Lasuén, Fermín Francisco De (1736–1803)

Fermín Francisco De Lasuén (b. 7 June 1736; d. 26 June 1803), Franciscan missionary in California. Born in Victoria, Spain, Lasuén arrived in New Spain in 1759, posted first in Baja California and later in Alta California. While stationed at San Francisco de Borja mission in Baja California between 1768 and 1773, he directed the construction of a large adobe church and other buildings, the ruins of which still exist behind a later Dominican-constructed stone facade.

Between 1773 and 1803 Lasuén was stationed at the San Gabriel, San Diego, and San Carlos missions in Alta California. In 1785 he became the superior of the Alta California missions, directing the development of the missions until his death at San Carlos. During his tenure as superior, nine missions were established, including four in the summer of 1797 alone. As part of the maturation of the mission system, mission herds expanded and the Franciscans planted larger crops. The danger of food shortages passed, and the missionaries recruited larger numbers of Indians. To accommodate growing populations of converts, the Franciscans directed ambitious building projects, including the construction of larger churches. The stone structure that Lasuén began constructing at San Carlos in 1793 became the church that stands today.

See alsoCalifornia; Missions: Spanish America.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Zephyrin Engelhardt, O.F.M., Missions and Missionaries of California, 4 vols. (1929–1930).

Maynard J. Geiger, O.F.M., Franciscan Missionaries in Hispanic California, 1769–1848: A Biographical Dictionary (1969).

Additional Bibliography

Sandos, James A. Converting California: Indians and Franciscans in the Missions. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.

                                          Robert H. Jackson