His letters about his missionary work were published widely in Europe, inspiring the priests John Neumann and Francis Xavier Pierz to emigrate to the United States.

[4][5] He was the fourth of five children born to Janez Baraga and Marija Katarina Jožefa née Jenčič; among his siblings was his sister Antonija, who would later become the first Slovenian woman to immigrate to the United States.

Frederic spent his boyhood in the house of Jurij Dolinar, a lay professor at the diocesan seminary at Ljubljana.

[6][8] Baraga grew up during the Napoleonic Wars, when France had taken over the Slovene Lands from the Austrian Empire for a time.

[9] At age 26, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on September 21, 1823, in St. Nicholas Cathedral by Augustin Johann Joseph Gruber, the Bishop of Ljubljana.

In 1830 Baraga answered the request of Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati for priests to aid in ministering to his growing flock, which included a large mission territory.

In May 1831 was sent to the Ottawa Indian mission at L'Arbre Croche (present-day Cross Village, Michigan) to finish his mastery of the language.

[12][13] Through the texts Baraga published in his missionary years, the Slovenes learned about aspects of Native American culture and the United States.

[14] Baraga was elevated to bishop by Pope Pius IX and consecrated November 1, 1853, in Cincinnati at Saint Peter in Chains Cathedral[15] by Archbishop John Purcell.

[16] On June 27, 1852,[17] he began to keep a diary, written in several languages (primarily German, but with English, French, Slovene, Chippewa, Latin, and Italian interspersed), preserving accounts of his missionary travels and his relationship with his sister Amalia.

During this time, the area experienced a population explosion, as European immigrants were attracted to work in the copper and iron mines developed near Houghton, Ontonagon, and Marquette.

He was particularly challenged by the vast diversity of peoples in the region, including the native inhabitants, ethnic French-Canadian settlers, and the new German and Irish immigrant miners.

The Society published them widely as examples of its missions in North America, and they were instrumental in inspiring the priests John Neumann and Francis Xavier Pierz to come to the United States to work.

In 1865 Baraga wrote to Pope Pius IX in support of the canonization of his former confessor, Clement Hofbauer.

[19] His cause was opened in 1952 by Thomas Lawrence Noa, the diocese's eighth bishop, and the formal canonization process began in 1973.

[24] However, in 1865, the Vatican approved a request to move the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese in Upper Michigan to Marquette.