to work among the Indians.38 Moreover, during the same year, Adelhelm informed his abbot that he had received an invitation from the Archbishop in Oregon. Meanwhile, Father Ignatius was invited to assist the bishop at the Cathedral in St. Joseph, Missouri. He suspected that this prospect had been deliberately arranged by his former friend, Adelhelm, to get him out of the way in Maryville.39 Nevertheless, he accepted the offer.
Meanwhile, letters continued to crisscross between both Engelberg in Switzerland and the two houses in Missouri. Some of them implied that the relationship between Adelhelm and Bernardine was too close for their own good, and divisive for the community. Mother Gertrude continued to sort out the information she received at Maria Rickenbach (difficult as that must have been) and reaffirmed her confidence in Sister Bernardine and her good judgment. Mother Gertrude noted that God had given Bernardine special gifts which were not always appreciated.
The year 1880 took on special significance for the Missouri Benedictines. The convent building in Maryville (promised by Adelhelm several years before) was finally completed, and apparently was more roomy and attractive than the one in Conception. Mother Gertrude Leupi finally arrived in America to get firsthand knowledge of the work and problems of her sisters. After spending a short time in Conception, she moved to Maryville, taking some of the sisters with her. Maryville was made a separate, independent community, with the right to establish its own novitiate. Thirteen sisters were in residence, with Mother Gertrude as superior. She appointed Sister Bernardine her assistant, describing her as “good and able.” By December, eighteen people lived in the new convent, and worries arose about how they would liquidate the considerable debt with which they found themselves encumbered.40 Father Adelhelm had assured the people of the parish in Maryville that the sisters could easily pay for the convent, since their school was flourishing, and many children were taking music lessons as well.
The debt became a serious burden for the sisters in Maryville. In April of 1881, Sister Bernardine was sent out to collect money to help cover their expenses. Records are lacking to indicate where she went and whom she asked, or even how much she collected. A letter from Sister Gertrude to Maria Rickenbach noted that Bernardine would be in New York by June.41 In the same communication, she begged the motherhouse for more sisters, since there was much work in Maryville, and Bishop Marty was looking for missionaries for the Dakotas. Furthermore, mention was made of another “paradisial place” that had been offered. It would be a shame to leave the pagans there without assistance. Mother Gertrude noted that all was going well at Maryville, all were one heart and one soul. However, rumor had it that strange things were going on in Conception.
A rift had developed between Sister Anselma and her former superior, the nature of which remains obscure. Some of the Conception sisters had asked to transfer to Maryville. The newer, roomier convent there seemed to be more attractive to prospective American candidates. German was still the predominant language at Conception. On the other hand, Maryville had the debt that simply would not go away.42 Vague promises from a Princess Radziwill came to nothing, and even Sister Bernardine’s begging tour was of little avail.
In the spring of 1881, Father Adelhelm left Missouri for the Far West. His trip took him into California, to Jacksonville in Oregon, to Walla Walla, Washington (in the records mistakenly put in Oregon), and eventually to the place of his choice for a monastery: a small community called Fillmore in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. The outlying parishes at Gervais and Sublimity needed priests as well. With a firm offer for land and work, Adelhelm took ship for Europe, arriving in Engelberg in November. His descriptions of the land and missionary work waiting to be done in Oregon gained recruits from his own monastery. As might be expected, he wrote to Sister Bernardine, describing the beauty and advantages of Oregon and inviting her to lead a group of sisters to the Far West.
Meanwhile, Mother Gertrude Leupi became more and more intrigued with the Dakota missions and the idea of converting the Indians. Martin Marty had been begging for sisters for some time. She must have talked freely of her desire, because Mother Anselma wrote to Maria Rickenbach in July, expressing the opinion that Mother Gertrude would not remain in Maryville much longer.
