Collection MSG 365 - Joseph Provost Collection

Rev. Joseph Provost was born on March 9, 1847, in St-Sulpice, Repentigny, Quebec, to Catholic parents. His mother died when he was ten years old, and his father entrusted him to the care of his godfather, Hilaire Provost. Shortly after, Hilaire converted to Protestantism, and the young Joseph’s conversion soon followed.

In 1865, he enrolled at the Collège Évangélique de la Pointe-aux-Trembles. Three years later, in 1868, at the age of twenty, he left for Switzerland to study theology at the Academy in Neuchâtel. After returning in 1870, he was ordained and accepted his first call to a French church in Ohio in 1872. Throughout his professional life, he was appointed to several congregations in both Canada and the United States.

In 1875, Provost became the minister at the church on Craig Street in Montreal, Quebec. He returned to Ohio in 1878, and by 1884, he was in charge of the French mission in Springfield. He was well-known for his contributions to the Canadian religious press and had a strong interest in Canadian and church history. Additionally, he often lectured on a variety of religious, social, and historical topics.

His only novel, La Maison du Coteau (The House on the Hill), was published in 1881. Based on his experiences as a minister and a member of a marginalized minority, the story explores the deep and bitter conflict between Protestant and Catholic communities in Quebec. The central theme revolves around the painful experiences of a couple in a mixed Catholic-Protestant marriage.

In 1870, he married Sara Vernier (1849–1923). He died on September 13, 1918, in New Haven, Connecticut.