloire in Paris.
Priesthood in France
Dubois was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Paris on September 22, 1787, by Archbishop Antoine-Eléonore-Léon Le Clerc de Juigné. After his ordination, Dubois served as an assistant to the curé of the Church of Saint Sulpice in Paris. He also served chaplain to the Hôpital des Petites-Maisons (the Hospital of Small Houses), a mental hospital run by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.
By 1790, the French Revolution was causing huge upheaval in France. In November 1790, the National Constituent Assembly decreed that all clergy must swear an oath of loyalty to the government of France, ahead of loyalty to the pope.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “John Dubois” as roman Catholic Bishop of New York (1764-1842). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as roman Catholic Bishop of New York (1764-1842). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2687993. VIAF identifies the subject as 26957317. The Library of Congress control number is nr95038819. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1764, 1842, 1826 and 2024.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “John Dubois”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow John Dubois primary sources, John Dubois archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John Dubois”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “John Dubois” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.