St. Stanislaus Seminary

In 1823 Belgian Jesuit Charles Felix Van Quickenborne, Novice Master of St. Thomas Manor in St. Charles County, Maryland, came to Florissant at the invitation of Bishop Louis William Valentine DuBourg. Accompanying him were another priest, seven Jesuit novices, three lay-brothers, and three African-American enslaved couples: Moses and Nancy Queen, Thomas and Molly Brown, and Isaac and Susan Hawkins.{{Cite journal|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/8/1/article-p81_81.xml?language=en#:~:text=The%20Slavery%2C%20History%2C%20Memory%2C%20and%20Reconciliation%20(shmr),in%20slavery%20to%20the%20Jesuits.|date=December 15, 2020|journal=Journal of Jesuit Studies|doi=10.1163/22141332-0801P005 |title=A National Legacy of Enslavement: An Overview of the Work of the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project |last1=Schmidt |first1=Kelly L. |volume=8 |pages=81–107 |s2cid=230573868 |doi-access=free }} Van Quickenbourne was placed in charge of the Parish of the Sacred Heart.

The seminary began in 1823 as St. Francis Regis Seminary, a mission school for indigenous children, comprising some log buildings and a large farm worked by the enslaved people to support the missionaries. As the indigenous people moved farther west and south, the school ceased operation in 1831, and the onsite novitiate was expanded.{{Cite web|url=https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/72001491.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form|date=March 19, 2019|website=Missouri Department of National Resources}} It was named for Stanislaus Kostka.

The main building, now known as the Old Rock Building, was built from 1840 to 1849 from limestone quarried by the Jesuits and the enslaved people.{{Cite web|url=https://missouriencyclopedia.org/people/dubourg-louis-william|date=1999|website=Missouri Encyclopedia|title=Louis William DuBourg (1766–1833) | Missouri Encyclopedia }}{{cite web

|title=The Museum of the Western Jesuit Missions

|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/jesuit/mwjm.htm

|accessdate=2008-03-21

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814030119/http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/jesuit/mwjm.htm

|archive-date=2011-08-14

|url-status=dead

}} It became the novitiate. Pierre-Jean De Smet was a student at St. Stanislaus,{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/LiterarySt.Louis|title=Literary St. Louis|publisher=Associates of St. Louis University Libraries, Inc. and Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Inc.|year=1969|location=St. Louis, Missouri}} as well as Peter Joseph Arnoudt.{{cite CE1913|wstitle= Peter Joseph Arnoudt |volume= 1 |last= Kelly |first= Patrick Henry |short=1}} and Adrian Hoecken.

The seminary was closed in 1971 due to fewer religious vocations and the post-Vatican II movement to urban areas. Two years earlier, it had already transferred its collegiate program to Saint Louis University. Most of what was left of the property, {{convert|35|acre|m2}}, was sold to the Missouri District of the United Pentecostal Church International, and then the property housed Urshan College (formerly Gateway College of Evangelism) and Urshan Graduate School of Theology. The Old Rock Building and {{convert|4|acre|m2}} of land remained Jesuit property until 2003.{{cite web|title=St. Stanislaus Seminary|url=https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/about/park-history-documents/stanislaus-history/|accessdate=2023-09-12}}

In 1973, the seminary became the Museum of the Western Jesuit Missions, but closed again in 2001, the museum moving to Saint Louis University to become part of the Museum of Art there. Among other items, the museum contained two oil paintings from 1933 by John A. Mallin, one of Ignatius Loyola and the other, Francis Xavier,[https://johnamallin.com/project/st-stanislaus-seminary-paintings/ "St. Stanislaus Seminary Paintings", Johnamallin.com] which stood at the entrance to the chapel.[http://www.sjweb.info/world/museumWestern/ The Collection of the Western Jesuit Missions]

The property was largely self-sufficient in its day. The still-standing Rock Building was built by the priests, novices and enslaved workers. Limestone was quarried from the banks of the Missouri River; the walls are {{convert|3|ft|m}} thick. Wood came from walnut, logged from the property, and the bricks were fired on site. The seminary had an orchard, a chicken ranch, a cattle barn, wheat fields, vineyards, a butcher shop, a creamery, and a bakery. The former farm property is now owned by Saint Louis County, which leases it to the Missouri Department of Conservation as a conservation area,{{cite web |url=http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=9127 |title=Area Summary |website=mdc4.mdc.mo.gov |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091214020931/http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=9127 |archive-date=2009-12-14}}[https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/saint-stanislaus-conservation-area Saint Stanislaus Conservation Area] with hiking trails.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/St.%20Stanislaus%20Seminary.pdf NRHP nomination form]
• [https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/about/park-history-documents/stanislaus-history/ St. Stanislaus Park]

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stanislaus Seminary}}

Category:Jesuit universities and colleges

Category:Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Missouri

Category:Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri

Category:Greek Revival architecture in Missouri

Category:National Register of Historic Places in St. Louis County, Missouri

Category:School buildings completed in 1840

Category:1823 establishments in Missouri

Category:1971 disestablishments in Missouri

Category:Slave cabins and quarters in the United States

Category:Plantation houses in the United States