St Francis Minor Seminary - Via Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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DIAMOND JUBILEE !856 PRESENT CHAPEL-IN-THE-WOODS PRESENT CHAPEL-IN-THE-Woons 6xterior I nterior CHAPEL-IN-THE-WOODs-4 C ha pel-of-the-Visitation Sanctuary Erected in 1866 by the Rev. Mathias Gernbauer Enlarged as pictured above in 1873 GROTTo-IN-THE-Woons CEMETERY Built by the Student: in 1894 Station: originally erected in 1870 by the Rev. Mathias Gernbauer non

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Qis This FUND was started in 1898, according to a statement found in records of the Fund as kept by Father Charles Becker. His records further show that a report made under date of Feb. 17, 1907 credit the Fund with: Cash on Hand ........................... $4620.81 Receipt .......................................... 9485.65 Total ............................................. $14,106.46 The Burses, now totalling forty-three, were begun with the Burse presented Monsignor Rainer, Jan. 29, 1913, on the occasion of his Silver Jubilee as Rector of the Seminary. The 41Indigent Students Fund of St. Francis Seminary was incorporated under the law of the State of Wisconsin on June 27, 1910. The articles of incorporation were signed by: Joseph Rainer, Jo- seph W. Berg, John P. Pierron, James F. Ryan, and James M. Korczyk. The Fund was administered largely by Monsignor Rainer but the regular meetings and reports were duly held and made. On Feb. 21, 1927, the corporation was dissolved and the Fund was transferred to the Seminary as a corporation. The following faculty members acting as a committee appointed by the Board of Directors now administer the Fund: Very Rev. A. J. Muench, Rector, Chairman. Rev. James W. Huepper Rev. Oscar M. Ziegler Rev. George C. Eilers, Secretary Rev. Nicholas N. Brust, Treasurer The good accomplished by this Fund is indicated by the report of the Treasurer which shows that since January, 1922, to March, 1931, two hundred and Hfty-two students have been aided, and the sum ex- pended on these deserving students amounts On that same space of timeh to $126,643.71. This means a distribution of aid each year of approximately $14,000.00 The Fund has grown remarkably when one con- siders that there has been little or no organized effort to solicit burses or contributions. The next ten years should see the Fund reach such proportions that will enable the iiCommitteeT, to double its grants and further aid the deserving indigent student. SAINT FRANCIS SEMINARY 11071 Indigent Students Fund Following is a list of the Completed Burses and the respective donors: Name of Burse Donor 1 St. Josephs .................. Msgr. Rainefs Golden Jubilee 2 Msgr. Rainer.. ....... Msgr. Raineris Golden Jubilee 3 St. Bernard ................................................ Rev. Ignatius Klein 4 St. Francis de Sales ......... Collected by Msgr. Rainer 5 Immaculate Conception I ......... Collected by Msgr. Rainer. 6 St. Sebastian ........................... Collected by Msgr. Rainer 7 SaCred Heart............1 ........ Collected by Msgt. Rainer 8 Immaculate Conception II.........Rev. J. M. Wicker, La Crosse, Wis. 9 St. Michael................1......................Miss Anna Schummer 10 Holy Helpers...1..............V...A.Collected by Msgr. Rainer 11 Meis Burse .................................................................. Ignatz Meis 12 St. Rita .......... Collected by Msgr. Rainer 13 St. Barbara. ..................................... Rev. C. Nau 14 St. Lawrence ........................... Collected by Msgr. Rainer 15 Blessed Albertus Magnus I ......... Collected by Msgr. Rainer. 16 Bishop Fox ................... Bishop Fox, Green Bay, Wis. 17 Wisbauer .................................................................. Rev. Wisbauer 18 Blessed Albertus Magnus II .................. Msgr. Petrash 19 St. Werner ....................................... Rev. Werner Emmerich 20 St. Joseph ................................................................. Msgr. Petrash 21 Baker Mr. Baker 22 Buite Mr. Bulte 23 St. Philip ............................................................ Rev. Philip Vogt 24 St Thomas 27 , 25 Holy Name .......................................... Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thill 26 Holy Family 27 St. Peter ............. 28 Sullivan Burse... ....M1:s. Gertrude Sullivan 29 Conway Burse .................................... Miss Bridget Conway 30 Father Murphy3s Burse ............... Rev. Henry Murphy 31 Bishop Eis Butse......1.Bishop Eis, Marquette, Mich. 32 Fechter Burse ........................... Mrs. Catherine Fechter 33 Little Flower Burse. Mrs. Catherine Fechter 34 Jordan Burse ........................................... Mr. Jordan 35 Kinsella-Croke Burse ............. Rev. J. Croke 36 Father Heideggeris Burs ...Rev. Heidegger 37 Elizabeth Schieffen Burse ........................ Miss Elizabeth Schieffen. 38 St. Anthony Burse ............ Collected by Msgr. Rainer 39 Blessed Albertus Magnus Burse III ............... Golden Jubilee Burse 40 St. Catherineis Burse ...... Collected by Msgr. Rainer 41 Wm. Cuddy Burse ........................... The Cuddy Family, Eau Claire, Wis. 42 Theresa Desmond Burse .................. Theresa Desmond, Milwaukee, Wis. 43 St. Aloysius Burse .............................. Various Donations

