On March 28, 1811, John Neumann was born in Bohemia, which is today a part of the Czech Republic. Agnes Neumann and Philip Neumann were his parents. He was the brother of four sisters. John went to seminary after graduating from college. There weren't many priests in Bohemia at the time, so even though the bishop was ill when it came time for his ordination, the date was never changed. John decided to travel to the United States and apply to be ordained after learning about missionary endeavors there through reading. He traveled to France mostly by foot before boarding a ship bound for New York.

On June 9, 1836, John traveled to Manhattan. Bishop John Dubois, who at the time had only 36 priests for the 200,000 Catholics residing in the state of New York and a portion of New Jersey, warmly welcomed him. John was consecrated as a priest and dispatched to Buffalo just sixteen days after his arrival.

In a tiny log parish house, Father John made his home. He frequently survived off of bread and water and hardly ever started a fire. After he joined the Redemptorist order, he carried on with his missionary work until 1852, when he was chosen to become the bishop of Philadelphia. While serving as a bishop, Neumann constructed fifty churches and started work on a cathedral. The number of children attending parochial schools increased from 500 to 9,000 when he opened nearly 100 schools. On January 5, 1860, he passed away unexpectedly.

Upon his beatification, he was declared the first American bishop. On June 19, 1977, Pope Paul VI canonized him. He is buried in Philadelphia's St. Peter the Apostle Church. St. John is revered as the patron saint of immigrants and sick children. His feast day is celebrated on January 5.

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