USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 38
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The sisters were given lodgings in his own humble house by the late Wen- delin Merz; the furniture of their apartment was simple and scanty, but they did not complain. Some time later Mr. Tenvoorde placed his boarding-house at their disposal, in which they lived and conducted a small boarding-school for a year. In the meantime the members of the Catholic congregation had resolved to build a frame dwelling for the sisters close to the church, in the rear of the present federal building. Here they lived for six years, devoting themselves to the instruction of children. They also bought a piano-forte from Mr. Mitchell and gave music lessons. The house was known as St. Joseph's Convent. After visiting Europe in the interest of the young foun- dation and sacrificing her energies for its success, Mother Benedicta died at St. Cloud on March 15, 1862, and Mother Willibalda Scherbauer was elected superioress in her place.
Prior Othmar Wirz built a new convent for the community in 1863; it was located at St. Joseph, and was a frame building 30 by 56, which faced the main street of the village and stood for thirty years. The greater number of the sisters at St. Cloud were transferred to their new home the same year -fifty years ago; the rest remained in charge of the school at St. Cloud. The community had grown so numerous, that in November, 1863, the superioress was able to send out the first colony of nuns under Mother Evangelista Kre- meter and a few companions to establish St. Scholastica's Convent at Atchi- son, Kansas. Still the sisters at St. Joseph had many difficulties to contend with; they were poor and the house was small and very uncomfortable in the winter. They are deeply grateful to the early settlers living at St. Joseph at the time-the Loso, Linnemann, Capser, Aschenbrenner and Harmann fam- ilies, who more than once came to their assistance.
Mother Antonia Hermann succeeded Mother Willibalda in 1868 and pre-
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sided over the community until 1877. In the former year the convent was composed of twelve sisters and five postulants. Great financial difficulties were still to be overcome; their only resources were the little schools at St. Joseph and at St. Cloud. However, the sisters had not taken the vows of religion in order to lead leisurely and luxurious lives; they were willing to make many sacrifices and deprived themselves of many comforts. Their means did not allow them to keep hired help; in consequence they were obliged for several years to cultivate their own fields, feed the cattle, attend to the stables, carry wood, etc. A new era dawned in 1872-in that year they were invited to take charge of the school at New Trier, Dakota county, and in the following year several sisters went to Rich Prairie (now Pierz, Morrison county) for the same purpose. At the latter place they built a residence at their own expense.
In 1877 Mother Aloysia Barth replaced Mother Antolia, who then became a member of a Benedictine convent in Chicago. The number of sisters and postulants had grown considerably. According to the statistics in the Cata- logue of Benedictine Nuns, published in June, 1879, the community at that time consisted of forty-five choir sisters and novices, and fifteen lay sisters and novices. Besides there was a number of postulants. The increase had enabled the sisters to supply other schools with teachers. In November, 1878, a few sisters were sent to White Earth Indian Reservation, to take charge of the school on the mission; about the same time they were invited to take charge of the parochial school of St. Joseph's Church in Minneapolis and of the school at Bismarck, D. T. In 1889 the Benedictine Convent at Shakopee, founded in 1862, was discontinued and the sisters removed to St. Joseph. In consequence the care of the German Orphanage at St. Paul devolved upon the community at St. Joseph. About the same time the sisters began to take in orphans, whom they at first lodged in the former convent building at St. Cloud, subsequently at St. Joseph, and for some time at Rich Prairie, until by direc- tion they were turned over to the Franciscan Sisters at Little Falls, in 1893.
Mother Aloysia was followed in 1881 by Mother Scholistica Kerst, who had been one of the first members of the Shakopee community. She at once added a new wing, 100 by 56, to the existing building, which was ready for occupancy in 1883. In the following year the first Industrial School for the education of Chippewa Indian girls was opened at St. Joseph. The sis- ters lodged, fed and instructed thirty girls during the first year; this number grew to one hundred and five in the course of time, until the pecuniary as- sistance contributed by the federal government was no longer sufficient to con- tinue the enterprise without heavy loss. The success of the work at White Earth had encouraged Mother Scholastica to accept an invitation to send sisters to Grande Ronde, Oregon, to teach the children at the Indian mission. Four sisters were sent in 1881, but as they could secure only twenty children for their school and their subsistence was not provided for, they were recalled a year later.
