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The
First School
1854
This first church
building, built on the “Church Block” and in the middle of the span of
When the first portion of
the present church building was built in 1862, alongside the first (1850)
church with its attached school, these older two buildings were converted over
to a single school building and it was used as such until 1879 when the “old”
school (the school before the present school) was built immediately to the
west.
School
Sisters
of Notre Dame
St. Henry’s has conducted a
parish school ever since 1854 and, except for a few years, the School Sisters
of Notre Dame (SSND) conducted its class-es up until
relatively recent years.
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It is uncertain as to who taught
the few students comprising the school during its first three years of
existence (1854-1857), as the first documented SSND sister-teachers did not
arrive until December of 1857.
Watertown Daily Times, 12 03 1957
One hundred years ago (in
1857) the School Sisters of Notre Dame came to the city of Watertown. Two
sisters and a candidate composed the little community which arrived on Dec. 3,
1957. The first school was staffed by two members - the sister superior and a
candidate. Another sister who was charged with the domestic work for the small
group was the third member. Eighty-six pupils enrolled in St. Henry's School on
the first day.
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The SSND teaching sisters,
arriving in Water-town in late 1857 to carry out the educational
mission of the new parish, were a religious community devoted primarily to
education. In the United States they
have conducted parish schools and orphanages in numerous archdioceses and
dioceses.
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|
The School Sisters
of Notre Dame are a branch of the Congregation of Notre Dame founded in
France, by St. Peter Fouier in 1597. In 1833 the SSND congregation began in
Bavaria. To train members for
their future religious life the School Sisters have a candidature and a
novitiate. The age for
admission into the candidature was sixteen to twenty-seven. After a two year probation and study
period, the candidate enters the novitiate, and two years later makes
temporal vows and becomes a professed sister. Most prominent among
the sisters in America was Mother M. Caroline Friess,
who died in 1892, after being superioress of the congregation for forty-two
years. She was born near Paris in
1824. As a child she was brought to Eichstadt, Bavaria, under the tutelage of her uncle,
Monsignor Michael Friess. She was one of the first to volunteer for
the missionary work in the New World and emigrated to America. |
Acting upon an
invitation from Bishop Henni, Mother Friess decided
to establish the Mother House of the SSND congregation in Milwaukee in
1850. The superioress selected sisters
from Baltimore and Pittsburgh and they set out on their merry way for
Milwaukee. Between Chicago and
Milwaukee their stage broke down and the passengers were thrown into the
snow. After a journey of two days and
three nights by sleigh, they reached Milwaukee and occupied a little brick
house bought for them by Bishop Henni with money donated to him for the
purpose by King Louis of Bavaria.[1] Henni would prove to
be their generous friend and supporter. Such was the
beginning of the pioneer work of the Notre Dame Sisters in the Middle West, a
labor of love in the service of their God. |
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The School Sisters of Notre Dame
are considered an Augustinian order and the spiritual writings of St. Augustine
form part of their charisma.
Augustinian spirituality for the
SSND is one word, “God,” and they strive to live in a community modeled on the
Trinity’s unity in diversity, bonded in love.
It was for the children of the immigrants that
Mother M. Caroline opened St. Henry’s School on December 3, 1857. This was the fifth such learn-ing institution in the Milwaukee province. When the school opened that year, it
fulfilled the dreams of two people who probably never met: Reverend Gaertner,
the early missionary to Watertown’s German Catholics in 1847-49, and Mother
Caro-line, who arrived in America in 1847.
Since Watertown is just 45 miles west of Milwaukee,
there were many comings and goings between St. Henry’s and the
motherhouse. The early chronicles record
visits from Mother Caroline. One can
imagine her setting out in a carriage from the old motherhouse on Milwaukee
Street and traveling along the Watertown Plank Road as far as the convent at Elm Grove. After an
overnight stop she would continue to Watertown, passing the toll house on the
eastern outskirts of the city, crossing East Main Street bridge over the Rock
River, and finally arriving at the sister’s convent on Cady Street.
The sisters from St. Henry’s made the same trip, in
reverse, each summer for their annual retreat in Milwaukee.[2]
When the SSND arrived in 1857 to
staff the parish school, two sisters and a candidate for the sisterhood
composed the small community.[3] Father Frank Uhlemeyer prepared a hearty
reception for the sisters. Only two of the
three members of this religious community were assigned to teaching, as the
third sister was charged with the domestic work.
Around 1866 the SSND left St.
Henry’s and the Franciscan Sisters from LaCrosse
took charge of parish school. By 1877
Watertown was the only mission the Franciscan sisters had in the Milwaukee
Diocese and the Reverend Mother of LaCrosse was not
in favor of staffing it any longer. So,
in 1877, the SSND’s were requested by Father Etschmann to return to
Watertown and on August 31, 1877, two sisters and two candidates arrived in
time for the beginning of the new school year.
At the time, a number of
children were kept at home or on the farm by their parents so to work, yet 86
pupils were enrolled.[4]
Father P. M. Abbelen, SSND
motherhouse chap-lain, was a visitor to St. Henry’s in the early days. When he was asked to bless the church bells
in 1897, he probably came via the railways, known then as the “Chicago,
Milwaukee, and St. Paul.”[5]
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The school is under the leadership of the well-known
Sisters of Notre Dame of Milwaukee.
Since 1854 they have worked here loyally and eagerly with only a short
break. They have shared the burdens and
deprivations of the parish and performed their duties both within and without
the congregation with little compensation.
Thus they too have earned thanks for the growth of the parish.
Today (1903), many a well-raised young Watertownian, many parents, still speak proudly of their
experiences in St. Henry’s School and thank their good school sisters “from
those long ago times” for their solid education.
The current and very able mayor of the city, Mr.
Johann Brusenbach, is a graduate of
this school.
As their parents did in the past decade, today’s
young parents adhere willingly to the following principle: We want a good, and when possible, free Catholic
school. We’ll stand for that!
Of not slight proof of the positive influence of the
school in the community is the fact that a number of priests and nuns have come
from the parish.[6]
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In summary, except for the 1854-1857
and 1866-1877 intervals, the parish school was staffed by the SSND from its
inception until recent decades when, in 1953,
the staff began to consist of a mix of lay and religious
teachers, and then eventually all lay and no religious.
they were
allowed only two home visits during their lifetimes, upon the deaths of
The frame church initially also
served as a school house; later an addition to this church was the parish
school. The priests Moder
and his successor, Francis Spath, made the building
of a new school a reality. Moder ordered plans and began the building project in 1879,
while Spath took over the project and led it to a
successful completion. A large, roomy,
well-suited building, it brought pride to both the parishioners and the
builders. [7]
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