On This Day In Alabama History: Michael Portier Was Born In France

Alabama News Center | September 7, 2017 @ 5:01 am

By Graydon Rust
Alabama 200

September 7, 1795

Michael Portier was born in Montbrison, France. Portier moved to Mobile in 1826 and, in 1829, became the first bishop of the new Diocese of Mobile, a position he held for 30 years. Portier laid the institutional foundation for the new diocese and worked tirelessly to secure adequate funding and staffing for the region. He founded a small seminary that became Spring Hill College, the state’s first institution of higher learning, and constructed the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Portier is entombed in the crypt of the cathedral.

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