Franciscan Sisters bring ‘Forest Schools’ to Stella Niagara

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, January 12, 2008
Compiled by Mary Serbacki, OSF
Province Archivist
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity

Shown is the March Mansion, which remains today a prominent
component of Stella Niagara’s Lower River Road campus.

Readers of the local press some 100 years ago were informed that, “Negotiations have been closed by the Franciscan Sisters of Sacred Heart Academy, through the John B. Squire Agency, for the purchase of a magnificent site on the lower Niagara for their motherhouse and novitiate for the United States. The location is one of the most attractive farms in this historical and picturesque section of the Niagara Frontier – the Barbara March estate, with a mansion built by the late Calvin Hotchkiss and about 50 acres of land.

Upon this site, the Franciscan Sisters intend to erect an extensive building, adequately large enough, not only for community purposes, but also a chapel of large proportions and an up-to-date seminary for young women. In the beautiful surroundings of their proposed building, the Sisters intend to inaugurate what is known abroad as “Forest Schools,” and which their branch houses in Germany conduct upon a large scale. The new house will be called, ‘Stella Niagara.’ ”

And build they did. The first sisters arrived in early March 1908. Bringing with them paint, whitewash, buckets, mops and plenty of “elbow grease,” the sisters’ task was to transform the March Mansion into the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Ground breaking for the new convent/motherhouse took place on March 25, 1908. Architect for the project was Albert A. Post of Buffalo, and the general contractor was John Lemmon and Son Company from Niagara Falls.

While the construction got underway, the sisters themselves were busy clearing the fields and getting in the first crop. Come harvest time, they were delighted to see the results of their labors, and set about picking and preserving an abundance of apples, pears, tomatoes, beans and much more. That first summer too, they hosted about 60 women and children, who came as paying guests throughout the warm weather months.

Though the new building was far from complete, in September 1908, the sisters opened a school in a small fame building on the property. First students numbered only six, but by October had risen to 30 – apparently the enthusiastic students’ word-of-mouth advertising was most effective. The guests and students of 1908 were only the first of many who over the ensuing 100 years have become part of the fabric of Stella Niagara.