As the Benedictine rule does not rigidly prescribe any particular sphere of activity for its members, the sisters resolved to take up another line of charitable work. In 1885 they purchased, at Bismarck, D. T., a new building
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designed for a hotel and turned it into what is still known as St. Alexius Hospital. In the following year they opened St. Benedict's Hospital at St. Cloud, just a few weeks before the great cyclone (April 14, 1886) which devas- tated the city and destroyed so many lives. Its establishment at this time was providential, as it was the only institution of its kind where the wounded could be housed and treated.
On April 7, 1886, fire broke out in the former convent building, which had been used as an industrial school since 1884, and in a few minutes it was a heap of smouldering ruins. Although it was not a considerable loss, it was very inconvenient under the circumstances. A new school was planned at once; its dimensions were 40 by 48, and the material red brick. An addition, 60 by 48, was built to the Academy in 1887.
The third hospital organized by Mother Scholastica was St. Mary's in Duluth, in 1887. In the same year the convent at St. Joseph was incorporated under the laws of the state and empowered to establish academies, orphanages, hospitals and homes for the aged. Several sisters were sent to Red Lake Indian Reservation in 1888 to take charge of the mission school. During the same and the following year, a steam laundry was erected at St. Joseph and a steam-heating plant installed.
In the spring of 1890 a new hospital, St. Raphael's, was built a short distance from the state reformatory on the east bank of the Mississippi, on a piece of ground donated by Messrs. Coates and Freeman of St. Cloud. The former hospital was turned into St. Clotilde's musical academy and kinder- garten. The great distance of the new hospital from the city was a serious drawback, and ten years later a new St. Raphael's Hospital was opened in the city. In 1905 it was damaged by a fire, but the damage was speedily repaired. The old hospital on the east side was then turned into St. Joseph's Home for the Aged; it is still conducted by the sisters.
Another extension to the great group of buildings at St. Joseph was built in 1892; its dimensions were 99 by 55 feet ; and still another was made in 1899, the dimensions of which were 144 by 60. The structure now had a total front- age of 240 feet, all the buildings being of the same height and built of the same material.
Mother Seholastica was succeeded in 1889 by the former superioress, Mother Aloysia Bath, who continued to preside over the community until 1901. After the organization of the diocese of Duluth, the sisters of that dio- cese, about 24 in number, were authorized, with the consent of Bishops Zar- detti and McGolrick, to form a separate community, independent of St. Bene- dict's. The separation was effected June 1, 1882, and Mother Scholastica was the first superioress. Although her subsequent activity does not concern the present narrative, it may interest her former acquaintances to learn that she built five hospitals in the northern part of the state; also, that she built a magnificent convent and academy, called Villa Sancta Scholastica, near Duluth, and after directing the community for nearly twenty years, dicd on June 11, 1911.
In 1892 several sisters were sent to Tacoma to teach in the parochial school connected with the church of the Holy Rosary. Since 1897 the Sisters
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at St. Joseph are conducting a boarding-school for small boys under twelve years of age. This institution has proved to be very timely and popular.
Since 1905 the institution has its own electric light plant. For protec- tion in case of fire a steel water tank, capable of holding 60,000 gallons and mounted on a steel tower 100 feet high, was set up in 1907.
The present superioress, Mother Cecelia Kapsner, was elected in 1901; re-elected in 1907 and again in 1913, which is evidence both of the high esteem in which she is held by the 400 sisters subject to her, and of her tact and efficiency in directing the enterprises of the great community. The whole number of sisters belonging to the convent is 500; the greater number of them are stationed in the dependent houses-hospitals and missions. Besides St. Benedict's Academy they conduct two hospitals, St. Raphael's at St. Cloud, and St. Alexius' at Bismarck, N. D .; St. Joseph's Orphanage, St. Paul; two Indian schools, at White Earth and Red Lake, the St. Joseph's Home for the Aged at St. Cloud, and a number of schools in the dioceses of St. Cloud, Duluth, La Crosse, St. Paul, Fargo and Seattle. St. Benedict's enjoys the distinction of being the largest Benedictine Convent in the world.
