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1. Remains of chapel (center building on Kapsner farm) built by Father Francis Pierz in Pierz, Minnesota
- Date Created:
- 1909?
- Description:
- Schools in north-central Minnesota (1871-1909). Father Francis Xavier Pierz, an early missionary and friend to the American Indians and the white settlers of the Northwest Territory, chose Rich Prairie (later named "Pierz" in his honor) as his place of retirement in the late 1860's. He had come to Minnesota in 1852 and established missions and parish communities throughout the Northwest Territory. With luring descriptions of the rich soil and a moderate climate he invited German Catholics living in eastern states to venture moving to this western frontier. A small church, which he built in Rich Prairie, is preserved on the Kapsner farm. Accustomed as he was to living in tents or camping out in his travels throughout the Territory, Father Pierz would describe his little dirt-floor log chapels as beautiful churches. By 1871, the small rural parish he founded in Pierz (Rich Prairie) was ready to welcome the Benedictine sisters as teachers in their log school house. This photo was likely given to the archives by one of the eight Kapsner family members of the Pierz area who joined the Benedictine community in St. Joseph (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives).
- Contributing Institution:
- Saint Benedict's Monastery
- Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- Black-and-white photographs
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