Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 050-2 - April 1996 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 16 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-05 07:25:32 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:06:00 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:06:00

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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community. These nuns were in charge of teaching anywhere from 120 students, when the Mount Saint Mary’s School first opened in 1866, to as many as 250 students as the community grew and flourished. Over the next few years, the Sisters of Mercy took on more nuns to help run the orphanage for the areas’s abandoned children. Father Dalton found it a necessity to create an orphanage to accommodate all of the parentless children of the community. Mining accidents happened very frequently, and many mothers could not raise their children on their own. The nuns took in as many orphaned children as they could. In 1868, in hopes of raising more money to keep the orphanage going, the nuns decided to open a “small select school” for young ladies. This school served its purpose to educate young ladies to become women, for a small fee. Many years later, in 1918, the Sisters of Mercy opened a business school, which served as a junior college. It offered subjects like typing, shorthand, business math, and bookkeeping. In addition to the junior college, a music school opened up. These schools served the community for many years, In 1927, the sisters found the existing school was too small to accommodate the growing number of students, and a new school was built. This new school contained a modern heating system, recreation rooms, and more and larger classrooms. This school was a wonderful addition to the community. In 1894, the Henry Scadden Orphanage was torn down, and in its place a new chapel was built. It was called the Saint Joseph’s Chapel. The walls of the chapel were made entirely out of tin. There was a large stained-glass window donated by Miles P. O’Connor of San Jose.’ The chapel was illuminated by eight large chandeliers which contained 24 gas lights each. Saint Joseph’s Chapel was constructed especially for the nuns’ use. This chapel is the very room I am speaking in tonight. One of the saddest days in the history of Mount Saint Mary’s was on August 22, 1932, when the orphanage was closed down. The orphans were moved to another orphanage in Sacramento. The building was demolished and the land sold off for a subdivision. Almost two decades later, in 1969, a group of community members realized that the convent was a very important part of the history of our community, and [they] formed a preservation group. They named it “The Historic Preservation Committee.” They began the difficult task of restoring and preserving the Mount Saint Mary’s School and the Saint Joseph’s Chapel. The sisters sold the building for $1 and turned them over to The Historic Preservation Committee. For the next few years the committee held fund raisers, and managed to collect $100,000 to repair the buildings. In 1973, the State of California marked Mount Saint Mary’s as a State Historical [Landmark]. In 1975, a museum was opened on the second floor of the old convent. That museum is still here and is visited by many people who come to tour our county. The Mount Saint Mary’s Convent was not just a place where nuns were schooled. The nuns that worked at Mount Saint Mary’s were women who had tremendous responsibilities. After teaching school during the day, caring for ill orphans, feeding them, bathing them, and tucking them into bed, they went to the Saint Joseph’s Chapel to pray. One nun I have in mind was Sister Agnes. She was not only a nun, but acted as a mother to nearly 100 orphaned boys—can you believe that! Sister Agnes washed their clothes and bathed them, “and mind you folks, there wasn’t a heating system in 1878.” She had to draw water from the well, heat it, and then put it to use. Not only was she the boys’ mother, but she was their seamstress, nurse, housekeeper, and best friend. Along with no hot water, there was no electricity and no washing machines. She did all of the work by herself. Not only did she do all of the house work, but she tended to the boys when they fell ill. Diseases like scarlet fever and small pox had to be taken care of quickly; this meant that the ill child would have to be quarantined. Sister Agnes quarantined herself, along with the sick child, 24 hours a day until he was better. She was noted for reading to the boys while they were sick. In her lifetime she mended thousands of garments, cared for hundreds of sick children and kept the orphanage spotless. She was remembered for giving her life to those who needed her most, the children. This is only one story of one nun who served in the Mount Saint Mary’s Convent. There were dozens of women who led a life of helping others. They did this right here in our county, and for their devotion to our county’s children, they will never be forgotten. I don’t know if they were ever properly thanked in their lifetime, but on behalf of the children, . would just like to thank them for their extraordinary dedication. The History of Chicago Park by Hanna Mounce A CLOUD OF SMOKE ROSE UP in the distance. It was coming closer and closer. A faint whistle was heard. The train was coming. Two small children scurried across the tracks and ran into a pear orchard on the other side. The depot was quiet, only a few old men sat outside talking. A lady and her son walked into the store for some groceries, for the depot was not only the town’s train station, but the area’s only store and post office, too. The train coughed to a stop, blowing steam over the building. Only a few passengers got off. As the steam cleared, a sign above the store could be read. In large white letters it said: “Chicago Park.” 7. O'Connor was an attorney who began his political career in Nevada County as justice of the peace for Little York township in 1852-53; he then moved to Grass Valley and was elected justice of the peace; he represented Nevada County in the assembly and state senate in the 1860s and 1870s. 19