Mother Gertrude Leupi left for Dakota in March, 1882, with a small group of sisters who would form the nucleus of what later became Sacred Heart Convent in Yankton, South Dakota. Since someone of the group had to speak English well enough to communicate with the government agents who dealt with Indian affairs, Sister Bernardine was asked to join the group.43 She wrote one letter from Fort Yates in July, in which she mentioned the fervor of the Indian children, who, when they saw a sister with a crucifix or rosary in hand, immediately gathered round to kiss the sacred object. She also rejoiced over the baptism of an old Indian who had been converted away from membership in a diabolical sect.44
Sister Bernardine’s stay in Dakota was short-lived. In October, 1882, she left for Oregon, never to return to the Missouri community.
4 • On to Gervais, Oregon
Driven by a combination of restlessness and frustration, Adelhelm Odermatt left Missouri in 1881 to look for another location, perhaps one with mountains, that would remove him from the tensions of Conception and Maryville and give broader scope for his designs for monastic life in America. An entry in the diary of Anselm Villiger indicates that Adelhelm became suspect in the eyes of Bishop Hogan because he did not join the community at Conception.1 However, another entry quotes the superior of Maryville (Sister Bernardine), who praises the zeal and self-sacrifice of Adelhelm: “The most Reverend Bishop of St. Joseph (Hogan) who on one occasion gave him this testimony: P. Adelhelm has in seven years made one of the best and most zealous parishes out of one of the worst.”2 He was credited with 18 conversions, while St. Joseph had only eight or nine.
This apparent success as a pastor was not enough to satisfy the dreams of Adelhelm. An invitation from Archbishop Seghers of Oregon City (later to become the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon) to make a foundation in his archdiocese offered an opportunity for further travel and exploration in Oregon, Colorado, and the Pacific Coast. Abbot Anselm authorized Nicholas Frei and Adelhelm to look for a place in North America that would be suitable for a foundation, “as regards climate, fresh water, forest, hills, connecting roads, etc.”3 When he left Maryville on June 9, his departure was “profoundly deplored by young and old.4
The two priests spent some months looking at sites in Oregon, California, and Washington, sending glowing accounts of land and opportunity to be had in America. On November 11, 1881, Adelhelm wrote from Walla Walla, Washington (mistakenly named Oregon in the account) to Father Ignaz, subprior at Engelberg, that they (presumably Nicholas and Adelhelm) were ready to settle in Oregon, not at Jacksonville, but at German parishes in Fillmore and Sublimity. They were also offered a large wooden church in Gervais, where there were Germans, French, and Irish. Finally, on February 4, 1882, Abbot Anselm summoned Adelhelm back to Engelberg, “for discussion.” He arrived on June 17, having traveled thirty-four days, from Oregon to California, then to New York, across the Atlantic to Cherbourg, then home to his abbey. He again impressed his confreres, and apparently the abbot, with his zeal and enthusiasm, because he received chapter approval and was able to recruit five priests and two brothers for his new foundation.5 He made an impression at Maria Rickenbach as well, for he convinced the prioress, Joanna Gretener, to permit three of their sisters to join the group.
On September 25, an interesting and varied crowd left Engelberg for America: Fathers Adelhelm, Bede, Barnabas Held, and AnselmWachter; Brother Theodul; two Baettig brothers; two Baettig sisters; Clara Hess; students Burri, Snyder, Fundmann, Rosenberg, Meyer, Wiss, and Fuerst. Leaving from Sarnen, with the intention of founding their own cloistered community, were Sisters Johanna Zumstein, Rosalia Ruebli, and Magdalena Suter; from Maria Rickenbach, Sisters Mathilde Cattani, Agatha Langenstein, and Brigitta Sonderegger; the widow Sonderegger; and Misses Lochbihler and Schuetterli, all full of courage and zeal! On October 16, these travelers arrived in Maryville and made a visit to Conception in the afternoon, where novice Lina Lochbihler and candidate Agatha Schildknecht remained. Sister Agatha and four candidates travelled