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. 0 ACCOUNT of the establishment .. and growth of the Seminary can 1 be considered adequate which i would omit a summary, however brief, of the assistance given to the institution by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. i - The founders of that community i deeded to the Seminary the land . which they had purchased jointly . 9 with the Tertian Brothers. Msgr. T Rainer, in A NOBLE PRIEST, t i t ' has this to say, llBishop Henni, who held the deed to the thirty-eight acres of the community, now turned it over with the consent of the community to the Seminary. On this land they had hoped to plant and develop another community to aid the then struggling Church in Wisconsin. In the simplicity of Jesus Christ they made themselves dependent upon the providence of God by giving all their goods to the poor and accepting as alms only what was necessary to sustain life. A very brief survey of the origin of the commu- nity and its loyal adherence throughout the years to one of its earliest aimsellto lay the foundation for a German-boysl Seminary for the education of German priests for Americalle will help show the relation that has always existed between the Sisters and the Seminary. In May of 1849, a little band of six women and four men, all tertiaries of St. Francis, led by Fathers Keppeler and Steiger arrived in Milwaukee from Ettenbeuren, Bavaria, and offered themselves to Bishop Henni for work in his diocese. He advised them to settle at Nojoshing, now St. Francis, where they bought thirty-eight acres of land. During the summer the whole company put up a small convent for the Sisters at the northwest end of the road leading to the orphanage. The building faced north. One may still see two stumps of trees that flanked the front entrance. Un 1916, the Sisters built a summerhouse south of the present convent which is a miniature of the original conventJ Shortly after the first convent was finished ,the Brothers built another dwelling nearby known as the llBrothersl House? After a few years, when the remaining llBrothersll worked exclusively for the Seminary they moved to a new house which had been built for them and the other workmen on the present site of the Salzmann Libraryt Their former home was moved just west of the convent kitchen where it became the laundry and bakery for the Seminary. Fathers Keppeler and Steiger invested the six original Sisters with the religious habit during the summer of 1850. There was no training in religious life possible, for only one had had any previous re- ligious training, and that amounted to only one year in a novitiate in Europe preparatory to embarking for America; much work there was and needs were greate the land had to be cleared, crops had to be sown, so they gave themselves over to a long, hard days labor broken only by stated periods for common prayer. But, however arduous the labor and long the day, it was not possible to force a bare living from the amount of land they were able to cultivate. Fortunately, however, both Father Keppeler and Father Steiger were performing parish duties a few miles distant and so were able to lend assistance in a small way by both employing a Sister as teacher in his parish school. But appalling disasteruboth these priests were snatched away by cholera within a few days of each other in September, 1851edeprived of spiritual and material aid at one fell blow! No priest to minister to them, and the tiny income of teaching lost through the death of their priest ...... but they struggled on heroically, hoping against hope that God would provide for them. Occasionally a priest came who read Mass and administered the Sacraments, but the Sisters had to walk to St. Marys Church in Milwau- kee for Sunday Mass until November, 1852, when Father Heiss took charge of their spiritual needs. Father Heiss realized the immediate need of some employment which would furnish the poor little com- . munity with a livelihood. When he, with Father Salz- mann, was authorized by Bishop Henni to purchase land for a Seminary he decided upon the present site because it was contiguous to the property held by the Sisters, and the proximity would make for the convenience of both institutions. Besides, Bishop Henni was aware that the Sisters had intended, as soon as they could insure llsul'licient funds for their existence by cultivation of their land, to instruct German-speaking boys, who had the necessary talent, gratis or with a meager contribution, and then, grad- ually progressing, to lay the foundation for a German Boys, Seminary for the education of German priests 1:109;