Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi

The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The motherhouse is in St. Francis, Wisconsin, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi were founded in 1849 and the Sisters share the original founders of the congregation with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist.

In 1848, six women and five men from Ettenbeuren, Bavaria, along with Father Francis Anthony Keppeler and Father Mathias Steiger, of the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, came to assist Bishop J. Martin Henni in the newly organized diocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The women, Otillie Dirr, Krescentia Eberle, Anna Ritter, Theresia Moser, Maria Saumweber, and Maria Eisenschmid and the men Anton Joseph Zahler, Leo Bernard, Joseph Suess, William Reder, and John Spitzelberger, while strong believers in the faith were lay people. In fact, on October 30, 1848, in order to legally collect her dowry to help cover the expenses for the journey, Ottilie Dirr married Anton Joseph Zahler.

On December 8, 1848, the group drew up their purpose and plans as the Brothers and Sisters of the Society which included guidelines for finances, living arrangements, lifestyle, leadership, and education. It was agreed that the Brothers and Sisters would live in separate areas of the house based on sex. One married man and a married woman would be in charge of domestic and external affairs of the house and the others would be obedient to them. It was also determined that the group would provide for two missionaries who in turn would act as spiritual guides. They also were to care for two teachers and offer free board and lodging to poor children who lived too far from the mission.

The group traveled on the Hermann and reached New York safely on April 13, 1849. On May 28, Foundation Day, the Brothers and Sisters presented themselves to Bishop Henni. He advised them to settle at the southern tip of the Milwaukee Bay, approximately four miles from heart of the city in an area known as Nojoshing. The title deed dated June 11, 1849, represented the 35.67 acres of virgin forest purchased for $1,000 from Henry and Eva Gross. An additional four acres were purchased from James S. and Elizabeth McFadden for $100.

Construction of a convent, a square, one-story frame building, 16 feet high with an enclosed 20-by-20-yard courtyard with a well in the center began. Separate housing for the brothers would also be built. Meanwhile, they built in a log house, 16 feet long and 10 feet wide with an altar, kitchen, and burning heat. The Brothers and Sisters lived in boarding huts nearby.