Sister Louise E. Barringer

Sister Louise E. Barringer AKA Sister Mary Gonzaga

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159061746/louise_barringer

Louise E. Barringer (1862-1955)
“Sister Mary Gonzaga”

Louise E. Barringer was born June 4, 1862 in Columbus, Ohio. Her parents were Augustus V. Barringer (1829-1885) from New York City and Sarah Elizabeth Olmstead (1832-1876) of Columbus. Augustus worked in the gas utility business.

It is not known where Louise lived after her mother died in 1876, but it was not with her father, who in 1876 was living with his son Henry Augustus Barringer.

In about 1882 Louise entered the Ursuline Convent of Brown County as a Postulate. In May 1883 she received the Novice White Veil and as reported in the book FIFTY YEARS IN BROWN COUNTY CONVENT – “At the resuming of the work in the spring, the walls were soon ready for the laying of the corner-stone, this ceremony taking place on the afternoon of May 28th. The morning had been devoted to the profession of Sister Gonzaga Barringer, whose vows were received by the Reverend Superior Father Quinn, also delegated to lay the corner-stone.”

Following the dreams of many of the Brown County Ursulines the convent opened a day school in Cincinnati in 1896. They staffed the day school with Ursuline teachers and lay sisters from the St. Martin Convent. “The Ursulines held the first day of classes on September 16 and because the motherhouse in Brown County did not have a telephone, the nuns there waited anxiously waiting for a telegraph bringing news of success or failure. With hearts full of gratitude, they read the telegram that was sent: ‘Opened with forty pupils. Deo Gratias.” (Ursuline Academy Website)

Among the teachers sent from St. Martin to Cincinnati was Sister Mary Gonzaga. The day school would evolve into the Ursuline Acdemy in 1910, but by then Sister Mary Gonzaga had returned to the Brown County Ursulines.

However, her stay in St. Martin was short for the 1920 Census reported her back teaching at the Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. This was not unusual for in the early years of the Ursula Academy nuns were sometimes shuttled between the St. Martin and Cincinnati Schools.

From 1930 until her death in 1955 Sister Gonzaga remained at the St. Martin Convent and School.

Louise E. Barringer, Sister Mary Gonzaga died January 26, 1955 at the Ursuline Convent in St. Martin, Brown County, Ohio. She was buried in the cemetery on the Ursuline Convent grounds. Her headstone inscription is: LOUISE BARRINGER IN RELIGION SISTER MARY GONZAGA DIED JAN. 26, 1955 IN THE 93RD YEAR OF HER AGE AND THE 70TH OF HER RELIGIOUS PROFESSION

SOURCES

1870 • US CENSUS Columbus Ward 3, Franklin, Ohio, USA - Augustus Barringer 38 Sallie E Barringer 35 Henry A Barringer 16 Nellie Barringer 13 Lue Barringer 8 (Louise) Kate Barringer 2

1900 • US CENSUS Ursuline Academy, Cincinnati Ward 2, Hamilton, Ohio, USA - Name: Louise E Barringer, Age: 37, Birth Date: Jun 1862, Birthplace: Ohio, Home in 1900: (Ursuline Academy) Cincinnati Ward 2, Hamilton, Ohio, Street: Oak St, Father's Birthplace: New York, Mother's Birthplace: Ohio, Occupation: Teacher

13 May 1910 • US CENSUS Ursuline Convent, St. Martin. Perry, Brown, Ohio, USA - Name: Gonzaga Barringer, Age in 1910: 47, Birth Year: abt 1863, Birthplace: Ohio, Home in 1910, Perry, Brown, Ohio, Father's Birthplace: New York, Mother's Birthplace, Ohio, Occupation: Teacher Industry Ursula Institute

1920 • US CENSUS Cincinnati Ward 9, Hamilton, Ohio, USA - Name: Sister Gonzaga Age: 56 Birth Year: abt 1864 Birthplace: Ohio Home in 1920: Cincinnati Ward 9, Hamilton, Ohio Street: Reading Road Father's Birthplace: New York Mother's Birthplace: Ohio Able to Speak English: Yes

1930 • US CENSUS Ursuline Convent, St. Martin. Perry, Brown, Ohio, USA - Name: Louise (Sr M Gaugage) Barringer, Birth Year: abt 1863, Birthplace: Ohio, Home in 1930: Perry, Brown, Ohio, USA, Institution: Ursuline Convent St. Martiers, Father's Birthplace: New York, Mother's Birthplace: Ohio, Occupation: Teacher

1940 • US CENSUS Ursuline Convent, St. Martin. Perry, Brown, Ohio, USA - Name: Sister Gonzaga Barringer, Age: 77, Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863, Residence: St Martin, Brown, Ohio, Street: Church Street, Inferred Residence in 1935: St Martin, Brown, Ohio, Occupation: Teaching, Highest Grade Completed: High School 4th year.

FIFTY YEARS IN BROWN COUNTY CONVENT (1895) – Sister Baptista - Ursuline Community

URSULINE ACADEMY WEBSITE - https://www.ursulineacademy.org/about/history