CHAPTER XX.
CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS.
Catholics Inaugurate Educational Work in This County-Devoted Work of the Members of the Order of St. Benedict-Value of Christian Schooling- History of the Organization, Growth and Success of the Various Church Schools-By the Right Reverend James Trobec, Titular Bishop of Lycop- olis, Egypt, and Former Bishop of St. Cloud.
The first pioneers of Stearns county who devoted themselves to educational work were Catholics. In 1856, at the invitation of Father Francis Pierz, three members of the Order of St. Benedict arrived at Sauk Rapids, where they remained but a few days. Seeing that the west. side of the Mississippi presented better opportunities for the future development, they located south of the present city of St. Cloud. True to their vocations as a teaching order, their first thought was the training of youth. The brothers William and Louis Rothkopf donated them a log house which, in November, 1857, the fathers fitted up as their first college into which they received five pupils, of whom one was the late well-known Abbot Alex. Edelbrock. This was the nucleus of the present great university of St. John, Collegeville, Minn., which gives ample opportunity to boys and young men to pursue their studies in the commercial, classical, philosophical or theological course. Thousands of well- educated young men issued from its halls to make practical use of the lessons received in that place of learning.
For the education of children and especially girls and young ladies, Benedictine Sisters came from Pennsylvania to St. Cloud in 1857. Later they established their headquarters or mother house at St. Joseph, Stearns
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county, where they built a convent and academy which was from time to time enlarged by extensive additions and now represents one of the finest insti- tutions of learning, modern in all its appointments. Nearly 600 sisters belong to the mother house, the most of them able teachers engaged in school work, not only in the academy, but in many parochial and other schools, not alone in Minnesota, but also in other states. Hundreds of well-educated young ladies came forth from the St. Benedict's academy. The two above men- tioned institutions of learning, in charge of the members of the Order of St. Benedict, viz .: St. John's University and St. Benedict's Academy, are well known far beyond the limits of Minnesota. They are given a special place in this work as institutions of higher education. Here they are only mentioned as foundations, as nurseries and centres of Christian education, inspiring and influencing all other Catholic schools of the county and even beyond its limits.
Catholic parochial schools are not as numerous in Stearns county as the great number of parishes would justify. This, however, is not owing to any lack of appreciation of such schools. Catholic settlers of Stearns county, mostly Germans, trained themselves under Catholic auspices, were no less pro- foundly imbued with the idea of the necessity of Catholic parochial school than had been their parents and grandparents of the preceding generations. They brought with them to this new country their old faith and love for their native tongue which they were bound to preserve at all cost in their chil- dren and children's children. The school alongside the church was the motto of the first settlers, and in several places both church and school were built together to serve the double purpose. However, in settlements composed of people of the same creed and language, there was not much danger for either, in making use of the existing public schools in charge of Catholic teachers. Where, however, there was a mixture of people of different creeds and tongues, Catholics, if sufficiently numerous and able, establish, as soon as possible, their own private parochial schools. Many coming from certain parts of Europe where they were in the minority, did not need to be taught the necessity of private Catholic schools. Centuries of struggle to preserve their faith and their national traditions had convinced them of the value and necessity of private schools, in which, besides all usual secular branches, also religion and their native tongue, could be taught. But, while learning the rudiments of eternal truths and their own mother tongue, they did not and do not neglect to study diligently the language of the new country and all those secular branches taught in public schools. The principles which the parish school maintains are the same as those which are obtained in christian schools of every age and under all conditions. Those principles spring from the relation- ship of man to God, principles as unchangeable as christianity itself. Moral training or the education of the will is one of the fundamental aims of the christian school, for it is generally admitted that moral character is even more important than mere knowledge, in the struggle of life. All educators agree on this point, as also in the fact that a child to be thoroughly educated, must be taught religion. In public schools, which are frequented by pupils of different creeds, religion cannot be taught, it is simply impossible, hence the necessity of private schools for those who wish to receive a christian educa-
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tion. These private parochial schools should stand on equal footing with the best public schools as far as secular education is concerned, and the most of them do, as the results of the county and state examinations show. Lessons on patriotism, good citizenship and love of country are not neglected in their curriculum. There is abundant evidence that our parochial schools, as a rule, are steadily improving and deserve the full confidence of their patrons. I. The first parochial school in Stearns county was the St. Mary's School of St. Cloud. In the autumn of 1856, the Rev. P. Cornelius Wittmann, O. S. B., opened a little school in a building given him for that purpose by Joseph Edelbrock. No teacher being available at the time, Father Cornelius was him- self both teacher and pastor. In his little school he had six children from the family Edelbrock, three from the family Rosenberger, some from the families Emmel and Braun, families well known in St. Cloud. This was the humble beginning of the St. Mary's School. Father Cornelius, its first teacher, is still living, residing at St. John's.
