Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin

Born in 1810 in Baltimore, Theresa was the daughter of a Haitian refugee, Betsy Duchemin, and Arthur Howard, a British military officer. Betsy's grandfather, whose name, Maxis, Theresa used, was an African-American slave in Haiti. Theresa's parents were not married; indeed, Theresa believed that her father never knew of her existence.

Theresa was raised in the African-American community by her mother's guardians, the Duchemin family, who provided education for her as they had for her mother.

Mother Theresa's accomplishments are a testament to her perseverance, her love of God and fidelity to her vocation. She was one of the founding members of the Oblates of Providence and served as both Superior General and Assistant to the Superior General.

With Fr. Louis Florent Gillet, a Belgian Redemptorist working in the Detroit Diocese, she established the IHM congregation in Monroe, Michigan in 1845.

In 1858, Theresa traveled to the town of St. Joseph in the Choconut Vally, Susquehanna County, to establish the first Pennsylvania mission.

In subsequent years, Theresa endured sufferings and separation. She fought to establish a second Pennsylvania mission, and when she was refused permission, persisted to the point of her being deposed from office by Bishop Peter Paul Lefevere, who split the Michigan and Pennsylvania branches of the IHM congregation.

Theresa's apologies and pleas for reconciliation went unanswered for many years - both in Detroit by Bishop Lefevere and in Scranton by Bishop William O'Hara. She obtained hospitality with the Grey Nuns of Ottawa, and lived with them for 17 years, having virtually no contact with the IHM sisters for 12 of those years.

In 1881, Sister Genevieve of the Scranton IHMs sent Theresa feast day greetings, which initiated a five-year correspondence between them. Finally, in 1885, the new bishop of Philadelphia, Patrick J. Ryan, permitted her return.

She lived her last seven years peacefully in West Chester. The one painful deprivation she experienced was Bishop O'Hara's refusal to allow her to visit in Scranton or to receive regular communication from the sisters there. She died after a brief illness on January 14, 1892.