Our Catltolic H e1-itage in Texas
schools. Sisters sent to these "mission" schools remained united to their Motherhouse to which they returned at the end of the year. In 1916 they took charge of St. Michael's School in Cuero, Texas; in 1924, of Holy Trinity School in Falls City, Texas; in 1928, St. Agnes School in San Antonio; and in 1930, Sacred Heart School, La Grange, Texas. The Corpus Ch,risti Foundation, I87I. Years prior to 1871, Mother St. Claude, a Divine Providence Nun, had attempted a school in a building and lot given to the Church by Colonel H. L. Kinney for this purpose. She had been succeeded in her efforts by Mother Euphrosine, a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, who came in 1870 at the instance of Bishop Dubuis. In 1871 Bishop Dubuis, aware of the success of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Brownsville and Vic- taria, appealed to Mother St. Claire,, the Superioress in Victoria, to help him establish a foundation in Corpus Christi. Acceding to the request, she sent four Sisters on March 2, 1871: Sister M. Ignatius McKeon of the Brownsville Community as Superioress, and Sisters St. Paul Goux, Mary of the Cross Murray, and M. Stanislaus of Nazareth Academy. Upon arrival they took possession of the house formerly occupied by Mother Euphrosine, who had returned to the Convent in Notre Dame, Indiana. Their first school in Corpus Christi opened on March 19, 1871. Moved by the pitiful condition of the old school building, deteriorated btyond repair, the parish priest gave up his home and went to live in the uncomfortable sacristy of the Church. Sister Mary Natividad, a Spanish- speaking member of the Brownsville community, was sent in August to help teach catechism to the Mexican children. In September the school was crowded by Spanish and English-speaking children from all classes. Not only did the Sisters give religious and secular instruction, but they also cultivated the fine arts. To the refined young women of a century ago, painting, music, and fancy needlework were as distinct marks of gentility as riding and fencing were to the young gentleman of that day. Growth and Development. Attended by the usual handicaps and in- numerable hardships and privations, the Corpus Christi community grew and developed in its physical plant, its membership and its educational activities. Not until 1878 were the rooms of the Convent fitted with a ceiling. That same year a few rooms were added to accommodate the in- creasing number of Sisters. Seven years later, in 1885, aided by the re- markable and tireless Father Claude Jaillet, a new Academy building for the large number of students was planned and built, which served until 1924. Mother Angelique, who had gone to France, brought back a
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