Saint-Vincent-de-Paul
Boarding School
Corner of Lake Ave. & Beech Street
Manchester, NH
Boarding School
Corner of Lake Ave. & Beech Street
Manchester, NH
The school was originally founded for French-Canadian orphans on August 11, 1892. Situated in St. Augustin parish, it was built to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the priesthood of Rev. J. A. CHEVALIER, who was the founding Pastor of the parish. The Sisters of Providence from Montréal, QC (then known as the Filles de la charité, servantes des paurvres-FCSP) accepted the responsibility and took over the orphanage on December 7, 1892 opening the doors to 12 orphans (7 boys, 5 girls) on December 19. One of the boys was very ill and died within a few days, which was a tragic beginning.
The Sisters soon found the house too small to accommodate all who came to them so Father CHEVALIER erected a larger building the following year. Between December 1892 to July 1895, the Sisters cared for 291 orphans. In those early years, though, not all the children were orphans as we think of them today. Some were placed at the school because their parents could no longer care for them or perhaps the mother had died, etc.
Classes and religious instruction were in both English & French as many of the parishioners were immigrants from Québec.
The Sisters also visited the poor and the sick in their homes and cared for some elderly boarders.
The school was going strong in 1941 when it celebrated its 50th anniversary. It closed on September 23, 1958. I was not able to discover why it was closed, but most of the Sisters' boarding schools and orphanages had closed by that time because of changing social needs.
Should anyone wish to obtain school records of relatives having attended St. Vincent de Paul Boarding School in Manchester, NH,they are most probably in the archives of the Community in Montréal, QC
The Sisters soon found the house too small to accommodate all who came to them so Father CHEVALIER erected a larger building the following year. Between December 1892 to July 1895, the Sisters cared for 291 orphans. In those early years, though, not all the children were orphans as we think of them today. Some were placed at the school because their parents could no longer care for them or perhaps the mother had died, etc.
Classes and religious instruction were in both English & French as many of the parishioners were immigrants from Québec.
The Sisters also visited the poor and the sick in their homes and cared for some elderly boarders.
The school was going strong in 1941 when it celebrated its 50th anniversary. It closed on September 23, 1958. I was not able to discover why it was closed, but most of the Sisters' boarding schools and orphanages had closed by that time because of changing social needs.
Should anyone wish to obtain school records of relatives having attended St. Vincent de Paul Boarding School in Manchester, NH,they are most probably in the archives of the Community in Montréal, QC
Sisters of Providence
General Administration
12055, rue Grenet
Montréal, QC
H4J 2J5
CANADA
General Administration
12055, rue Grenet
Montréal, QC
H4J 2J5
CANADA
Dear Murmur, Thank you for giving me info about your blog! I had fun reviewing the stuff that you had on it. Especially meaningful for me was information that you had about the St. Vincent de Paul boarding school. My three older brothers were sent to St. Vincent for a while. My brother Bob spent the most time there. My older brother graduated and went to a regular Catholic High School in Manchester. The middle brother spent the most time there--not with the happiest of memories. But now, at least, we are all understanding the move to the boarding school! Then I was sent to the Mount for my boarding school time! Oh, well, I met the nicest bunch of young ladies there! I really loved having the time away from my family and spending it with great friends.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the info!