Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). The original group of three Benedictine sisters who opened St. Bernard's School: Sisters Eugenia ONeill (seated), Secunda Hansen (right), Auxilia Kapsner (left). The number of sisters at St. Bernard's Parish increased in subsequent years to thirty sisters serving on the faculty of St. Bernard's School (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
St. Benedict's Mission, White Earth Indian Reservation (White Earth Band of Ojibwe). About 85 boarding students and six sisters posed in the inner court of St. St. Benedict's Mission School in the early 1890s. Record keeping for this large a group of children was not simple. While the churches constructed and operated the schools on the reservations, government policy allowed the schools an annual appropriation of a flat rate for tuition, board and clothing annually; the amount varied from $100 to $150 per pupil. This policy required careful quarterly reports to be sent to Washington. All expenditures had to be accounted for - the number of pounds of meat, sacks of flour, bushels of beans and potatoes, barrels of sugar, pounds of rice, and gallons of syrup and soap These accounts show the frugality of the mission school's fare. For example, the 1886 end-of-year record shows $2.00 for candy and $2.50 for a pair of geese. [SBMA, McDonald, pp. 240-241]
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1886, St. Benedict's Convent built a small residence for sisters teaching at St. Mary's School in St. Augusta and by 1903, it required an addition. Fifty years later the parish voted to change the district school to a parochial school, but it took another 10 years before a new parochial school was built. Sisters still serve in the St. Mary's School and parish, having given this settlement over 120 years of service (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Melrose was settled at a ford in the river on the stagecoach trail between the Red River Valley and St. Cloud. It got its spurt of growth in 1871 as the terminus of the west-bound railroad, making it a marketing center. Melrose (named after Melissa Rose, the daughter of one of the early settlers) soon developed into a strong Catholic community eager to establish its own parish. In 1880, St. Boniface School (parish/district) was built and the Benedictine sisters responded to the pastor's invitation to teach there. By 1894, four sisters were teaching 170 pupils, despite the fact that at first they suffered from the usual prejudice of German communities regarding public versus parochial schools. In subsequent years, the enrollment peaked at 325 pupils even though the Irish parishioners established their own grade/high school and enrolled as many as 166 pupils. When St. Boniface and St. Patrick parishes merged in 1958, the parish and school were renamed St. Mary's School which reached a peak enrollment of 481 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
St. Mary's Mission, Red Lake Indian Reservation (Red Lake Nation). Sisters and students pose on the porch of the convent/school. In 1889, with a donation received from the Drexel sisters, a convent/boarding school was built. Upstairs were sleeping quarters for the sisters and girls; downstairs contained the kitchen, recreation room, and refectory for serving meals. At the time there were five sisters, 35 boarding students of ages six to eighteen, and 25 day students. It proved to be so successful that it had to be enlarged within two years. A house was purchased to be the dormitory for boys and the temporary church (built in 1891) served as the dormitory for boys after a new church was completed in 1893. [SBMA; Lindblad, pp. 41-43]
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). The sister-faculty of Holy Angels Grade School in St. Cloud at the turn of the century are identified as follows: (seated left to right): Sisters Ignatia Huntsinger, Eleanor Irving, Ursula Hoffmann, Pauline Heller, Sybilla Vogel; (standing): Sisters Edwina Noessen, Basilia Cosgrove, Sophia Zimmer, Louise Walz. The parish records of the monthly tuition payments for the year 1897-98 list the following number of pupils for each teacher: (listed by room number; the word "grade" is not used; at first there were simply the upper and lower levels): Room 1, Sister Sybilla Vogel, 122; Room 2, Sister Pauline Heller, 78; Room 3, Sister Bonaventure Theisen, 77; Room 4, Sister Sophia Zimmer, 73; Room 5, Sister Louise Walz, 65; Room 6, Sister Eleanor Irving, 58; Room 7, Sister Ursula Hoffmann, 31; Room 8 (George Stelzle), 33. Judging by this record of the size of classes, one can surmise that the lower-level classes had half-day sessions and that in those early years, less than half of the students went beyond a sixth grade education (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, page 116; Voigt, page 39).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). In 1887, Sisters Clara Billig and Appolonia Jensen began teaching in this one-room parish/district school and convent in Buckman. A combination parochial-district school continued there without opposition for at least another 50 years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Moorhead developed into one of the larger cities of Minnesota because it was a natural terminus for most forms of transportation: the early routes of the Red River ox carts, a steamboat landing for the Hudson Bay Company, and connections to Duluth by railroad and highway. By 1882, Moorhead had 14 hotels and restaurants and the Catholic community had established its church and school. In 1879, St. Joseph's Parish in Moorhead opened a school for 50-60 pupils. This photograph of Sister Ethelburga Farrell's class and Father Augustine Brockmyer, pastor of St. Joseph's Parish, was taken in 1887. By 1892 a new school was built. The enrollment continued to increase so that, within the next 20 years, six sisters were teaching 200 students resulting in the building of another new school (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Olsenius, page 129).
St. Benedict's Academy (1883-1909); St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Academy class of 1883-1884, front row sitting left to right: Neville Ensor, Mary Schwartz, Elizabeth Spies, Tillie Keppers, Barbara Venne, Margaret Sanz, Ursula Glatzmeier, Anna Herron, Bertha Linnemann, Carrie Smith, Alta Letson, Frances Pfannenstein, Lena Bernick, Mary Rhodes, Lucretia Mutschlechner. Second row sitting: Rose Black, Mary Merten, Anna Brockmann, Theresa Schreiner, Margaret Klein, Stella LaComb, Margaret Kerst, Josephine Friend, Anna Wagner; (Third row sitting): Anna Kahl, Laura Bosworth, Margaret Lauermann, Magdalen Theisen, Barbara Eich; (First row standing): Eliza Darbelly, Louisa Maurin, Sister Alexia Kerst, Mary Roach, Clara Otto, Mary Kennedy; (Second row standing - next to building): Johanna Madigan, Mary Brockmann, Jennie McLean, Sister Bonaventure Kapsner, Margaret Claesgens, Margaret Farrell, Sarah Farrell, Louise Wall, Mattie Bosworth, Josie Smith, Mary Zimmer, Sarah Kelly, Lavina Huber, Sister Pius Roche, Sister Celestine Marschall, Josie Gerard, Mary Hoffmann. While the sisters rejoiced at the increasing enrollment, they were concerned about maintaining a small enough number to assure a homey atmosphere and a community spirit. In the early 1880s, because many of the students were of grade-school age, there was a built-in family atmosphere in the academy. Gradually, however, the academy drew students of high school age and older; by 1909, the academy was ready to consider offering college classes (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Perham marks the beginning of the Lake Park region of Minnesota. In 1873 the town was platted by the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Land Company and named after Josiah Perham, the first president of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The early businesses were the Glove Milling company and the Schmidt Wagon Works. Within ten years the Catholic community developed a school system, at one time having the three following Catholic schools in the area: 1.) St. Henry's - the Benedictine sisters opened a school in a section of the convent but when the enrollment increased, the former public school and a harness shop were utilized; enrollment there reached a peak of 269 pupils with 5-6 sisters teaching in subsequent years. 2.) St. Joseph - the Benedictine sisters began teaching in a district school (Ottertail County), three miles from Perham. (In 1885 St. Benedict's Convent built a large dwelling there intended to serve as a sisters' health resort; instead, it became the residence for the 5 sisters at St. Joseph's School. The dwelling was later sold for $1,100.) 3.) St. Stanislaus - in 1902, the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph's also staffed this small school but three years later it closed because only 38 students enrolled. However, the pastor reopened it seven years later and the Polish-speaking Felician sisters staffed it for another twenty years (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Besides fostering the mission of education, especially the academy, in which the sisters of St. Benedict's Convent were engaged by 1880, Mother Scholastica Kerst is best known for fearlessly launching the community into the new field of health care. Under her leadership, St. Benedict's Convent flourished as did the hospitals in Bismarck, Duluth and St. Cloud. During her administration of nine years, the membership of the community increased from 57 to 164; the number of parochial schools staffed by the sisters had grown from 10 to 28; the orphanages, schools and hospitals became monuments of her enterprise and executive ability. Mother Scholastica had the spirit of the American frontier in her blood. Mother Scholastica (Catherine) Kerst was born in Prussia in 1847 and came to St. Paul, MN, with her parents in her infancy. She entered St. Gertrude's Convent, Shakopee, MN, in 1862, two days after its establishment. Bishop Thomas Grace, O.P., of St. Paul, required that she spend some of her formation period at St. Gertrude's founding motherhouse in St. Marys, PA. This experience in a well-established, older convent and her own flair for leadership and good business, gave her the impetus to request permission to establish a convent in St. Paul with four other sisters. Instead, church authorities advised her to transfer to St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN, which she did in 1877. Three years later Abbot Alexius Edelbrock appointed her prioress of St. Benedict's Convent. [Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; McDonald, ppage93-95]
Early ventures in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1880-1890). In the early years, an academy was geared to primary school education and only gradually developed into a secondary school. This photo shows the wide age-range of students attending St. Benedict's Academy before the 1900s. This range of ages may account for the family (community) spirit that developed in the school. It was customary to refer to the younger girls as "minims." The prefect with this group is Sister Ernesta Kranz; the child in the sailor suit is identified as Alice O'Niel (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Before Sister Laura Hesch could establish a mission center on Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), she taught Ojibwe children at their homes. Her motherly affection for children soon won their hearts.
During her first year at the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe), Sister Laura Hesch was given a car, a 1936 Plymouth, for her mission work.