Soon, however, the burden became too heavy for the Rev. Father, who had charge also of the rapidly-growing St. Mary's parish, hence some Bene- dictine Sisters were invited from St. Mary's, Elk county, Pennsylvania, to take charge of the school. Accordingly, on June 20, 1857, several sisters ar- rived and opened a school in their convent, which occupied the site of the present postoffice. The name of the first superioress was the Ven. Mother Benedicta Riepp. Some years later the sisters selected St. Joseph for their mother house and St. Cloud remained a mission. The sisters were soon unable to accommodate in their little convent school all the children seeking ad- mission, hence many had to attend an "independent district school," in which also some sisters were employed as teachers. Not until 1887 did the Rev. Severin Gross, O. S. B., succeed in erecting a three-room frame schoolhouse on the site of the present St. Mary's School. Each room accommodated from 50 to 60 pupils. The first enrollment in this schoolhouse shows 113 pupils. The Catholic population, however, increased so rapidly that before long another small two-room building was temporarily converted into a school- house for smaller children.
It is quite impossible at the present time to obtain a complete list of the venerable sisters who labored for the welfare of the St. Cloud's youth, yet a few deserve special mention. These are: Sisters Benedicta, Aloysia, Anse- lina, Romana, Equina and Raymond. Besides these sisters, Prof. Louis Wieber, the present county school superintendent, and Prof. William A. Boerger de- serve mention as instructors of boys, and principals from 1889-1900 and 1900- 1907, respectively.
The school accommodations again became inadequate to meet the de- mands of the ever-increasing population. A large new schoolhouse was ab- solutely necessary. It fell to the lot of the Rev. Father Gregory Steil, O. S. B., to erect the present large and handsome schoolhouse, provided with all mod- ern improvements and appliances, recommended by the best educators of the country. That Father Gregory acquitted himself of this important task with credit is beyond doubt, being himself a skilled architect. The present school building was erected in 1896 at a cost of about $30,000. It contains a
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spacious basement and three stories of upper structure. It has four large, well-lighted and ventilated rooms on the first and second floors. The third floor was used as a hall for meetings and entertainments up to the year 1912, but has since been converted into a large assembly room, classrooms and well- equipped laboratory for the high school department, which was established in 1907 by the Very Rev. Alfred Mayer, O. S. B., Prior of St. Mary's Priory. At present twelve teachers are employed in the school, ten in the grades and two in the high school, while the whole enrollment is over 600 pupils.
