The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1900-12-06
A SAD SWEET STORY.
Telegram From Wichita, Kansas, Tells
a Peculiar Story in Regard to a
Ken0Sha Woman.
NO TRACE OF SISTER JoSEPHA.
Kansas Papers Tell of Former Nun Who
Would Return to the Dominican Sister
hood-Not Known Here.

Who is Sister Josepha? This is the
question that is agitating the members
of the Catholic churches in the city,
for it is reported that a woman claim
ing to have been & member of the Do
minican Sisterhood of this city, but
who afterward deserted it is now
at Wichita, Kansas, and is seeking to
be re-admitted to the order.
The story of Sister Josepha reads
like romance, but from what can be
learned at the home of the Dominican
Sisters in this city, the Sister in Wich-
tia is myth pure and simple.
The story as told is as follows: Sis
ter Josepha formerly Miss Anna Byrne
of this city,, early III life had lived near
the convent of the Dominican Sisters
in Kenosha. From them she received
her early education and when she grew
to young womanhood she took the
vows of the order and entered the
work in Kenosha. She was 20 years
of age2when she took the vows, and for
the next five years she taught in the
different schools of the Sisters in Wis
consin, and in 1888 she returned to this
city and entered the work in the com
vent. She remained here until 1892,
when she went to Chicago, and at
this date the romance of her life began.
Among the pupils in her Chicago
school was Willie Harrington, who was
the son of a 1aboring man. Willie was
a good boy and greatly beloved by the
for several years and became the spec
ia1 charge of Sister Josepha. But
hard times came on and Willie was
forced to leave school and seek EN-
p1oyment In one of the factories the
Sister again found him and saw that
he was 1oosing much of the teachings
that had been insti11ed in him at the
the matter to heart. She conversed
with the father in regard to the condi-
ton of the lad, and finally made the
proposition that she marry the father,
who was a widower, in order to be al
lowed to care for the boy. The offer
was accepted, and one evening Sister
Josepha stole from the home and lay
ing aside the robes of the order she
went to Michigan with the father of
the lad and they were married.
The Sisters sought for the missing
member for some time, but never found
any trace of her until she turned up at
Wichita a few days ago, and asked to
be re-admitted to the sacred work of
the church.
After the wedding the Harrington
family met with misfortune, and the
former Sister was forced to live on a
farm near Denver. Later the farm
was lost, and the Sister, with her hus-
band with the boy who had brought
about the marriage, went to Oklahoma
to be among the boomers that gathered
along the line to be there when the
property was thrown open for settle
ment in the spring of 1901. Here six
weeks ago the father and son became
i'll with fever and both of them were
buried together last Thursday. Mrs.
Harrington at once went to Wichita,
where she wired friends in the east,
asking them to have her reinstated in
her old position.
Such is the sad, sweet romance of
Sister Josepha, but it is not borne out
by facts. An examination of the rec
ords of the Dominican Sisters in this
city showed no trace of any one going
under the namesof Sister Josepha, and
what is more no one ever bearing the
name of Anna Byrne was ever con-
nected with the Sisterhood. 1t may be
that one of the former Kenosha girls
has gone astray and seeks to return to
the old fold, but names and places
have been wonderfully jugg1ed in pre-
pairing the romance of her life.
mup CTmv TAvrC