Administrative/Biographical History
Father Jules Garnier, a native of Parigny, France, was ordained in 1877 after attending school at Mont-Saint-Michel and novitiate at Pontigny. He served primarily around Pontigny, although he did spend some time as the pastor of the Parish at Mont-Saint-Michel. He was the Superior of the French House and acting superior General before elected Superior General in 1913. Garnier’s term as Superior General was marked by both expansion and dispersal. The Society continued to grow in Vermont, and added another North American mission in Forsythe, Montana. Severe financial problems beset the Society during this time. By 1923, the financial problems were so embedded that Garnier asked for permission to hold an Extraordinary General Chapter. He also requested that the Sacred Congregation of Religious appoint an Apostolic Visitor to the community. At the Extraordinary Chapter, under the direction of Apostolic Visitor Dom Etcheverry, a majority of constituents voted to dissolve the Society and to seek amalgamation with another society. The chapter also elected a new Superior General, Fr. Félix Viannes. (Although Dom Etcheverry exercised extraordinary control over the society for the next ten years.)