II. Cathedral school or the Holy Angel's Parish School in St. Cloud. The first half of the present cathedral school was erected in 1887 by the Rev. Father Stemper, vicar general and pastor during the episcopate of the Right Rev. Rupert Steidenbusch. It was a three-story brick building with a base- ment 35 by 45 feet. On the second day of October, 1887, the school opened its doors to 200 children who were placed under the instruction of a staff of four teachers, namely the late Prof. P. E. Kaiser, as principal and instructor of the larger boys, and three sisters of the Order of St. Benedict. Owing to the rapid growth of the school it became necessary to add, towards the winter, another teacher to the teaching staff. The steady increase in attendance made the building of an addition as large as the original structure an imperative necessity. This was erected by Father Edward Jones, pastor of the cathedral parish, under the episcopacy of the late Bishop Martin Marty, in 1894. The new addition also was soon over-crowded, and an old hotel nearby had to be secured and remodeled into schoolrooms and sisters' dwelling. In a short time this new arrangement proved insufficient for the great number of chil- dren. To obtain more space in the above-mentioned building for school pur- poses, the sisters had to vacate it. A large, fine, comfortable dwelling honse has been erected by the Rev. Dr. Leo Gans, on the south side of the brick schoolhouse, at a cost of $18,000, as a residence for the teaching sisters. A notable event in the history of the cathedral school was the opening of a Catholic high school by the Rev. Edward Jones, in 1902. It provides for a gen- eral course of four years, substantially the course prescribed by the typical high schools of the county.
The phenomenal growth still characterizes the school, which now enrolls about 675 pupils, 75 of whom pursue a high-school course.
The crowning event in the history of the cathedral school is the erection of a separate boys' school for the higher grades and high school, fully equipped and strictly modern, with a large hall, for the purpose of affording ample room for larger boys and relieving the present school of its over-crowded condition.
The high school building, in the course of erection, will consist of a base- ment and two-story superstructure, 120 by 84 feet, and the hall, 100 by 60 feet. This building will be an ornament to the city of St. Cloud and an ob- ject of just pride for the Cathedral Parish and its energetic pastor, the Rev. Dr. Leo Gans. The original schoolhouse will be occupied principally by girls and small boys, and both schools will offer a complete 12 years' course, includ- ing a thoroughly modern and practical business course.
Prof. P. E. Kaiser was principal of the Cathedral schools from 1887 to
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1894; Prof. George Stelzle, from 1894 to 1900; Ven. Sister Elenora, from 1900 to 1913, and Ven. Sister Basilia, from 1913, and is still in office.
III. St. Paul's Parochial School of Sauk Centre. This school was estab- lished in 1896. A substantial brick building was erected for that purpose and divided into three school rooms and sisters' dwelling. The school com- prises eight grades. Pupils who have successfully passed the eighth-grade county examination, and obtained a county diploma and do not wish to at- tend the public high school are given a course of single and double entry bookkeeping, business, English and civil government, etc. There are five or six graduates every year.
In 1912, a large addition with modern improvements was erected through the efforts of the Rev. Pastor Anthony Arzt and the generosity of the small parish. The school is in charge of the Benedictine Sisters. The Ven. Sister Catherine has been the first principal up to the year 1904 and the Ven. Sister Athanasia since 1904. The enrollment is about 118 pupils.
IV. Assumption Parochial School of Eden Valley. The Catholic parish of Eden Valley, just on the line between Stearns and Meeker counties, in 1901 erected under the direction of the present pastor, the Rev. N. J. Peiffer, a large, beautiful, substantial schoolhouse, modern in all its parts, equipped with everything required by the state board of public instruction and by the laws of the state for public schools. Its scope is to educate the children of the parish as far as necessary. It covers all the branches taught in public schools. The pupils make state examination and the most of them pass with- out difficulty. The principal is the Rev. Pastor himself, who takes great inter- est in the proficiency of his school. As assistant principals there served in succession : Ven. Sister Andrew, Sister Alaquoquo and Sister Theresa. There are now 250 pupils enrolled, in charge of six sisters of St. Benedict, whose mother house is in St. Joseph, Stearns county, Minn.
V. St. John's Cantius Parochial School, of St. Cloud, situated on Fif- teen avenue, north, is a graded school, covering eight grades. It was estab- lished in 1901, when the small congregation hardly numbered over 70 fam- ilies. The present school building was secured in 1900, having served before as a society hall. In 1902 a spacious addition was made to accommodate the ever-increasing number of pupils. Two Benedictine Sisters are employed at present as teachers, the Ven. Sister Kostka being the principal. Besides the usual branches of grammar schools, the Polish language is also taught. The enrollment in 1914 reached nearly 100 pupils. Under the wise management of the Rev. Pastor V. Watzka, the congregation is making steady improve- ments and in a short time a fine, modern schoolhouse will be erected.
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