The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-09-19

.eEr4I- SFE-- --.n.
Miss Drsxel gave s15o, 900 for establish
ing Catholic missions among the In
dams. That waszthe Hrst4cs her coed
works in their behalf. since then
many indian SCHOOLS have been found
ed with the Drexe1 millions, n one
good m who bore the name of
Drexel has devoted her life to their
cause. ,& q.
Mother Mary Katherine, even If she
were a girl of wealth and to luxury
born, came rightly by her piety.
She inherited. her goodness and love
Of the church not from one good rela-
tive but many. -
There was her mother who was Miss
Longstreth, a devoutly religious wo-
man, who was determined to bring up
her little daughter just as she herself
had been brought up. There was her
father, Francis A. Drexel, a man of the
most strict religious habits. He was
the eldest of the three famous Drexel
brothers who made the name Of Drexel
a synonym for wealth, but throughout
his life 1t was not the love of money
but the o Of doing good that was
his strongest characteristic.
One would naturally think that to
have a good mother and a good father
too was all that any little girl could
expect and certainly all the good in
fuence h would require. But little
Katherine Drexel had a good grand
mother and a good stepmother be-
wealth of the family a religious atmo-
sphere surrounded her. She was a very
little girl when her own mother died.
Family Famous for its Charities.
Her father afterward married Miss
Bouvier, of New York, who belonged to
a prominent family famous for its
charities to the church, and who never
made little Katherine Drexel feel the
lack of mother love. She was as de.
voted to both Of her s~tepdaughters as
to her wv daughter, Louise, who is
now Mrs. Edward De v. Bowler. Then
there. was her grandmother Bowler,
and her stepmother's sisters, who were
all devoutly religious, one aunt becom-
ing a nun. =
And it was the sort Of religion that
proved itself worth while to the little
girl as h grew to be a big girl, for
It was a religion Of helpfulness, kind
words and good deeds. Katherine
Drexel, as soon as h was old enough
to reason for herself, was determined
to be just as good a woman as her
stepmother, her grandmother Bowler
and her aunties were.
After her fathers death her income
was $1,000 a day, and by far the great
er part of 1t was given away to those
in need.
One day a week Miss Drexel set aside
to receive the poor at her home. Her
guests on this particular day were al
ways chosen because Of their poverty
or misfortune, and the young hostess
strove in every way to make this occa-
sion a red letter day in their lives,
Became Sister Of Mercy in 1889.
In 1889 Miss Drexel decided to de-
vote her entire life to the church.
1t was on May 6 of that year that
she entered the mother house of the
Sisters Of Mercy in Pittsburg as a pos
tulant. Six months later she took the
White veil of a novice and then later
the black veil and the full vows of the
order, making this order Of the Sisters
OF Mercy one Of the richest in the Cath
olic church.
Mother Mary Katherine, as she was
then known, founded the order of the
Blessed. Sacrament for the uplifting OF
the Indians and negroes.
She erected them other house Of this
order on grounds which belonged to the
famous Drexel country estate known as
st. Michael, near CORVALLIS, Pa, and
here over 100 sisters are busy through.
out the day teaching Indians and coll.
ored children how to become self-sup-
porting men n women. Mother Mary
Katherine is also responsible for the
good work which is being accomplished
at st. Katherine's Indian school at
Santa Fe, N. M, as well as. at the
school for colored children. at Rock
castle, Va. She is now putting her
heart and soul into the great work
which she is planning at Cascade
Springs. . ", +,
It is quite an interesting thing to seq
g young woman with such vast inher-
tied wealth in this country devote her
whole fortune to such a noble charity
Out of all the Drexel family, notable
for their religion, their charity and
their good works somehow the work Of
this noble girl stands out like a sill
houette against the very brilliant and
splendid work that the Drexel family
have done in society.