establishing St. Louis as a separate episcopal see. On 18 July of that year, Rosati was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of both dioceses. He was named as the first bishop of St. Louis on 20 March 1827. Rosati's achievements include the opening of Mullanphy Hospital (later DePaul Hospital) by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul in 1828, the founding of St. Mary's of the Barrens College and Seminary, the establishment of what would become Saint Louis University in 1829 and the construction of the first Cathedral of St. Louis from 1831 through 1834. He took part in the first four Provincial Councils of Baltimore. In 1841, Rosati was appointed by Pope Gregory XVI to assist in negotiations between the Holy See and Haiti. Before leaving for Haiti, he consecrated Peter Richard Kenrick as his coadjutor. After submitting a report on his diplomatic mission to the pope, he died in Rome in 1843, His remains were returned to St. Louis, and interred in his cathedral. Slavery Per studies by the St. Louis Archdiocese, Bishop Rosati is said to have owned slaves. In a financial ledger from 1830-1839, Bishop Rosati recorded the sale of “my negro boy called Peter about nine or ten years old” to Vincentian Father John Bouiller for the sum of $150. Legacy "Bishop Rosati was eminent for his holy life, his zeal as a priest, his successful administration as a bishop, his learning, his eloquence. He built up the diocese from a very slender beginning, organized the Indian missions, and extended the work of the Church beyond the Rocky Mountains." Bishop Rosati is the namesake for an all-girls Roman Catholic high school, Rosati-Kain, located in the Central West End in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, located next to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. References Sources Christensen, Lawrence O., et al. Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, MO:University of Missouri Press, 1997. Who Was Who in America:Historical Volume 1607–1896. Chicato:Marquis Who's Who, 1967. Archdiocese’s research into history with slavery reveals three bishops, priests as slaveowners 1789 births 1843 deaths People from the Province of Frosinone Vincentians Italian Roman Catholic missionaries Vincentian bishops Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis Clergy from St. Louis 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Burials at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France Roman Catholic bishops in Louisiana Roman Catholic bishops