Early years in St. Joseph, Minnesota (1863-1880). In the early 1860s, St. Joseph (Clinton) was a settlement of 80 families scattered on farms within a radius of 30 miles from the village, which was comprised of 5 homes and the church-school-rectory complex. The settlement flourished so that by 1869, St. Joseph could boast of 180 families. This staunch German Catholic community built a large Gothic style church (1871) and rectory (1874) from stones which the parishioners gathered from their fields. However, because they depended on the district schools, they did not build a parochial school at this time. In 1862, two sisters from the Benedictine community in St. Cloud were invited by the pastor to teach in the St. Joseph district school. After two years, the sisters experienced the same controversy about government support as they had in St. Cloud. In fact, the school board dismissed the sisters and gave H. L. Duerr a four-year teaching contract. This forced the sisters to seek other means of support by establishing an academy, orphanage, and industrial school. The sisters continued these projects even after they were re-employed as district school teachers at the completion of Duerr's contract in 1868. Besides teaching in the St. Joseph School District 9, others (Sisters Aurelia Bissen, Romana Widmer, and Gonzaga Kevenhoerster) taught in District 108 and three (Sisters Cecilia Kapsner, Hilaria Finske, and Vincentia Phiilipp) taught in District 1 (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives; McDonald, pages 57-60; Idelia Loso, pages 19-21, 36, 39-40).
This image shows the west front of St. Mary's Catholic Church in St. Peter. The church, also known as the Church of the Immaculate Conception, was located at 523 South Third Street from 1889 until 1992. This postcard negative, marked 469, has been converted to a digital positive image.
This photograph shows an interior view of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in St. Peter. The church, also known as St. Mary's Church, was located at 523 South Third Street from 1889 until 1992.
Schools in St. Cloud (1869-1909). By 1860, St. Cloud had expanded from its four homes in 1854 to 1,651 citizens. The 1856 church/school/convent was no longer adequate. In 1864, St. Mary's parishioners built a new church on the shores of Lake George. The large Gothic-style church served the parish for almost 60 years . When it was destroyed by fire, another church, the present St. Mary's Cathedral, was built. St. Mary's Parish eventually solved the school controversy by building its own parochial school. The first one in 1887 was a one-story frame building to accommodate 180 pupils. In 1896, a large parochial school, still in use today, was built next to St. Mary's Church (Saint Benedict's Monastery Archives ; Witte, pages 10-11, 17; Dominik, John, J. pages 12-14, 20).
Early years in St. Cloud (1857-1863). The upper floor of St. Mary's Church and School was renovated in 1858 to serve as the second convent for the Benedictine sisters. St. Mary's was the first Catholic parish in St. Cloud. It was organized in 1855 by Father Francis Xavier Pierz, the missionary who had lured Catholic Germans to America (specifically to Minnesota) in the early 1850s with promises of farming and wood lands, rivers, opportunity, and freedom. The year before the Benedictine sisters arrived at St. Mary's Parish, the pastor had opened a private school in a room in Joseph Edlebrock's house. His intention was to complete the section of the complex meant for the school and to have the sisters take charge. However, the parishioners, fearful of losing government support and desirous of managing their church and school, did not accept that arrangement. The sisters then started their own convent school and continued the lessons they had given while at Tenvoorde's house for children of any interested settlers. Twenty children enrolled the first days after the sisters opened St. Mary's School. Among the girls were: Mary Edelbrock, Lizzie Rosenberger, Catherine Felders, and Mary Brown. Among the boys were: Anton, Barney, and Joseph Edelbrock, Henry Rosenberrger, John Niebler, Joseph Reichert, and Louis Emmel. Among those who took private music lessons were: Jennie and Mary Mitchell, Mary and Jennie Cramsie, Sophia and Cecilia Corbett, and Nettie Swisshelm. (McDonald page37) Jane Swisshelm, the editor of the local newspaper wrote: "There is a school kept by a company of Benedictine nuns where is taught, in addition to the common branches, German, drawing, music, and needlework. The subjects are taught by ladies of polished manners and unusual proficiency. The school is in much favor with our citizens and is in a flourishing condition." (ST CLOUD VISITER, May 20,, June 24, 1858). The reputation of the sisters spread. In 1862, two sisters were invited to the nearby parish of Clinton (St. Joseph) where they taught in the district school. The following year, St. Joseph became the site of the motherhouse of the Benedictine sisters in Minnesota. When St. Mary's Parish built a new school in 1876, the sisters (having returned to St. Cloud in 1869) purchased the former convent/school complex and converted it to St. Agnes Academy. The sisters were hoping to alleviate the overcrowded conditions of the boarding school and sisters' quarters in nearby St. Joseph, where the enrollment of day students alone had reached over 200. The sisters teaching at St. Agnes Academy were pioneers in making a distinction between primary and secondary education in the area. Because this academy never flourished as a boarding school in St. Cloud, the sisters closed it in 1880 and opened St. Joseph's Academy in St. Joseph (McDonald, pages 7-16, 22-23, 36-39, 70-71, 120-123; Patricia Kelly Witte, pages 14-17).