The parish of the Old Cathedral, Basilica of St. Francis Zavier, Vincennes, Indiana, is the oldest congregation in Indiana. As early as 1734 the settlement was visited by Jesuit missionary priests. The first resident pastor, Fr. Sebastian Meurin, S.J., came in May, 1748. The first church was small, of upright posts fixed in the ground, with mud daubing and a bark roof. Parish records begin April 21, 1749. The foundation of the present St. Francis Xavier Church was laid on March 30, 1826. In 1834 the chuch became the cathedral of the new Diocese of Vincennes. Four Bishops of Vincennes are buried in the Crypt. This photograph shows the Old Cathedral in 1974.