Saint Augusta, Minnesota
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Saint Augusta or St. Augusta, formerly named Ventura, is a city in
Stearns County Stearns County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,292. Its county seat and largest city is St. Cloud. Included within the Minnesota Territory since 1849, the county was founded by Europe ...
,
Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, United States, directly south of the city of St. Cloud. The population was 3,497 at the 2020 census. St. Augusta is part of the Saint Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.


History

Writing in 1997,
Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...
historian of America's religious architecture Marilyn J. Chiat described the early history of the region as follows, "Father Francis X. Pierz, a missionary to Indians in central Minnesota, published a series of articles in 1851 in German Catholic newspapers advocating Catholic settlement in central Minnesota. Large numbers of immigrants, mainly
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
, but also Slovenian and
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
, responded. Over 20 parishes where formed in what is now Stearns County, each centered on a church-oriented hamlet. As the farmers prospered, the small frame churches were replaced by more substantial buildings of brick or stone such as St. Mary, Help of Christians, a
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
stone structure built in 1873. Stearns County retains in its German character and is still home to one of the largest rural Catholic populations in Anglo-America." St. Augusta received its name because Fr. Pierz accidentally found a
German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
holy card In the Christianity, Christian tradition, holy cards or prayer cards are small, Catholic devotions, devotional pictures for the use of the faithful that usually depict a religious scene or a saint in an image about the size of a playing card. Th ...
dedicated to
St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
lying in the nearby field previously chosen for the building of their parish church. At Fr. Pierz's suggestion, the town was named for the Saint, although the city's name was somehow garbled in the process. The original holy card, however, is still preserved in the parish archives. Similarly to many other Stearns County German communities, the early settlers of St. Augusta included at least one Catholic family of
German Jew The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...
ish descent. The family patriarch was Baldassar Mayer (1816-1890), a native of the
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...
. Raised in
Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...
, Mayer had converted to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
before his marriage to
Dutch-American Dutch Americans () are Americans of Dutch and Flemish descent whose ancestors came from the Low Countries in the distant past, or from the Netherlands as from 1830 when the Flemish became independent from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands ...
Gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...
Elizabeth Hagedorn in
Mercer County, Ohio Mercer County is located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 42,528. Its county seat is Celina, Ohio, Celina. The county was created in 1820 and later organized in 1824. It is List o ...
. From the time of their first arrival in 1865, the Mayer family was very heavily involved in St. Mary, Help of Christians Parish, and Baldassar Mayer helped build the current church building during the early 1870s. He always retained, however, a very strong sense of pride in his Jewish ancestry and, shortly before his death on 4 July 1890, Mayer asked for his
kippah A (plural: ''kippot''), , or is a brimless Jewish cap, skullcap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that the Head covering, head be covered. It is the most common type of head-coverin ...
, sat up in his deathbed, and sang two traditional blessings from the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Eshet Ḥayil'' (, "Woman of Valor")
Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs (, ; , ; , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)/the Christian Old Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into ...
Chapter 31 Verses 10–31, over his wife, and '' Birkut Kohanim'' (, "The Priestly Blessing"),
Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers (from Biblical Greek, Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi'', , ''Bəmīḏbar'', ; ) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and complex history; its final f ...
Chapter 6 Verses 23-27, over their many children and grandchildren. Just like the many other Stearns County German communities surrounding it, St. Augusta has produced plenty of voluntary recruits to the
United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...
during every one of America's wars from the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
to the present, and even to the two World Wars that were fought against the St. Augustaners and Luxemburgers' ancestral homeland (). On every
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
, the local
American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...
and Auxiliary holds annual ceremonies in all three cemeteries within the city, during which the names of all deceased local veterans are read aloud. Just as similarly to other communities in rural Stearns County during the
Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...
, St. Augusta was a center for the secret distilling of a very high quality form of
moonshine Moonshine is alcohol proof, high-proof liquor, traditionally made or distributed alcohol law, illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of distilling the alcohol (drug), alcohol at night to avoid detection. In the first decades of the ...
called Minnesota 13. According to local historian Sr. Janice Wedl, O.S.B., "People did get thirsty and made their own beer and hard liquor to drink and to sell. When the law caught up with them, the bottles containing the splendid brew were taken to the dump and smashed. For a while there was a moonshine still on the West side of the dam, near the Henry Kaeter farm. One night, during a dance at Schill's Hall, a huge explosion could be heard and a big fire could be seen near the dam. The Feds had discovered the moonshine still and blew it up." Also according to Sr. Janice, "The year the Prohibition Law was repealed (1933), Matt and Marie Ramacher bought the former Beumer Store and opened a grocery store and bar in downtown St. Augusta. This was the first bar in operation in St. Augusta Township after beer sales were legal again." Originally Saint Augusta Township, it incorporated as a city on May 2, 2000 in order to avoid annexation by the city of Saint Cloud. St. Augusta was named in the 1850s after a local church. The city contains one property listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
: the 1873 St. Mary Help of Christians Church and its 1890 rectory. For a short time Saint Augusta was officially named ''Ventura'' in honor of then Governor
Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...
, but voters decided on its current name months after incorporation, and the name was officially changed to Saint Augusta on November 7, 2000.


St. Boniface Chapel & pilgrimage shrine

The
Christian pilgrimage Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to sit ...
shrine () () known as St. Boniface Chapel was built in 1877, similarly to the far more famous " Assumption Chapel" near Cold Spring, as a desperate petition for divine intervention from the
Rocky Mountain locust The Rocky Mountain locust (''Melanoplus spretus'') is an extinct species of grasshopper that ranged through the western half of the United States and some western portions of Canada with large numbers seen until the end of the 19th century. Sight ...
s; a now
extinct species This page features lists of species and organisms that have become extinct. The reasons for extinction range from natural occurrences, such as shifts in the Earth's ecosystem or natural disasters, to human influences on nature by the overuse of n ...
of giant
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...
, whose enormous migrating swarms blotted out the sunlight and, as described in the
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
''
On the Banks of Plum Creek ''On the Banks of Plum Creek'' is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1937, the fourth of nine books in her ''Little House'' series. It is based on about five years of her childhood when the In ...
'',
Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...
, devastated farming communities throughout
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
between 1856 and 1902. Sr. Janice Wedl, O.S.B. has written about the four-year-long
Locust Plague of 1874 The Locust Plague of 1874, or the Grasshopper Plague of 1874, occurred in the summer of 1874 when hordes of Rocky Mountain locusts invaded the Great Plains in the United States and Canada. The locusts swarmed over an estimated and caused milli ...
, "These huge insects destroyed everything in their path - crops, clothing hanging on wash lines, even fence posts. Nothing was safe, and many families lost everything they were growing for winter and all the crops they had planned to sell or feed to their livestock. Though people flailed at the insects, the swarms were so extensive, so pervasive that they had little hope of salvaging their lives without Divine help. The parishioners of St. Augusta and Luxemburg made a pledge to build a chapel and every year make a pilgrimage to it to pray that any future plagues be averted."Janice Wedl, O.S.B. (2005), ''A Dwelling Place for God: The History of St. Mary, Help of Christians Parish, St. Augusta, Minnesota'', North Star Press, St. Cloud, Minnesota. Pages 110. Local farmer Henry Kaeter donated a plot of land "half-way between their parish churches - on a small tree-crowned hill". Ignatz Henkemeyer later recalled, "The grasshoppers were real bad. Everything dried up. After we finished at St. Boniface's, the rain started to fall, and all the hoppers flew up and disappeared." Annual pilgrimages to the shrine continued for many years afterwards on June 5, the
Feast Day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
of
St. Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of the church i ...
, an English Benedictine missionary, Bishop, and martyr instrumental to the
Christianisation of the Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples underwent gradual Christianization in the course of late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By CE 700, England and Francia were officially Christian, and by 1100 Germanic paganism had also ceased to have political influence ...
; and who is still revered as the "Apostle to the
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
",
Patron Saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of the Germanosphere and the
German diaspora The German diaspora (, ) consists of German people and their descendants who live outside of Germany. The term is used in particular to refer to the aspects of migration of German speakers from Central Europe to different countries around the ...
.Fr. Robert J. Voigt (1991), ''The Story of Mary and the Grasshoppers'',
Cold Spring, Minnesota Cold Spring is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States, at the gateway of the Sauk River Chain of Lakes, an interconnected system of 14 bay-like lakes fed and connected by the Sauk River. Cold Spring is part of the St. Cloud Metro ...
. Page 25.
According to Fr. Robert J. Voigt, "The women decorated the chapel with flowers and choirs took their turn in singing and brought an organ along... Close to a hundred people, representing virtually every family, came. They came on foot, some as far as six miles, walked two by two and recited the
rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...
. A large spring wagon accompanied the people and carried the lunch." According to Fr. Robert J. Voigt, while praying the rosary, it is traditional in Stearns County German culture to mention which of the
Mysteries of the Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...
is being focussed upon right after the Name of Jesus during each
Hail Mary The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the ...
. Local pilgrims praying the rosary upon St. Boniface's Day, would also add, following every Hail Mary, the additional petition, () ("St. Boniface, pray for us!") Ignatz Henkemeyer also recalled, "I remember looking down the hill. When the people came up the hill, singing all the way, it looked like a long train." According to Fr. Coleman J. Barry, there is traditionally a very intensive rivalry between parish choirs in Stearns County German culture. From the time of early settlement, every local parish choir used B.H.F. Hellebusch's ''Katholisches Gesang und Gebet Buch'' and the six ''Sing Messen'' found therein until the Regensburg-style of
Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...
was introduced beginning in the 1880s. Parish choir-directors often doubled as local school-masters and were traditionally referred to as, (), or "The Church Fathers". Catholic hymns in the
German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
(), which were always carefully chosen to fit the occasion, were also traditionally sung during
Low Mass Low Mass (Latin ''Missa Privata'') is a Mass celebrated by a priest without the assistance of sacred ministers (deacon and subdeacon). Before the 1969 reforms, a sub-distinction was also made between the '' sung Mass'' (), when the celebrant sti ...
. Due to these intensive traditional parish rivalries, whenever the St. Boniface's Day pilgrimages would be followed by a
Solemn High Mass Solemn Mass () is the full ceremonial form of a Mass, predominantly associated with the Tridentine Mass where it is celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of incense. ...
at the chapel, both parish choirs would take turns singing. The Mass would always be followed with an open air dinner accompanied by dancing and the playing and singing of
German folk music Alpine folk music (; German's ''Volksmusik'' means "people's music" or as a Germanic connotative translation, "folk's music") is the common umbrella designation of a number of related styles of traditional folk music in the Alpine regions of Slo ...
. According to local historian Fr. Colman J. Barry, this represented a continuation of the tradition of parish feast day picnics and old country festivals that, very similarly to the
Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...
Fersommling, remained a central pillar of Stearns County German culture. According to Fr. Barry, "These celebrations were always informal, and were not limited only to fairs but were held also on
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
, New Years Day, Fastnacht or
Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the final day of Shrovetide, which marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian state, Ch ...
, and at the end of the harvest season, ''Kirchweih Fest'', the time when they had first dedicated their hard won churches to God. The pastors always attended, and favorite characters of the community were called upon to do stunts or recite poems of their childhood days in Europe. Some of the men would recall fire and brimstone mission sermons of former years and even repeat them. Always there was the beer, and when the tempo slowed down there was ever someone on hand to take up the old ''lustige
Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...
er''." Popular songs at such gatherings included ''
Muss i denn "Muss i denn" (German for "must I, then") is a German folk-style song in the Swabian German dialect that has passed into tradition. The present form dates back to 1827, when it was written and made public by Friedrich Silcher.August Bopp, ''Fried ...
'', ''
Heidenröslein "" or "" ("Rose on the Heath" or "Little Rose of the Field") is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1789. It was written in 1771 during Goethe's stay in Strasbourg when he was in love with Friederike Brion, to whom the poem is add ...
'', ''
Du, du liegst mir im Herzen "Du, du liegst mir im Herzen" ("You, you are in my heart") is a German folk song about the excruciating pain of unrequited love, which is believed to have originated in northern Germany around 1820. Bavarian flautist Theobald Boehm, Theobald Böhm ...
'', and ''
O du lieber Augustin "" ("Oh, you dear Augustin") is a popular Viennese song, first published about 1800. It is said to refer to the balladeer Marx Augustin and his brush with death in 1679. Augustin himself is sometimes named as the author, but the origin is uncl ...
''. It was particularly common at such gatherings for local Union Army veterans of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
to stand up and sing, with tears and intense emotion, a traditional soldiers' lament dating from the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
, ''
Ich hatt' einen Kameraden "Der gute Kamerad" ("The Good Comrade"), also known by its opening line as "Ich hatt' einen Kameraden" ("I had a comrade"), is a traditional German anti-war song and soldiers' lament. The lyrics were written by German romantic poet Ludwig Uhland ...
'', in honor of their fallen friends. (see German Americans in the American Civil War). While no longer commonly performed locally, the latter song continues to be played at
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and
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military funeral A military funeral is a memorial or burial rite given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards ...
s, in mid-November at the annual ceremonies in both the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
and at the
Neue Wache The Neue Wache () is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. Erected from 1816 to 1818 according to plans by Karl Friedrich Schinkel as a guardhouse for the Royal Palace and a memorial to the Li ...
for ''
Volkstrauertag ' (, ) is a commemoration day in Germany two Sundays before the first day of Advent. It commemorates members of the armed forces of all nations and civilians who died in armed conflicts, to include victims of violent oppression. It was first obs ...
'', the
German Federal Republic BRD ( ; English: FRG/Federal Republic of Germany) is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. It was occasionally used in the Fede ...
's equivalent to
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
, and every July 20 at the
Memorial to the German Resistance The German Resistance Memorial Center () is a memorial and museum in Berlin, capital of Germany. History It was opened in 1980 in part of the Bendlerblock, a complex of offices in Stauffenbergstrasse (formerly Bendlerstrasse), south of the Groß ...
at the
Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock () is a building complex in the Tiergarten (Berlin), Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Ka ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. Sometimes, similarly to traditional Irish Pattern Days, rivalry between the two parishes would sometimes result in fist fights during the dinner, particularly when alcohol was involved. According to Fr. Robert J. Voigt, "In 1960, Fr. Louis Traufler, O.S.B., told this writer about the events at St. Boniface Chapel, which he himself had witnessed. At the picnic, there would be good natured bickering. The Luxemburgers would call the St. Augustaners (), because they were more prosperous and had meat to eat. The St. Augustaners called the Luxemburgers (), because they had to nibble on bones. At times they would challenge each other to cross a plank over the creek, and each side would try to throw the other in the water. This could end up in a fist fight between the young men... At the end of the day, a bell would ring and everyone would like up for the procession back to their parish churches - to be good boys again. The writer is reminded of what Joseph Knoll of Pierz told him years ago, () ('Even at a funeral, there must be some pleasure; otherwise nobody will attend'). The parishioners went to the chapel to pray, but also wanted to have some fun." After 1897, the pilgrimages ceased and the chapel was abandoned and forgotten.Janice Wedl, O.S.B. (2005), ''A Dwelling Place for God: The History of St. Mary, Help of Christians Parish, St. Augusta, Minnesota'', North Star Press, St. Cloud, Minnesota. Pages 112. When asked why the traditional pilgrimage stopped, Mrs. Mary Kenning recalled, "The people who had made the vow were all dead or too old to go. Their children hadn't made the promise so they didn't have to continue the act. I guess it sort of came to a standstill." In 1937, the Henry Kaeter farm was purchased by Martin Libbesmeier, who was intrigued to discover the disused and crumbling chapel near his home. The 1930s were a time, however, of rapidly escalating shame-based assimilation among
German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...
s. This had very little to do with the pervasive
anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...
and
atrocity propaganda Atrocity propaganda is the spreading of information about the crimes committed by an enemy, which can be factual, but often includes or features deliberate fabrications or exaggerations. This can involve photographs, videos, illustrations, interv ...
spread by both
Wellington House Wellington House is the more common name for Britain's War Propaganda Bureau, which operated during the First World War from Wellington House, a building on Buckingham Gate, London, which was the headquarters of the National Insurance Commission ...
and President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, or even with the latter's regular denunciation of all allegedly
Hyphenated Americans In the United States, the term hyphenated American refers to the use of a hyphen (in some styles of writing) between the name of an ethnicity and the word in compound nouns, e.g., as in . Calling a person a "hyphenated American" was used as ...
or with his support for the use of coercion in the schools by adherents of the
English only movement The English-only movement, also known as the Official English movement, is a political movement that advocates for the exclusive use of the English language in official United States government communication through the establishment of English ...
. The real cause was the widespread shame, horror, self-hatred, and embarrassment felt by most German-Americans over
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's
Enabling Act of 1933 The Enabling Act of 1933 ( German: ', officially titled ' ), was a law that gave the German Cabinet—most importantly, the chancellor, Adolf Hitler—the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or President Pa ...
, the
Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The two laws were the Law ...
, and, most of all, over the subversive domestic activities of the
German-American Bund The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (, ''Amerikadeutscher Volksbund'', AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FONG, FDND in German) and ...
, the Silver Legion, and other
Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
ic organizations receiving covert funding from the new
police state A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the exec ...
in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. For this reason, when Martin Libbesmeier approached the priest at St. Wendelin's Church seeking instructions on what to do with the ruins of St. Boniface Chapel, the priest urged him to set a match to them. Libbesmeier, however, wasn't at all happy with this answer and instead approached the priest at St. Augusta, who advised doing whatever else he preferred to do with the ruins. Libbesmeier accordingly moved the ruins into his yard, where they remained for 29 years. Over time, both the chapel crucifix and the statue of the Blessed Virgin fell and broke, and were buried in a local pasture. After taking the helm of St. Mary Help of Christians Church in 1958, Fr. Severin Schwieters was influential in convincing his parishioners that the chapel was a highly important local heritage monument and needed to be restored. At his urging, the parishioners moved the ruins to a wooded hill near the original site and reconstructed, as much as possible, using the original wood and other materials. St. Augustine's Church in east St. Cloud donated a new altar and all other items necessary for saying the Tridentine Mass. By St. Boniface's Day 1961, the chapel was ready for the annual pilgrimages to be revived, which still sometimes continues. Trees were planted around the site by two volunteers in 1962. Meanwhile, the last documented sighting of live
Rocky Mountain locust The Rocky Mountain locust (''Melanoplus spretus'') is an extinct species of grasshopper that ranged through the western half of the United States and some western portions of Canada with large numbers seen until the end of the 19th century. Sight ...
s took place in southern Canada in 1902. In 2014, the species of insects which was once numerous enough to block out the sun and reduce farm families throughout
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
to the brink of starvation was formally declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.


Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; is land and is water. Minnesota State Highway 15 and County Route 7 are two of the main routes in Saint Augusta. Interstate 94 in Minnesota, Interstate 94/U.S. Route 52 in Minnesota, U.S. Highway 52 and County Route 75 skirt the northeastern border of St. Augusta. The city of Saint Cloud is to the immediate north and northeast of Saint Augusta.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,317 people, 1,154 households, and 937 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,184 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.4% White (U.S. Census), White, 0.5% African American (U.S. Census), African American, 0.1% Native American (U.S. Census), Native American, 0.7% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian, 0.3% from Race (U.S. Census), other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino of any race were 0.6% of the population. There were 1,154 households, of which 39.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.9% were Marriage, married couples living together, 4.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 18.8% were non-families. 13.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.13. The median age in the city was 36.6 years. 27.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.2% were from 25 to 44; 29.4% were from 45 to 64; and 8.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.5% male and 49.5% female.


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,065 people, 987 households, and 838 families living in the township. The population density was . There were 1,000 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 98.79% White (U.S. Census), White, 0.07% African American (U.S. Census), African American, 0.03% Native American (U.S. Census), Native American, 0.52% Asian (U.S. Census), Asian, 0.03% from Race (United States Census), other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census), Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census), Latino of any race were 0.39% of the population. There were 987 households, out of which 47.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.5% were Marriage, married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.0% were non-families. 11.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.11 and the average family size was 3.38. In the township the population was spread out, with 31.6% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males. The median income for a household in the township was $57,292, and the median income for a family was $60,000. Males had a median income of $36,148 versus $24,554 for females. The per capita income for the township was $21,712. About 2.1% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 22.6% of those age 65 or over.


Education

Most of St. Augusta is in the St. Cloud Area School District. A portion is in the Kimball Public School District. Three elementary schools have boundaries including portions of the St. Cloud section: Clearview, Discovery, and Oak Hill. All of the St. Cloud school district portion of St. Augusta is zoned to South Middle School and Technical Senior High School.
linked from here
- Compare to census maps.


References


External links


City Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Augusta, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota Cities in Stearns County, Minnesota St. Cloud, Minnesota metropolitan area Defunct townships in Minnesota Populated places established in 2000 Catholic Church in Minnesota Catholic pilgrimage sites Christian pilgrimages German-American culture in Minnesota German-American history German language in the United States Roman Catholic chapels in the United States Roman Catholic shrines in the United States