Jewels from Jane, April 7

"On April 7, [1836] at nine o'clock in the morning, the three Sisters, [Febronie Chapellon, St. Protais, and Febronie Fontbonne] accompanied by Father Fontbonne, left St. Louis by boat for Cahokia where they 'were welcomed as angels from heaven.' On the Illinois shore of the Mississippi, they found Father Doutreluingue and a numerous concourse awaiting them. The villagers had come on foot and on horseback, in carts and wagons, to meet the new comers and escort them to their home through the woods that covered the American Bottom, as the lowland between the river and Cahokia was then called. It was noon when they reached the church, to which their first visit was made. A repast was spread for them in the wide passage-way that served for a dining hall in the two-room rectory. The only recorded item of the simple bill of fare is corn bread, manifestly new and strange to their French palates. It was Bishop Rosati who conducted them to the convent, located in a four acre tract opposite the church.

"...St. Joseph's Institute was the name given by the Sisters to their convent and school, but the villagers dignified it by the name of 'The Abbey.'

"Thirty day-pupils were enrolled at the opening of school, a few days after the arrival of the Sisters. To this number were soon added five boarders. The instruction given was entirely in French, though the majority of the people spoke a Canadian patois rather difficult for the Sisters to understand."

From The Congregation of Saint Joseph of Carondelet: a brief account of its origin and its work in the United States (1650-1922) by Sister Mary Lucida Savage