Headshot portraits of thirty men who comprised the Lanesboro Singing Society. The original photo was taken by Theodore Bersagel and reproduced by Mathias Bue.
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).
This photograph shows one of the earliest residents of Nicollet County, Charles Flandrau, who became a judge on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Flandrau led men from St. Peter to help defend New Ulm against attacks in 1862.
This photograph shows St. Peter resident Hester Woods in the photographer's studio with a document in her right hand and numerous baskets of flowers placed near her. Hester married Maurice Dean. She was graduated from St. Peter High School in 1886.
This photograph shows the well known St. Peter physician Dr. Asa W. Daniels, who had served at the Lower Sioux Agency and at Fort Ridgely prior to settling permanently in St. Peter.
This is a photograph of Rev. Aaron H. Kerr, 1819-1890. He was a Presbyterian minister in St. Peter from 1856 to 1878, except for service as chaplain of the Ninth Minnesota Infantry Regiment from 1862 until 1865. In 1878 he moved to Rochester to serve as steward at the State Hospital until 1890.
This is a photograph of Hiram Jacoby, who operated a photograph studio in St. Peter for many years. He was a very early resident of the city. Jacoby took a very large number of photographs of St. Peter and of area residents.
This photograph shows Grace Jacoby, whose father, Hiram, operated a photography studio in St. Peter. Grace was photographed as a child in formal clothing, including a very attractive hat.
This is a photograph of William Carey Brown, a Nicollet County native. Brown, who became a Brigidier General, received many honors, including the Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star.
Group of horticulturalist professors on an outing. Pictured L-R in top row: Samuel B Green (MN), LC Corbett (WV), SC Mason (KN), B Von Herff (Ohio College), W.R. Lazenvy, L.R. Jones (VT), R. McGinnis, Chas F Wheeler (MI), E.S. Goff (WI), S.A.Beach (NY), Stintson.
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).
Portrait of Nils P. Xavier, Chicago, Illinois. Nils Xavier was a Sami pastor (the Sami are an indigenous people found in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia).