Stories from the Archives
Woman of Mystery
How did a young woman get from Cherryvale, Kansas, to Monroe, Michigan, to Scranton, Pennsylvania? Miss Helen Grace Butler was born in 1888 in Cherryvale, Kansas; she attended school there until 1905 when she went to Detroit, MI with her cousin, Marguerite Story, who had been staying with the Butler family for the summer. In 1905 Helen enrolled in Mt. St. Mary’s Academy in Monroe, MI, for her junior and senior years of high school. When we contacted Ms. Jennifer Meacham, the Archivist for the Monroe IHMs, we learned that many of their school records were destroyed in a fire in 1929, but some handwritten notes which survived revealed that Grace received:
End of year honors in penmanship: 1905 and 1906
- Quarterly honor roll for “deportment and application”: Nov. 1906, May 1907
Honor Gold Medal awarded at 1907 commencement - Quarterly honor roll for academics: April 1907
- Senior recital, St. Mary’s Conservatory of Music, April 1907: part of a mandolin ensemble
- Commencement, June 1907: orchestra member, mandolin
Since Cherryvale was such a small town, the newspaper clippings of the day recorded many of the social events. Helen Grace and her sister Margaret were known as members of the Bachelor Girls Club and Grace often won prizes for her hands at Whist (a card game popular in her day). In 1907 she attended college in Kansas City, (MO or KS). Returning to Cherryvale in 1912 she became the organist for St. Francis Xavier Parish and directed the choir with her sister. On September 8, 1912, Grace entered the Scranton IHMs; she was received in 1913 and given the name Josephus and was professed in 1915. The newspaper accounts of her death record that she was a music teacher in Hollidaysburg, PA, Carbondale, PA, and St. Ann’s here in Scranton. As there are no annals for that time period, Archives was unable to check for the years she was stationed in those locations. Her death came in 1924 at Mercy Hospital in Scranton. After the morning funeral her body remained in the Marywood Chapel until the evening when her family arrived from Cherryvale. Sister Josephus is buried in the Cemetery here on campus.
How did she get from Cherryvale to Scranton? That is the mystery!
Sources used:
“Brief Bits of Local News” Newspapers.com, Cherryvale Republican, August 31, 1906. Accessed July 1, 2024.
“Bits of Local News” Newspapers.com, Cherryvale Republican, December 22, 1906. Accessed July 1, 2024.
“Home from College” Newspapers.com, Cherryvale Republican, December 19, 1907. Accessed July 1, 2024.
“Cherryvale Girl Takes the Veil” Newspapers.com, The Evening Star, August 9, 1913. Accessed July 1, 2024.
“Sister M. Josephus Laid at Final Rest” Newspapers.com, The Tribune, January 28, 1924. Accessed June 25, 2024.
“Sister M. Josephus At Rest” Newspapers.com, The Catholic Advance, March 15, 1924. Accessed June 25, 2024.