150 Years of SSND Presence, Ministry in St. Charles, Mo.
By Carol Marie Wildt, SSND
 
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, the foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, came from France in 1818 to minister to the French settlers in the “trading post” settlement of St. Charles, Mo. Many of these early traders had taken Indian wives and settled along the hills of the Missouri River.

A second population boom resulted from the migration of German settlers to St. Charles in the 1830s-1840s. They were accustomed to poverty, hard work and intensive farming of small farms in the homeland, and the new settlers quickly prospered in this new land. The German culture began to be predominant in this French town.

Many of the German settlers were Catholic and while their religious obligations could be fulfilled in the French parish of St. Charles Borromeo, they desired a German-speaking church. In May 1848, a group of men petitioned Archbishop Patrick Kenrick of St. Louis to organize a new parish. With his permission and a donation of $100 for the start of a building fund, the German settlers quickly went into action. By September 1848, the cornerstone was laid and the new church was dedicated to St. Peter. Although the building was not completed and pews and organ were not in place, the church was officially dedicated on January 1, 1850.

In 1857, Rev. Christopher Wapelhorst became pastor of St. Peter’s parish and greatly desired to have sisters teach in the parochial school. In August 1859, he visited his friend, Rev. Francis Xavier Krautbauer, at the Milwaukee motherhouse. Fr. Krautbauer had become the second chaplain  at the motherhouse in April 1859. [He succeeded Fr. Anton Urbanek who died during the explosion on the steamboat, Pennsylvania, on June 13, 1858].

Fr. Wapelhorst’s visit coincided with the reception of 40 postulants into the novitiate. Immediately, he begged Mother Caroline for sisters for his school. She assured him that within one to two years, she would send them. Returning to St. Charles, he and the parishioners began the construction of a convent-school building with the blessing of Archbishop Kenrick and the assistance of Fr. Krautbauer.

Thirteen years after their arrival in America, the School Sisters of Notre Dame came to St. Charles. On December 8, 1860, Fr. Krautbauer arrived with Sister Michaela Bendle as superior; Sister Georgia Richards, who taught sewing and took care of the housework; and Candidate Annie Cassidy, who taught English. The mission was named “Maria Carola.” The two-story building consisted of two classrooms and parlor on the first floor with the living quarters on the second floor. Forty-four students began classes on December 9, 1860.

In 1868, Sister Edmunda Tripps, a member of the second missionary band to America, became superior. During these early years, the sisters taught the girls and, by special arrangement with Mother Caroline, the boys in the lower grades. A layman taught the boys in the upper grades. It was not always possible to find a competent layman and shortly after S. Edmunda’s arrival, the pastor petitioned Mother Caroline for Sister Edmunda to teach the older boys until New Year’s. He hoped to secure the services of a capable male teacher by then. Mother Caroline consented. Sister Edmunda taught the older girls and boys so successfully that the pastor expressed the wish that she could continue. That wish, however, wouldn’t be realized until 32 years later. In 1900, the older boys of the parish would also be taught by the sisters.
 
In 1867-68, a new school was built to accommodate the growing number of students. By 1900, another new building was needed. In 1918, the school became a “free school” as a result of a fund that had accumulated from the wise financial investment of the pastor, Rev. Francis Willmes. In 1924, St. Peter High School opened as a two-year commercial high school. By 1929, a four-year high school had been established. In 1957, the parish high school was replaced by a regional one, Duchesne High School.

The 1860 convent-school was renovated for the sisters’ living quarters in 1868. Electricity and running water were installed in the convent in 1895. A new convent was built in 1949 and the sisters lived there until 1987. Due to the decreasing number of sisters serving in the school and parish, the pastor deemed it more economical for the sisters to live with the SSNDs at St. Charles Borromeo convent than to maintain the large convent building.

Through the past 150 years, more than 50 women from St. Charles have entered SSND. Like Blessed Theresa and Mother Caroline, more than 375 SSNDs have ministered to the people of St. Charles by responding to the needs of the people at St. Peter Grade and High School, St. Charles Borromeo, Duchesne High School, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton/St. Robert, St. Joachim and Ann, and St. Cletus.

At present, Sister Maggi Judge is a teacher at St. Charles Borromeo and Sister Raquel Ortez is a pastoral assistant at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Charles.

[Sources: Chronicle of St. Peter, St. Charles; Centenary History of St. Peter Parish, St. Charles, Mo., S. Wilma Lachowsky, SSND, 1952; Centennial of St. Peter Parish, St. Charles, MO, 1950; St. Louis Province statistics]


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