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aboard the packet ship Sully under the command of Captain William C. Thompson and arriving in New York
on November 28, 1839. Son Nicholas
was 6 years old at the time [Source: N.A. Film No. M237-40, List 862]. He and his family were listed on the ship's manifest thusly:
Jean Stimler, age 48, M
Magd. Stimler, age 44, F
Magd. Stimler, age 15, F
Therese Stimler, age 11, F
Jean Stimler, age 9, M
Nicolas Stimler, age 6, M
Fransisca Stimler, age 3, F
Franz Stimler, age 1, M
With them they took two beds, a chest, a trunk and four bags.
Nicholas came to this country with his parents in late 1839 and settled in
Manayunk, PA. The 1850 U.S. Census in Manayunk, PA lists Nicholas
as 17 years old and a weaver. His sisters, Magdalena Kaufmann
(Mrs. Charles) and Francis C. Schaaf (Mrs. Joseph) moved to Victoria, MN
as did Nicholas, perhaps as early as 1854. In 1857 he enrolled in the
seminary at Dubuque, IA and was there unti September. He then travelled
to Shakopee, MN, returning to Philadelphia in October. On May 28, 1858
Nicholas enrolled at Table Mound College and worked as a carpenter.
Poor health necessitated his withdrawal on September 16 of that year.
Returning to Lake Auburn, Carver county MN, on March 20, 1860 he
was listed as homesteading on approximately 45 acres. The 1860 federal
census showed him living with his sister Francis Schaaf and her family in
Lake Town Township, Carver County, MN where he was working as a
farm laborer.
On September 1, 1860 Nicholas came to St. John's seminary located south
of St. Cloud with the intention of joining the monastery. On January 6, 1862
Valentine Nicholas was invested into the habit of the Benedictine Order,
and on January 28 he sold the 44.4-acre homestead to the Order of
St. Benedict for $200.
During the Sioux Uprising of August-September 1862 classes at St. John's
were cancelled and the monks were sent into the communities to
organize defenses. Scholastic Valentine remained and helped with the
construction of the new colony building at Indianbush. In 1863 he did
carpentry work and helped with the erection of the first Benedictine Sisters'
convent in St. Joseph in 1863. In spring 1864 the colony moved to Indianbush.
In December 1864 Frater Valentine went to the novitiate at St. Vincent's
in Pennsylvania where he stayed until the following December; he was the
first clerical novice of the Minnesota foundation.
On January 15, 1866 he made simple vows before Prior Haindl OSB. In May
of that year the colony moved to the present site of St. John's University. The
Old Stone House, which was the first monastic building, was built during 1865
through 1866. "Father Valentine painted a picturesque sundial with baroque
corona in bright Bavarian colors on the south wall." On December 20, 1866,
the Order of St. Benedict sold the Carver County homestead to Frater Valentine's
younger brother Anton Stimmler for $220.
On January 13, 1869 Father Valentine professed his solemn vows before
Abbott Rupert Seidenbusch, OSB, was ordained by Archbishop Thomas Grace
in St. Paul MN on March 30, and on April 11 of that year conducted the first Mass
of the Church of the Assumption in Manayunk, PA, his home parish. Immediately
after his profession, he returned to St. John's and as a cleric was the first Prefect
(chief disciplinarian) of St. John's University. He was professor of religion
and arithmetic, and served as a missionary to neighboring parishes until 1872.
On February 27, 1870 Father Valentine assumed additional responsibilities
as Assistant Pastor of St. Mary's Church in St. Cloud. He visited parishes at
St. Augusta, St. Wendel, Clearwater and Luxemburg, MN. On March 16 he
travelled to Clearwater for the first time and bought two lots and a schoolhouse,
which he turned into a church. The first Mass was held in September. From
September 1870 to January 1871, Father Valentine served at St. Victoria Mission
in Victoria MN. While there he negotiated the building of the brick church.
In May 1872 construction of the stone St. Mary's Help of Christians Catholic Church at St. Augusta was begun by
Father Valentine with the assistance of his brother Anton J. and nephew
John Kaufmann. The church was finished in December 1872 and from
September of that year to January 1873 Father Valentine again served at
the St. Victoria Mission in Victoria, MN. It was a busy year as he also
started a church at St. Wendel which was finished in 1873 and dedicated
by Bishop Seidenbusch on July 4, 1875.
In 1873 Father Valentine moved his residence to St. Augusta where he
was pastor. During this time he also built the stone church at Luxemburg
and founded a parish at Kimball Prairie. On January 13, 1874 he performed
marriage rites for his nephew John Kaufmann and Mary Ann Imholte in
St. Augusta at the church he and his brother Anton built with John.
In 1875 Father Valentine continued to serve at the St. Victoria Mission
in Victoria, MN. He became the Pastor of the Assumption Church in
St. Paul on November 3, 1875, where he worked for the next 12 years.
On November 8, 1877 he married his niece, Mary Magdalena Schaaf,
to John Webber at Victoria, MN. Earlier that year on March 17, 1877,
Father Valentine opened the first German Orphan Asylum at St. Paul,
MN with five children taken from the Bishop's diocesan asylum; the
new orphanage was in charge of Sisters Benedicta and Agatha of the
Shakopee community. In 1880 a new orphanage was built near
St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, and the June 11, 1880 federal census
shows Father Valentine working with the sisters as the head of the
orphanage. He also founded St. Joseph's parish in Murdock, MN
in 1880. His sister, Frances C. Schaaf, moved with her family from
Victoria and settled in Murdock, and he visited the parish once a
month.
Due to failing health, on May 17, 1887, Father Stimmler became the
Pastor of St. John's Church in St. Joseph, MN, and Diocesan and
Dean of Stearns County and Visitor of Sister Houses in the Diocese.
He accompanied Abbot Bernard Locnikor on a visit to the Pacific
Ocean in 1891. In September 1892 he returned as Pastor of the Church
of Mary, Help of Christians in St. Augusta, MN. Because of continuing
ill health, he was assigned as Assistant Pastor of St. Anselm's in New
York, NY. He was the Chaplain of St. Alexius' Hospital in Bismark,
ND during 1895, and also served as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in
Glen Ullin, ND in 1896 at the invitation of the Bishop. At this time, they decided
to move the parish house and the church to a different place. Since everyone was willing to help,
Fr. Valentine bought four lots on B Street and Oak Avenue and the work began in full.
It wasn’t an easy job to move the church and the parish house down from the hill, as it was still
located up there. A lot of the members of the parish offered to help. Father Valentine returned to St. Cloud in the middle of 1896 as the
Chaplain of St. Rafael's Hospital. He was the Chaplain of St. Scholastica's
Villa (1898) and of St. Benedict's Hospital (1900) in Grand Rapids, MI,
returning to St. John's in 1905. In 1906 he became the Chaplain of Villa
Maria Academy in Frontenac, MN. He passed away on January 16, 1908
at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, MN while awaiting an operation.
The Scriptorium in Vol. 15 (June 1956) says he died of a kidney ailment.
His death certificate states that he died due to prostate cancer. He was
71 years old. [From information compiled by Robert R. Mullally, Ed.D., Father Valentine's
great-grandnephew]
"A man of little Latin and less Greek, Father Valentine was not as
learned as most of his confreres, since he had been educated in a
frontier school which had neither a set course of studies nor any
particular standards. On the other hand, driven by zeal for souls
and the Church, this short, stout monk with the American know-how
and energy got things done, especially in parishes burdened by debt."[Source: The Scriptorium, Vol. 15, June 1956]
Father Valentine is buried in Row 7, Space 1 of St. John's Abbey Cemetery Monastery Cemetery South Side Section.
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