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286 HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL
As Providence Hospital has ahvays been in charge of the Sisters of
Charity of St. Augustine, it seems proper to say a feAV words concerning
that order. /
The Order of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine is one of Un-
American Sisterhoods of the Catholic Church. The total enrollment of
these sisterhoods SIIOAVS that from 50,000 to 60,000 Catholic Avomen devote
their lives to religious Avork. These sisterhoods conduct about 700
charities, 600 colleges and academies, about 3,000 schools, besides the
time devoted by the contemplative orders to purely deA'otional matters.
There are several orders of the Sisters of Charity, the best knoAvn being
the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Avhose members are
distinguished by a peculiar Avhite head dress called the cornette, Avhich
has been immortalized by the artist Seyoiore Thompson in his celebrated
painting "An Innocent Victim," representing a sister of that order
mortally wounded in caring for the wounded during a battle.
The Order of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine AA'as established
by Bishop Rappe, of the Cleveland diocese, in 1851. The first superioress
Avas Sister Ursula, knoAvn in the world as Catherine Bisenette, AVIIO had
charge from 1851 to September, 1863. Before engaging in this work she
lived in Sandusky, Ohio. There during the cholera, 1849-50, she collected
a number of children, orphaned by that dread plague, and took care of
them in a house at the corner of Tiffin Avenue and Jefferson Street and
which is now owned by Arthur Gallagher. This was the beginning in
the diocese of Cleveland, of caring for orphans and the sick, it has also
been the chosen work of the order. The original home of the sisters Avas
knoAvn as St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, on Monroe Avenue, Cleveland,
Ohio. In 1885, ten acres of land were purchased in Lakewood, Ohio, on
which Bishop Gilmour authorized the erection of a convent, in September,
1890. It was completed in 1891, and together with the chapel Avas
dedicated August 28, 1892.
The term of probation of the order is five years, and at its completion
the VOAVS of poverty, chastity and obedience are taken. During the
novitiate Hi:: novices are trained in nursing the sick, in the care of
children and houseAvork.
The order has charge of three hospitals and three orphan asylums,
and has about 135 members. About thirty sisters conduct St. Vincent's
Charity Hospital, at Cleveland, Ohio, seven sisters are engaged at Mercy
Hospital, Canton, Ohio, and ten sisters at Providence Hospital, Sandusky,
Ohio.
Thirty sisters have charge of St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, at Cleveland,
Ohio, sixteen of St. Ann s Infant Asylum, in the same city, and
fifteen of St. Louis' Orphan Asylum, at Louisville, Ohio.
The history of Providence Hospital begins Avith a small hospital conducted
until 1902. by the Visiting Nurses' Association, in a little brick
house known as the Bhuner house on Columbus AA'enue, Sandusky, Ohio.
Tn the summer of that year the sum of $400 Avas realized for this hospital,