Bishop Charles John Seghers

Bishop Charles John Seghers was born in Ghent, Belgium, Dec. 26, 1839, left an orphan at an early age, he was raised by his uncles. He was ordained a priest on May 31, 1863. On Sept. 14 of that year he left for Vancouver Island, where for ten years he was engaged in valuable missionary work among the pioneer whites and the Natives.

On March 23, 1873, he was appointed to succeed Bishop Demers. One of the first things he did was visit the territory of Alaska, after which he turned his attention to the West Coast of Vancouver Island where he established missions for the Natives. In 1877, Seghers again returned to Alaska and evangelized in succession St. Michaels, Julato, Ulukuk, Kaltag, Nuklukayet, and various other points along the Yukon. He did not return to Victoria until Sept. 20, 1878. He was then named coadjutor to the Bishop of Oregon City, whom he succeeded Dec. 12, 1880.

When no titular could be found for his old diocese of Victoria, he generously volunteered to return there, with a view to following up his work in Alaska. This act of disinterestedness deeply touched Leo XIII, and on April 2, 1885, Archbishop Seghers again took possession of his former see. Two missions were founded (1885) in Alaska, one at Sitka, the other at Juneau. In the course of his fifth expedition to Alaska, he was murdered by a white guide named Fuller, whose mind had become more or less unbalanced under the stress of the hardships of the journey and the evil counsels of an American who foresaw in the coming of the two Jesuit priests the Archbishop had brought with him an implied reproach.

With reference from: A. G. Morice
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII