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1. Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, OSB, St. Joseph, Minesota

Date Created:
1860?
Description:
Orgins of St. Benedict's Monastery (convent), St. Joseph, Minnesota. Mother Willibalda Scherbauer, OSB, led four sisters and two candidates, ranging in age from 18 to 26, from St. Marys, Pennslyvania, to the Midwest frontier (St. Cloud, Minnesota) in 1857. Mother Willibalda (Franciska) was born in Kastel, Bavaria in 1831. At an early age, her family took her to St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt to be educated. There she professed her vows in 1851; four years later, she volunteered to join the sisters in America. Then in 1857, she volunteered to venture to the Northwest Territory and was appointed prioress of the St. Cloud community by Boniface Wimmer, OSB. Mother Willibalda was an accomplished musician of whom Jane Swisshelm, editor of a local newspaper, wrote, "The Lady Abbess is small, slight, delicate, graceful, and as accomplished a lady as you could meet in any circle...waking the first echoes of those broad prairies in a call (daily ringing of the church bell) to bow regularly at an altar of Christian worship..." (McDonald, page41). Mother Willibalda's able administration as leader gave the Benedictine sisters a firm monastic foundation, not only in St. Cloud, but also in St. Joseph, the nucleus of St. Benedict's Monastery. She is lovingly remembered for accepting Mother Benedicta Riepp into the St. Cloud community when she was misunderstood by authorities and some community members for upholding the rights of the sisters in America (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 12, 15-16, 19).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

2. Group portrait of eight Benedictine Sisters, Marystown, Minnesota

Date Created:
1869?
Description:
Eight Benedictine Sisters in rounded habits stand in front of a Queen Anne-style convent. They are all facing the same direction, but their gaze is cast slightly downwards. They are all holding their rosaries. The house has 10 steps leading from street level to porch. There are lace curtains in the window. A tall industrial building looms in the background. They were once presumed to be sisters of Notre Dame.
Contributing Institution:
Scott County Historical Society
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

3. Mother Antonia Herman, OSB, second prioress of St. Benedict's Convent (1868-1877), St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Hill, Joseph
Date Created:
1870?
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). Soon after Mother Antonia (Margarethe) Hermann was born in Baden, Germany, her family immigrated to America. In 1857, Margarethe joined the Benedictine Convent in Erie, Pennsylvania. Four years later, 1861, she was sent to found a new convent in Chicago and was appointed prioress there in 1862. In 1868 Abbot Rupert Seidenbusch, without consulting the sisters in St. Joseph, brought Mother Antonia to St. Benedict's Convent and appointed her as prioress of that community. However, after the completion of her first term as prioress, she was elected by the community in St. Joseph for a second term. Mother Antonia, an able leader, helped the community face the challenges of the early years in St. Joseph. She introduced record and bookkeeping practices which are included in the community's archival collection. Mother Antonia lost the favor of Abbot Alexius Edelbrock when she negotiated to have the sisters discontinue doing the laundry and sewing for the monks at St. John's Abbey. She chose to resign as prioress and returned to her former community in Chicago. Later, she transferred to the Benedictine community in Yankton, SD, where she volunteered her services in the Dakota missions (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 65-73).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Cabinet photographs

4. Portrait of Sister Scholastica Kerst, Duluth, Minnesota

Creator:
Swem, Thomas M.
Date Created:
1878
Description:
An 1878 photograph of Sister Scholastica Kerst in the St. Benedict's convent habit. Catherine (Sister, later Mother Scholastica) Kerst (1847-1911) was born in Meuringen, Prussia, and came to St. Paul, MN, in 1852 with her parents. She entered the Benedictine community of St. Gertrude in Shakopee, MN, in 1862 and in 1877 transferred to St. Benedict's Convent in St. Joseph, MN. She was prioress there from 1880-1889. In 1892, she led the foundation of what is now St. Scholastica Monastery and was prioress there until her death in 1911.
Contributing Institution:
St. Scholastica Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Cabinet photographs

5. Minims of St. Benedict's Academy with their prefect, Sister Ernesta Kranz, OSB, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

6. Mother Aloysia Bath, OSB and nuns at Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis, MNinnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). Mother Aloysia (Helen) Bath, the first American-born prioress of St. Benedict's Convent, was born in Addison, WI in 1849. Helen entered the community of the Sisters of St. Agnes in Baron, WI, in 1864 and was given the name Sister Agatha. She transferred to the community in St. Joseph, MN in 1871, changed her name to Aloysia, and professed vows there in 1875. Two years later, she was appointed prioress of the community in St. Joseph by Abbot Rupert Seidenbusch, to fill out Mother Antonia Herman's term. Mother Aloysia resigned shortly before her term ended. However, nine years later, she was elected by the community to serve another term as prioress. Though of frail health, Mother Aloysia led the community in beginning the construction of a new convent and academy building in St. Joseph, in accepting four new schools in Minnesota, the American Indian mission in White Earth, MN, and a school in Bismarck. ND. She was an experienced teacher who had been in charge of several schools, including the large school in St. Joseph's Parish in Minneapolis. Mother Aloysia's greatest efforts were spent staffing schools in the face of school controversies and in developing a teacher-training program in the community so that young sisters would be sent out as certified teachers. Her contemplative spirit inspired the sisters to work for a balance in their work and prayer (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 73-78, 89).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Stereographs

7. Mother Scholastica Kerst, OSB, prioress (1880-1890) at St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Brown, William; Miller; Hill, J.
Date Created:
1880?
Description:
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]
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

8. Orphans at St. Joseph's Orphanage with Sisters Benedicta Klein (left,) and Placida Heine (right), St. Paul, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
Schools in south-central Minnesota (1876-1909). In 1877, the sisters of St. Gertrude's Convent in Shakopee* were asked to care for orphan children in temporary quarters on Ninth and Robert Streets in St. Paul. Sisters Benedicta Klein and Agatha Nachbar assumed the responsibility for six orphans. For this they received a salary of $10.00 a month. When this photograph was taken in 1880, Sister Placida Heine had replaced Sister Agatha Nachbar. Because the number of orphans grew to 17 by 1879, a new building was constructed near the Assumption parochial school so that the orphans could be educated there. After St. Gertrude's Convent was amalgamated with St. Benedict's in 1880, the orphanage came under the jurisdiction of St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, MN. For information about St. Gertrude's Convent, see SBM.03e or sbm00016 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

9. Sister Gertrude Flynn, OSB, from St. Gertrude's Convent, Shakopee, Minnesota

Date Created:
1880?
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). Sister Gertrude Flynn, OSB, was the prioress (in the 1870s) of a small, struggling community, St. Gertrude's Convent, Shakopee, MN, which (like St. Benedict's) had originated in St. Marys, PA. St. Gertrude's was the community of which Sister Scholastica Kerst, OSB, became a member in 1862. However, in 1877 Sister Scholastica transferred her membership to St. Benedict's Convent and within three years was appointed the fourth prioress of St. Benedict's. One of her first official actions was to negotiate the merger of St. Gertrude's Convent with St. Benedict's despite the disapproval of Sister Gertrude and her community. The merger of this English-speaking community introduced other nationalities that enhanced St. Benedict's community and provided it with a group of zealous religious whose professional experience assisted in meeting the demands of its academy and other apostolates. Sister Gertrude served St. Benedict's well in her role as community secretary and in her hope and encouragement for the full restoration of praying the Divine Office, a privilege denied the community by Abbot Boniface Wimmer, OSB, for the sake of the teaching apostolate (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 95-99).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

10. Sisters and pupils at St. Henry's School, Perham, Minnesota

Creator:
Wetzel, Conrad Jr.
Date Created:
1880?
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

11. Academy pupils at St. Benedict's Academy, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1883 - 1884
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

12. Class of 1885 who made profession of perpetual vows, St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1885
Description:
Expansion of Monastery (1880-1909). In 1885, the following sisters made their profession of perpetual vows at St. Benedict's Convent: (left to right) (Front Row): Sisters Aquina Prettner, Justina Knapp, Paula Bechtold; (Row 2): Sisters Johanna Philippi, Mother Scholastica, Lidwina Weisser; (Row 3): Sister Meinrad Burrell; Row 4: Sisters Seraphica Kennedy, Vincentia Philipp, Patricia Egan; (Row 5): Sisters Amata Macket, Margaret Dellwo, Laurentia Koempel; (Row 6): Sisters: Franziska Pogatchnik, Elizabeth Reisgraf; (Row 7): Sisters: Martha Fenneis, Demetria Keller, Julia Will, DeSales Walz, Bonaventure Kapsner (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

13. Portrait of Sister Alexia Kerst, Duluth, Minnesota

Date Created:
1885
Description:
An 1885 photograph of Sister Alexia (Mary Martha) Kerst (1856-1916), the sister of Mother Scholastica. She was born in St. Paul, MN, and entered St. Benedict's Convent in St. Joseph, MN, in 1878. She was the first administrator of St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, ND. She came to Duluth with the other foundresses of the Duluth Benedictine community in 1892 and was instrumental in the foundation of St. Mary's Hospital there. When Mother Scholastica died in 1911 she was elected prioress, a position she held until her death in 1916.
Contributing Institution:
St. Scholastica Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

14. Sisters who taught in various schools in Duluth, Minnesota

Creator:
Thiel, C.
Date Created:
1885
Description:
Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Some of the sisters teaching in Duluth before the separation of the Duluth sisters from St. Benedict's in St. Joseph are identified as follows. Top Row - left to right: S. Catherine Siefner, Clementine Jastrzenska, Florentine Cannon, Augustine Terhaar, Margaret Dellwo (Delleveaux); (Bottom Row - left to right): S. Bertha Cherrier, Regina Otto, Cornelia Berg, Anastasia Gerard, Magdalen Walker. Duluth was first settled because of a short-lived rumor in 1854 that copper and ore were found on the North Shore. It was not until 1869, when Duluth was connected to St. Paul by railroad, that the population began to grow. Though Duluth experienced a five-year set back in 1873 when Jay Cooke's (financier of the railroad-to-the-Pacific) financial empire collapsed, it became the ore capital and the grain and lumber harbor of the Northwest. Parish communities and schools began to flourish and the Benedictine sisters from St. Joseph, MN, responded to invitations to teach there: in 1881, five sisters from St. Joseph opened Sacred Heart School for over 200 children in an old carriage shop, but the pastor closed that school; in 1883, seven sisters returned to Sacred Heart Parish and taught in a public school building until a new school (St. Thomas Aquinas) was built; in 1885 sisters began teaching in St. Stanislaus School in the Polish parish, St. Mary Star of the Sea; in 1887 they opened St. Clement School and also the Store-Front School on Garfield Avenue for the French parish; in 1891 the sisters opened St. Anthony's School. All of these mission schools, as well as St. Mary's Hospital, were transferred to St. Benedict's new daughterhouse which was established in Duluth in 1892. Prompted by her deposition as prioress in St. Joseph, it was the energy and the independent pioneer spirit of Mother Scholastica Kerst that effected the separation of the sisters in Duluth from the motherhouse in St. Joseph. While only 20 of the 43 sisters in Duluth opted to join the newly-formed community, Villa Sancta Scholastica, the separation strained the resources of both communities. However, both rallied and flourished in Minnesota. The Benedictines in Duluth today conduct the College of St. Scholastica and a Benedictine Health Care System (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; Olsenius, pages 23-24).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Studio portraits

15. Mother Mary Joseph Lynch, Morris, Minnesota

Date Created:
1885?
Description:
Published in Minnesota History, 49/3 Fall 1984, p. 84. Original in the Archives of the Sisters of Mercy Provincialate, Omaha, NB.
Contributing Institution:
Stevens County Museum and Historical Society
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

16. Catholic School at Lake Henry, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Catholic School at Lake Henry.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

17. Church of Immaculate Conception School and Sisters Residence, New Munich, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of Immaculate Conception School and the sister's home in New Munich.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

18. Church of Seven Dolors, Albany, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Church of Seven Dolors in Albany.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

19. Mary Help of Christians Convent, St. Augusta, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of Mary Help of Christians Convent in St. Augusta.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

20. Order of St. Benedict Sisters' Residence, Moorhead, Minnesota

Creator:
Siegler, Isidore OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Exterior view of the Order of St. Benedict Sisters' residence in Moorhead.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

21. Sister Ethelburga Farrell and pastor, Father Augustine Brockmeyer, with pupils of St. Joseph's School, Moorhead, Minnesota

Date Created:
1887
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

22. Students at St. Benedicts School, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1887
Description:
Group portrait of students, nuns and priests in front of the St. Benedicts School.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

23. Five of the seven Benedictine sisters from St. Mary's Convent, St. Cloud, Minnesota

Date Created:
1888
Description:
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). In 1863 when the number of sisters in St. Cloud had increased to fourteen, they began to look for a more congenial environment. Seven of the sisters responded to an invitation to establish a Benedictine convent in Atchison, KS. Five of these founders of the Atchison group are identified on the photograph, taken in 1888, as follows: (seated:) Sisters Gertrude Kapser, Evangelista Kremeter, Gregoria Moser; (Standing:) Sisters Armanda Meier, Boniface Bantle;.The remaining sisters in St. Cloud chose to move to nearby Clinton (St. Joseph), a flourishing German community, where three of the sisters had already established a mission and two were teaching in the district school there. The main reasons for seeking a more congenial environment was the controversy of public versus parochial schools. The sisters were caught between the American bishops'/pastors' ideal of establishing a parochial school system and the parishioners' resistance to supporting two school systems. The parishioners also resisted the loss of the kind of control over their parishes and schools that they were accustomed to having in Germany. Besides the school controversy, there was the undeniable fact that the sisters needed time to adjust to their new environment. They had not yet mastered the English language or the school discipline needed in America so different from that of their girls' boarding school in Bavaria. Also some citizens viewed the sisters' appearance in religious dress and teaching religion in the district school as violations of the American ideal of separation of church and state (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 53-55; Terry Jaakkola and Julia Lambert Frericks, Shadows Illuminated, pages75-79).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Cabinet photographs

24. St. Benedict's Convent, St. Joseph, Minnesota

Creator:
Engel, Peter OSB
Date Created:
1888
Description:
Exterior view of the St. Benedict Convent in St. Joseph, Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Saint John's Abbey
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

25. Teachers and pupils at first St. Michael's School, Buckman, Minnesota

Creator:
Saint John's Abbey (SJA), Collegeville, Minnesota
Date Created:
1888?
Description:
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).
Contributing Institution:
Saint Benedict's Monastery
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs
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