Stories from the First Cathedral 50

We will continue with women important to Bishop Whipple in his Episcopate in Minnesota. I have restricted my stories to the First Cathedral grounds and the Church of the Good Shepherd in Faribault. Bishop Whipple's interests in Faribault also included the school of St. Mary's and the military school of Schattuck. St. Mary's was started by Cornelia Whipple in their home. It was a school for young girls and women. The Whipple home was somewhat small so it evolved to a building a few blocks from the Cathedral. Then the girls moved into an elaborate building across the Straight River on top of the bluffs. The military school was ignited by a large gift from Dr. George Cheyene Shattuck, a Boston physician, who gave the first large gift to start the boys' grammar school. The school grew to a large campus and became a military school. Bishop Whipple knew many people who were generous because they believed in his work in Minnesota. One such person was Augusta Shumway, a wealthy matron from Chicago.

"Bishop Whipple's enthusiastic tales of his work at the schools impressed her so much that she promised to build a chapel at Shattuck. Most of her wealth was tied up in real estate, and the Chicago Fire of October 1871 reduced her income considerably, but she insisted on sending Whipple money she had promised him. Consecrated on September 24, 1872, the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, with its English stained glass windows and Italian marble font, cost nearly $30,000." (And the Wilderness Shall Blossom by Anne Beiser Allen, pg 147, 2008)

My first church service as a newly ordained clergyperson took place at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd in the fall of 1987 with the staff and student body of Shattuck-St. Mary's. The service was very elegant with those English stained glass windows, the antiphonal seating, and the very movie-like environment.