This branch of the Austrian Hesch family is descended from Johann Hesch and his wife Marya (Schlinz) Hesch, who came to America from Oberschlagles, Bohemia with three sons: Paul, Mathias, and Anton. +++Johann & Marya settled in Buffalo County, Wisconsin but moved to Pierz, Mn in about 1885. .+++Mathias settled in Waumandee, Wisconsin and moved to Pierz in 1911. +++Anton never married but farmed with his dad in Agram Township, where he died in 1911.+++And Paul, my great grandfather, settled five miles away, in Buckman, Minnesota. He died there in 1900.

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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Was central Minnesota REALLY as Catholic as we say?

The caption up there is a little muddy--it says "Benedictine nuns were in the dugout to participate in the dedication of the new grandstand at the Cold Spring baseball park on June 30th, 1950".
They brought prayer books and prayed, and look, the stands were packed.  Nuns lent gravitas and insured blessings, but on which team?

Added later, for Su's benefit: 

Benedictine Nuns in mid-Minnesota were an everyday sight back then. At an event like this, the dugout would have been a place of honor for the sisters.  It was cooler there in the shade, it was right beside the infield, and most likely, some of those nuns were huge baseball fans.  In 1950, these 11 nuns likely comprised the whole teaching staff at St Boniface Grade School, 3 blocks away. Also likely, the parish priest was on the mound, sprinkling holy water and incanting in Latin for the endless years the grandstand needed to stand.  It must have worked, too--they're still there, still being used.

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