Jacques Marquette (1637 to 1675)
Indissoluably Linked to the American Midwest.
Jacques Marquette, Jesuit missionary explorer and first European to build at the site of present-day Chicago, is born at Laon, France. Marquette and Joliet explored the Mississippi and Marquette opened a mission in the wilderness that would become Chicago. He died in Michigan.
Henry Francis Lyte (1793 to 1847)
Church of England
Fishing Village Hymn Writer.
Henry Francis Lyte was born at Ednam, Scotland. Orphaned as a child and never physically strong, Lyte struggled to get an education and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin in 1814. He became a minister in the Church of England and served at Lower Brixham, Devonshire, a fishing village, for 23 years. He wrote hymns and paraphrases of the psalms, including "Abide with Me," and "Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken."