Saint Domenico Italian Orphans Home

1925-1962

Theodore Salorgne House, 1340 Partridge Ave., University City, c. 1893

This modest three-story mansion with a small third floor that can be regarded as an "attic" was built in 1891 and 1892 by Theodore Salorgne, Jr.

The house is built of quarried-stone and has or had a distinctive red Spanish-style clay-tiled roof.

Built centrally on ten acres, the property also contained a barn, a root cellar, a chicken coop, a vineyard, flower gardens (Snapdragons) and several fruit-bearing trees; among them, persimmon trees as well as other large trees.

Theodore Salorgne, senior was a native of France and became a successful carriage maker in

Saint Louis. His son, Theodore, Jr., worked in the family business and continued to live with his family after his marriage to Agnes Conrad in 1873. Theodore Salorgne started the manufacture of carriages in St. Louis in 1838, and continued until 1881, when he died; leaving only one son and a large estate the business was discontinued at that time.

The carriage business closed before 1886 after his father's death in 1881. Theodore engaged in a variety of pursuits after this time, and began building this house in St. Louis County.

The property was sold to the Sisters of Saint Mary in 1909.

(There is a question as to the whether the property was sold to another family prior to the Sisters; currently known as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary via a merger).

The building became a residence for retired and convalescing nuns.

At that time, the St. Mary nuns debated whether a new hospital and convent would be built at the property. It was not.

In 1926, working with the Women's Retreat League, the house was converted into a retreat center. The building was sold once again after the St. Mary order had built a new hospital and convent on Clayton Road.

The property was sold to the St. Domenico Italian Orphans Home. (1931-1962)

The Saint Domenico (Dominic) organization had been founded in 1921 through a bequest of Domenico and Maria Signaigo.

Father Cesare Spigardi from St. Charles Borromeo Church, determined at the time that the bequest was not enough until 1925 when Mrs. Rosa Cafferata left in her will a bequest for the future St. Domenico to Archbishop Glennon.

Mr. Cesare Chichizola, a Board member and his daughter and graduate of St. Elizabeth's Academy was a Precious Blood sister (Sister Mary Rose, C.pp.S) was placed at the new Orphanage. Due to the Orphanage being under the care of Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, whose mother house is in O'Fallon Missouri, she was assigned there. (The sisters were mostly from rural Missouri farming families of German ancestry.)

The Italian community was unsuccessful in getting an Italian order of nuns to care for the mostly Italian-American children at that time. By the late 1950s and 60s, the ancestry of the children were mixed.

The Orphanage started with ten children in 1931 when the mansion was the only building.

In those days, both the Sisters and the children lived in the original mansion.

A first and former resident (H.C., 1933-1936) in 2008 said: "The rules were probably not as stringent during your time there as they were when I was there. We had to maintain silence. We walked up the stair to Chapel single file and silently. There was no loud talk or running inside. I don't remember being outdoors that much, anyway. We went to school in a little two-room schoolhouse at the back of the premises and…. that it was quite hot during the stifling Summer heat when she and the other children lived on the third floor (or attic). The Sister's bedrooms were on the second floor……".

The first floor consisted of two large parlors, a dining room, a small breakfast room, a staircase, a large foyer with a fireplace, a utility room (Pantry) and kitchen. The basement of the mansion was basically laundry and storage.

Access to the mansion is from Partridge Avenue through a stone arched gateway with double gates leading to a circular drive-way that circled around the buildings. The same drive led to a rear exit near the barn leading to Pennsylvania Ave. The two major roads were Page Ave on the north and Olive Street Road on the south. The stone gateway indicated a painted sign on its arched section: "St. Domenico Italian Orphanage".

Saint Domenico attracted the support of many prominent families in the St. Louis Italian American community, and when it was able to build a 2-storey chapel wing (that was added on to the rear of the mansion) in 1938, many of them contributed art-glass windows. The first floor consisted of two dining rooms and the school room with the chapel on the entire second floor. The basement was used as an indoor play area and other events.

In 1947, another building was built and that wing was connected by a mid-air walkway to the mansion on its north side. This 2-storey building would be the new dormitory respectively for the boys on the first floor and the girls on the second floor. Each floor had a private bedroom for one Sister. A rather large basement was a playroom, laundry and other storage closets.

A stone statue of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order was installed in front of the mansion as a gift from Domenica Casaleggi, a California resident. The statute was the most pronounced feature standing in front of the Home.

The immediate neighborhood community consisted of middle class Jewish families, thus the SIsters and the children were the only Gentiles. It was not unusual to observe a Sister conversing with their Jewish neighbors.Wed Aug 13 15:45:34 2008

Another former resident: "I would like to locate others who were living at St. Domenico. I have a lot of good memories from those days in 1954 to 1958. Recently was in touch with one fellow from there. Is there an alumni group from this home? I would love to attend a reunion. I remember fondly the nuns: Sr. Elizabeth Marie, Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Robert Thomas, Sr. Gregory, and many others. Remember making fudge and carmel with Sr. Elizabeth Marie. We would each get one small piece in wax paper to eat while we watched Shirley Temple movies. I loved that big old house and the grounds it sat on. It is still there. Enjoyed climbing the trees and playing in the sandbox all day long in the summer. (After we did our chores, of course.) Please contact me if youlived at St.. Domenico's Italian Home in St. Louis MO".

By the 1970s and the 1980s, the 2-storey barn, the chicken coop and other stand-alone structures (Gazebos) would be torn-down due to age. (One of the more prominent gaezbo housing the Holy Family was a favorite for the kids who would hide and seek.)

The root cellar was filled-in. The vinyard was removed along with the original stone-arched gateway and gates. Some of the large Oak and Locust trees are gone. The statute of St. Dominic has long gone. The clay-tiled roof was replaced by either slate or shingle.

By this time, there is nothing left to indicate that this was ever St. Domenico except the original Theodore Salorgne mansion.

By 1961-1962, the Italian Orphans Home would close. Sisters Mary Rose, Elizabeth Marie, Timothy, Isabel and Gregory et al received the news of the closing of this rather unique institution. (Pictured above is Sister Julitta Maurer, one of the former teachers wearing the new habit adopted by Congregation of the Most Precious Blood sometime in 1961-1962.)

The need for full-service orphanages decreased, and in 1962 the property became Mercita Hall, a Group Home for teenage girls who were not being served by foster homes. Mercita Hall was operated by the Sisters of Mercy and gradually was replaced by Marian Hall, another agency serving severely-disturbed and behaviorally-disordered youth. By this time, there were very few nuns left and most staff were lay-women with specialized training.

In 1988 the property was transferred to the Archbishop of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

It appeared that at one time, the property would be re-developed for housing.

The original ten acres was laid out by as St. Domenico Court but it never happened.

It was later subdivided by Mary Stock as Penn Park and Roberts Court after 1970 with the remainder of the property to be known as Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth sometime in 2008 after its final consolidation of four pre-existing Catholic Service Agencies into one.

As of Spring, 2008, new Construction of an additional building to the rear of the former chapel /school room / dining room building (1938) is due to be completed in 2009. This expansion indicate that the property has become a small complex or campus consisting of 4 buildings providing numerous services for children and youth.

The new building standing on the former vinyard and drive will attach itself to the chapel-wing building. The original mansion building, c1893; the chapel / school room / dining room building, 1938, and the dormitory building, 1947 will join the new building.

All of the original founders have died and most of the former children are now elderly. The memories are fading.

The Current Occupant of the mansion-property is:

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth

1340 Partridge Avenue

St. Louis MO 63130

Phone: 314.854.5700

Fax: 314.854.5748

Disclaimer. The above information on this brief history of this institution is based on anecdotal information and several other sources that may not necessarily be accurate. Fifty per cent was taken from the City of University City, MO. website.

Additional information was added to the primary source.

If you think the information is inaccurate or inappropriate, anyone is welcome to write me @ pgenna2@juno.com. Thank you.

Acknowledgments:

City of University City, MO

Sisters of St. Mary (Franciscan Sisters of Mary), St. Louis, MO

Women's Retreat League, St. Louis, MO (Closed)

Fratellanza Society, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O'Fallon, MO

St. Charles Borromeo Church, St. Louis City, MO (Closed)

St. Elizabeth Academy, St. Louis, MO

The Maurer Family, CppS: O'Fallon, MO

St. Ambrose Church, The Hill, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of Mercy, St. Louis, MO

Archdiocese of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Mary Stock

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth, University City, MOSaint Domenico Italian Orphans Home

1925-1962

Theodore Salorgne House, 1340 Partridge Ave., University City, c. 1893

This modest three-story mansion with a small third floor that can be regarded as an "attic" was built in 1891 and 1892 by Theodore Salorgne, Jr.

The house is built of quarried-stone and has or had a distinctive red Spanish-style clay-tiled roof.

Built centrally on ten acres, the property also contained a barn, a root cellar, a chicken coop, a vineyard, flower gardens (Snapdragons) and several fruit-bearing trees; among them, persimmon trees as well as other large trees.

Theodore Salorgne, senior was a native of France and became a successful carriage maker in

Saint Louis. His son, Theodore, Jr., worked in the family business and continued to live with his family after his marriage to Agnes Conrad in 1873. Theodore Salorgne started the manufacture of carriages in St. Louis in 1838, and continued until 1881, when he died; leaving only one son and a large estate the business was discontinued at that time.

The carriage business closed before 1886 after his father's death in 1881. Theodore engaged in a variety of pursuits after this time, and began building this house in St. Louis County.

The property was sold to the Sisters of Saint Mary in 1909.

(There is a question as to the whether the property was sold to another family prior to the Sisters; currently known as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary via a merger).

The building became a residence for retired and convalescing nuns.

At that time, the St. Mary nuns debated whether a new hospital and convent would be built at the property. It was not.

In 1926, working with the Women's Retreat League, the house was converted into a retreat center. The building was sold once again after the St. Mary order had built a new hospital and convent on Clayton Road.

The property was sold to the St. Domenico Italian Orphans Home. (1931-1962)

The Saint Domenico (Dominic) organization had been founded in 1921 through a bequest of Domenico and Maria Signaigo.

Father Cesare Spigardi from St. Charles Borromeo Church, determined at the time that the bequest was not enough until 1925 when Mrs. Rosa Cafferata left in her will a bequest for the future St. Domenico to Archbishop Glennon.

Mr. Cesare Chichizola, a Board member and his daughter and graduate of St. Elizabeth's Academy was a Precious Blood sister (Sister Mary Rose, C.pp.S) was placed at the new Orphanage. Due to the Orphanage being under the care of Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, whose mother house is in O'Fallon Missouri, she was assigned there. (The sisters were mostly from rural Missouri farming families of German ancestry.)

The Italian community was unsuccessful in getting an Italian order of nuns to care for the mostly Italian-American children at that time. By the late 1950s and 60s, the ancestry of the children were mixed.

The Orphanage started with ten children in 1931 when the mansion was the only building.

In those days, both the Sisters and the children lived in the original mansion.

A first and former resident (H.C., 1933-1936) in 2008 said: "The rules were probably not as stringent during your time there as they were when I was there. We had to maintain silence. We walked up the stair to Chapel single file and silently. There was no loud talk or running inside. I don't remember being outdoors that much, anyway. We went to school in a little two-room schoolhouse at the back of the premises and…. that it was quite hot during the stifling Summer heat when she and the other children lived on the third floor (or attic). The Sister's bedrooms were on the second floor……".

The first floor consisted of two large parlors, a dining room, a small breakfast room, a staircase, a large foyer with a fireplace, a utility room (Pantry) and kitchen. The basement of the mansion was basically laundry and storage.

Access to the mansion is from Partridge Avenue through a stone arched gateway with double gates leading to a circular drive-way that circled around the buildings. The same drive led to a rear exit near the barn leading to Pennsylvania Ave. The two major roads were Page Ave on the north and Olive Street Road on the south. The stone gateway indicated a painted sign on its arched section: "St. Domenico Italian Orphanage".

Saint Domenico attracted the support of many prominent families in the St. Louis Italian American community, and when it was able to build a 2-storey chapel wing (that was added on to the rear of the mansion) in 1938, many of them contributed art-glass windows. The first floor consisted of two dining rooms and the school room with the chapel on the entire second floor. The basement was used as an indoor play area and other events.

In 1947, another building was built and that wing was connected by a mid-air walkway to the mansion on its north side. This 2-storey building would be the new dormitory respectively for the boys on the first floor and the girls on the second floor. Each floor had a private bedroom for one Sister. A rather large basement was a playroom, laundry and other storage closets.

A stone statue of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order was installed in front of the mansion as a gift from Domenica Casaleggi, a California resident. The statute was the most pronounced feature standing in front of the Home.

The immediate neighborhood community consisted of middle class Jewish families, thus the SIsters and the children were the only Gentiles. It was not unusual to observe a Sister conversing with their Jewish neighbors.Wed Aug 13 15:45:34 2008

Another former resident: "I would like to locate others who were living at St. Domenico. I have a lot of good memories from those days in 1954 to 1958. Recently was in touch with one fellow from there. Is there an alumni group from this home? I would love to attend a reunion. I remember fondly the nuns: Sr. Elizabeth Marie, Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Robert Thomas, Sr. Gregory, and many others. Remember making fudge and carmel with Sr. Elizabeth Marie. We would each get one small piece in wax paper to eat while we watched Shirley Temple movies. I loved that big old house and the grounds it sat on. It is still there. Enjoyed climbing the trees and playing in the sandbox all day long in the summer. (After we did our chores, of course.) Please contact me if youlived at St.. Domenico's Italian Home in St. Louis MO".

By the 1970s and the 1980s, the 2-storey barn, the chicken coop and other stand-alone structures (Gazebos) would be torn-down due to age. (One of the more prominent gaezbo housing the Holy Family was a favorite for the kids who would hide and seek.)

The root cellar was filled-in. The vinyard was removed along with the original stone-arched gateway and gates. Some of the large Oak and Locust trees are gone. The statute of St. Dominic has long gone. The clay-tiled roof was replaced by either slate or shingle.

By this time, there is nothing left to indicate that this was ever St. Domenico except the original Theodore Salorgne mansion.

By 1961-1962, the Italian Orphans Home would close. Sisters Mary Rose, Elizabeth Marie, Timothy, Isabel and Gregory et al received the news of the closing of this rather unique institution. (Pictured above is Sister Julitta Maurer, one of the former teachers wearing the new habit adopted by Congregation of the Most Precious Blood sometime in 1961-1962.)

The need for full-service orphanages decreased, and in 1962 the property became Mercita Hall, a Group Home for teenage girls who were not being served by foster homes. Mercita Hall was operated by the Sisters of Mercy and gradually was replaced by Marian Hall, another agency serving severely-disturbed and behaviorally-disordered youth. By this time, there were very few nuns left and most staff were lay-women with specialized training.

In 1988 the property was transferred to the Archbishop of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

It appeared that at one time, the property would be re-developed for housing.

The original ten acres was laid out by as St. Domenico Court but it never happened.

It was later subdivided by Mary Stock as Penn Park and Roberts Court after 1970 with the remainder of the property to be known as Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth sometime in 2008 after its final consolidation of four pre-existing Catholic Service Agencies into one.

As of Spring, 2008, new Construction of an additional building to the rear of the former chapel /school room / dining room building (1938) is due to be completed in 2009. This expansion indicate that the property has become a small complex or campus consisting of 4 buildings providing numerous services for children and youth.

The new building standing on the former vinyard and drive will attach itself to the chapel-wing building. The original mansion building, c1893; the chapel / school room / dining room building, 1938, and the dormitory building, 1947 will join the new building.

All of the original founders have died and most of the former children are now elderly. The memories are fading.

The Current Occupant of the mansion-property is:

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth

1340 Partridge Avenue

St. Louis MO 63130

Phone: 314.854.5700

Fax: 314.854.5748

Disclaimer. The above information on this brief history of this institution is based on anecdotal information and several other sources that may not necessarily be accurate. Fifty per cent was taken from the City of University City, MO. website.

Additional information was added to the primary source.

If you think the information is inaccurate or inappropriate, anyone is welcome to write me @ pgenna2@juno.com. Thank you.

Acknowledgments:

City of University City, MO

Sisters of St. Mary (Franciscan Sisters of Mary), St. Louis, MO

Women's Retreat League, St. Louis, MO (Closed)

Fratellanza Society, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O'Fallon, MO

St. Charles Borromeo Church, St. Louis City, MO (Closed)

St. Elizabeth Academy, St. Louis, MO

The Maurer Family, CppS: O'Fallon, MO

St. Ambrose Church, The Hill, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of Mercy, St. Louis, MO

Archdiocese of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Mary Stock

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth, University City, MOSaint Domenico Italian Orphans Home

1925-1962

Theodore Salorgne House, 1340 Partridge Ave., University City, c. 1893

This modest three-story mansion with a small third floor that can be regarded as an "attic" was built in 1891 and 1892 by Theodore Salorgne, Jr.

The house is built of quarried-stone and has or had a distinctive red Spanish-style clay-tiled roof.

Built centrally on ten acres, the property also contained a barn, a root cellar, a chicken coop, a vineyard, flower gardens (Snapdragons) and several fruit-bearing trees; among them, persimmon trees as well as other large trees.

Theodore Salorgne, senior was a native of France and became a successful carriage maker in

Saint Louis. His son, Theodore, Jr., worked in the family business and continued to live with his family after his marriage to Agnes Conrad in 1873. Theodore Salorgne started the manufacture of carriages in St. Louis in 1838, and continued until 1881, when he died; leaving only one son and a large estate the business was discontinued at that time.

The carriage business closed before 1886 after his father's death in 1881. Theodore engaged in a variety of pursuits after this time, and began building this house in St. Louis County.

The property was sold to the Sisters of Saint Mary in 1909.

(There is a question as to the whether the property was sold to another family prior to the Sisters; currently known as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary via a merger).

The building became a residence for retired and convalescing nuns.

At that time, the St. Mary nuns debated whether a new hospital and convent would be built at the property. It was not.

In 1926, working with the Women's Retreat League, the house was converted into a retreat center. The building was sold once again after the St. Mary order had built a new hospital and convent on Clayton Road.

The property was sold to the St. Domenico Italian Orphans Home. (1931-1962)

The Saint Domenico (Dominic) organization had been founded in 1921 through a bequest of Domenico and Maria Signaigo.

Father Cesare Spigardi from St. Charles Borromeo Church, determined at the time that the bequest was not enough until 1925 when Mrs. Rosa Cafferata left in her will a bequest for the future St. Domenico to Archbishop Glennon.

Mr. Cesare Chichizola, a Board member and his daughter and graduate of St. Elizabeth's Academy was a Precious Blood sister (Sister Mary Rose, C.pp.S) was placed at the new Orphanage. Due to the Orphanage being under the care of Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, whose mother house is in O'Fallon Missouri, she was assigned there. (The sisters were mostly from rural Missouri farming families of German ancestry.)

The Italian community was unsuccessful in getting an Italian order of nuns to care for the mostly Italian-American children at that time. By the late 1950s and 60s, the ancestry of the children were mixed.

The Orphanage started with ten children in 1931 when the mansion was the only building.

In those days, both the Sisters and the children lived in the original mansion.

A first and former resident (H.C., 1933-1936) in 2008 said: "The rules were probably not as stringent during your time there as they were when I was there. We had to maintain silence. We walked up the stair to Chapel single file and silently. There was no loud talk or running inside. I don't remember being outdoors that much, anyway. We went to school in a little two-room schoolhouse at the back of the premises and…. that it was quite hot during the stifling Summer heat when she and the other children lived on the third floor (or attic). The Sister's bedrooms were on the second floor……".

The first floor consisted of two large parlors, a dining room, a small breakfast room, a staircase, a large foyer with a fireplace, a utility room (Pantry) and kitchen. The basement of the mansion was basically laundry and storage.

Access to the mansion is from Partridge Avenue through a stone arched gateway with double gates leading to a circular drive-way that circled around the buildings. The same drive led to a rear exit near the barn leading to Pennsylvania Ave. The two major roads were Page Ave on the north and Olive Street Road on the south. The stone gateway indicated a painted sign on its arched section: "St. Domenico Italian Orphanage".

Saint Domenico attracted the support of many prominent families in the St. Louis Italian American community, and when it was able to build a 2-storey chapel wing (that was added on to the rear of the mansion) in 1938, many of them contributed art-glass windows. The first floor consisted of two dining rooms and the school room with the chapel on the entire second floor. The basement was used as an indoor play area and other events.

In 1947, another building was built and that wing was connected by a mid-air walkway to the mansion on its north side. This 2-storey building would be the new dormitory respectively for the boys on the first floor and the girls on the second floor. Each floor had a private bedroom for one Sister. A rather large basement was a playroom, laundry and other storage closets.

A stone statue of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order was installed in front of the mansion as a gift from Domenica Casaleggi, a California resident. The statute was the most pronounced feature standing in front of the Home.

The immediate neighborhood community consisted of middle class Jewish families, thus the SIsters and the children were the only Gentiles. It was not unusual to observe a Sister conversing with their Jewish neighbors.Wed Aug 13 15:45:34 2008

Another former resident: "I would like to locate others who were living at St. Domenico. I have a lot of good memories from those days in 1954 to 1958. Recently was in touch with one fellow from there. Is there an alumni group from this home? I would love to attend a reunion. I remember fondly the nuns: Sr. Elizabeth Marie, Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Robert Thomas, Sr. Gregory, and many others. Remember making fudge and carmel with Sr. Elizabeth Marie. We would each get one small piece in wax paper to eat while we watched Shirley Temple movies. I loved that big old house and the grounds it sat on. It is still there. Enjoyed climbing the trees and playing in the sandbox all day long in the summer. (After we did our chores, of course.) Please contact me if youlived at St.. Domenico's Italian Home in St. Louis MO".

By the 1970s and the 1980s, the 2-storey barn, the chicken coop and other stand-alone structures (Gazebos) would be torn-down due to age. (One of the more prominent gaezbo housing the Holy Family was a favorite for the kids who would hide and seek.)

The root cellar was filled-in. The vinyard was removed along with the original stone-arched gateway and gates. Some of the large Oak and Locust trees are gone. The statute of St. Dominic has long gone. The clay-tiled roof was replaced by either slate or shingle.

By this time, there is nothing left to indicate that this was ever St. Domenico except the original Theodore Salorgne mansion.

By 1961-1962, the Italian Orphans Home would close. Sisters Mary Rose, Elizabeth Marie, Timothy, Isabel and Gregory et al received the news of the closing of this rather unique institution. (Pictured above is Sister Julitta Maurer, one of the former teachers wearing the new habit adopted by Congregation of the Most Precious Blood sometime in 1961-1962.)

The need for full-service orphanages decreased, and in 1962 the property became Mercita Hall, a Group Home for teenage girls who were not being served by foster homes. Mercita Hall was operated by the Sisters of Mercy and gradually was replaced by Marian Hall, another agency serving severely-disturbed and behaviorally-disordered youth. By this time, there were very few nuns left and most staff were lay-women with specialized training.

In 1988 the property was transferred to the Archbishop of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

It appeared that at one time, the property would be re-developed for housing.

The original ten acres was laid out by as St. Domenico Court but it never happened.

It was later subdivided by Mary Stock as Penn Park and Roberts Court after 1970 with the remainder of the property to be known as Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth sometime in 2008 after its final consolidation of four pre-existing Catholic Service Agencies into one.

As of Spring, 2008, new Construction of an additional building to the rear of the former chapel /school room / dining room building (1938) is due to be completed in 2009. This expansion indicate that the property has become a small complex or campus consisting of 4 buildings providing numerous services for children and youth.

The new building standing on the former vinyard and drive will attach itself to the chapel-wing building. The original mansion building, c1893; the chapel / school room / dining room building, 1938, and the dormitory building, 1947 will join the new building.

All of the original founders have died and most of the former children are now elderly. The memories are fading.

The Current Occupant of the mansion-property is:

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth

1340 Partridge Avenue

St. Louis MO 63130

Phone: 314.854.5700

Fax: 314.854.5748

Disclaimer. The above information on this brief history of this institution is based on anecdotal information and several other sources that may not necessarily be accurate. Fifty per cent was taken from the City of University City, MO. website.

Additional information was added to the primary source.

If you think the information is inaccurate or inappropriate, anyone is welcome to write me @ pgenna2@juno.com. Thank you.

Acknowledgments:

City of University City, MO

Sisters of St. Mary (Franciscan Sisters of Mary), St. Louis, MO

Women's Retreat League, St. Louis, MO (Closed)

Fratellanza Society, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O'Fallon, MO

St. Charles Borromeo Church, St. Louis City, MO (Closed)

St. Elizabeth Academy, St. Louis, MO

The Maurer Family, CppS: O'Fallon, MO

St. Ambrose Church, The Hill, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of Mercy, St. Louis, MO

Archdiocese of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Mary Stock

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth, University City, MOSaint Domenico Italian Orphans Home

1925-1962

Theodore Salorgne House, 1340 Partridge Ave., University City, c. 1893

This modest three-story mansion with a small third floor that can be regarded as an "attic" was built in 1891 and 1892 by Theodore Salorgne, Jr.

The house is built of quarried-stone and has or had a distinctive red Spanish-style clay-tiled roof.

Built centrally on ten acres, the property also contained a barn, a root cellar, a chicken coop, a vineyard, flower gardens (Snapdragons) and several fruit-bearing trees; among them, persimmon trees as well as other large trees.

Theodore Salorgne, senior was a native of France and became a successful carriage maker in

Saint Louis. His son, Theodore, Jr., worked in the family business and continued to live with his family after his marriage to Agnes Conrad in 1873. Theodore Salorgne started the manufacture of carriages in St. Louis in 1838, and continued until 1881, when he died; leaving only one son and a large estate the business was discontinued at that time.

The carriage business closed before 1886 after his father's death in 1881. Theodore engaged in a variety of pursuits after this time, and began building this house in St. Louis County.

The property was sold to the Sisters of Saint Mary in 1909.

(There is a question as to the whether the property was sold to another family prior to the Sisters; currently known as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary via a merger).

The building became a residence for retired and convalescing nuns.

At that time, the St. Mary nuns debated whether a new hospital and convent would be built at the property. It was not.

In 1926, working with the Women's Retreat League, the house was converted into a retreat center. The building was sold once again after the St. Mary order had built a new hospital and convent on Clayton Road.

The property was sold to the St. Domenico Italian Orphans Home. (1931-1962)

The Saint Domenico (Dominic) organization had been founded in 1921 through a bequest of Domenico and Maria Signaigo.

Father Cesare Spigardi from St. Charles Borromeo Church, determined at the time that the bequest was not enough until 1925 when Mrs. Rosa Cafferata left in her will a bequest for the future St. Domenico to Archbishop Glennon.

Mr. Cesare Chichizola, a Board member and his daughter and graduate of St. Elizabeth's Academy was a Precious Blood sister (Sister Mary Rose, C.pp.S) was placed at the new Orphanage. Due to the Orphanage being under the care of Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, whose mother house is in O'Fallon Missouri, she was assigned there. (The sisters were mostly from rural Missouri farming families of German ancestry.)

The Italian community was unsuccessful in getting an Italian order of nuns to care for the mostly Italian-American children at that time. By the late 1950s and 60s, the ancestry of the children were mixed.

The Orphanage started with ten children in 1931 when the mansion was the only building.

In those days, both the Sisters and the children lived in the original mansion.

A first and former resident (H.C., 1933-1936) in 2008 said: "The rules were probably not as stringent during your time there as they were when I was there. We had to maintain silence. We walked up the stair to Chapel single file and silently. There was no loud talk or running inside. I don't remember being outdoors that much, anyway. We went to school in a little two-room schoolhouse at the back of the premises and…. that it was quite hot during the stifling Summer heat when she and the other children lived on the third floor (or attic). The Sister's bedrooms were on the second floor……".

The first floor consisted of two large parlors, a dining room, a small breakfast room, a staircase, a large foyer with a fireplace, a utility room (Pantry) and kitchen. The basement of the mansion was basically laundry and storage.

Access to the mansion is from Partridge Avenue through a stone arched gateway with double gates leading to a circular drive-way that circled around the buildings. The same drive led to a rear exit near the barn leading to Pennsylvania Ave. The two major roads were Page Ave on the north and Olive Street Road on the south. The stone gateway indicated a painted sign on its arched section: "St. Domenico Italian Orphanage".

Saint Domenico attracted the support of many prominent families in the St. Louis Italian American community, and when it was able to build a 2-storey chapel wing (that was added on to the rear of the mansion) in 1938, many of them contributed art-glass windows. The first floor consisted of two dining rooms and the school room with the chapel on the entire second floor. The basement was used as an indoor play area and other events.

In 1947, another building was built and that wing was connected by a mid-air walkway to the mansion on its north side. This 2-storey building would be the new dormitory respectively for the boys on the first floor and the girls on the second floor. Each floor had a private bedroom for one Sister. A rather large basement was a playroom, laundry and other storage closets.

A stone statue of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order was installed in front of the mansion as a gift from Domenica Casaleggi, a California resident. The statute was the most pronounced feature standing in front of the Home.

The immediate neighborhood community consisted of middle class Jewish families, thus the SIsters and the children were the only Gentiles. It was not unusual to observe a Sister conversing with their Jewish neighbors.Wed Aug 13 15:45:34 2008

Another former resident: "I would like to locate others who were living at St. Domenico. I have a lot of good memories from those days in 1954 to 1958. Recently was in touch with one fellow from there. Is there an alumni group from this home? I would love to attend a reunion. I remember fondly the nuns: Sr. Elizabeth Marie, Sr. Mary Rose, Sr. Robert Thomas, Sr. Gregory, and many others. Remember making fudge and carmel with Sr. Elizabeth Marie. We would each get one small piece in wax paper to eat while we watched Shirley Temple movies. I loved that big old house and the grounds it sat on. It is still there. Enjoyed climbing the trees and playing in the sandbox all day long in the summer. (After we did our chores, of course.) Please contact me if youlived at St.. Domenico's Italian Home in St. Louis MO".

By the 1970s and the 1980s, the 2-storey barn, the chicken coop and other stand-alone structures (Gazebos) would be torn-down due to age. (One of the more prominent gaezbo housing the Holy Family was a favorite for the kids who would hide and seek.)

The root cellar was filled-in. The vinyard was removed along with the original stone-arched gateway and gates. Some of the large Oak and Locust trees are gone. The statute of St. Dominic has long gone. The clay-tiled roof was replaced by either slate or shingle.

By this time, there is nothing left to indicate that this was ever St. Domenico except the original Theodore Salorgne mansion.

By 1961-1962, the Italian Orphans Home would close. Sisters Mary Rose, Elizabeth Marie, Timothy, Isabel and Gregory et al received the news of the closing of this rather unique institution. (Pictured above is Sister Julitta Maurer, one of the former teachers wearing the new habit adopted by Congregation of the Most Precious Blood sometime in 1961-1962.)

The need for full-service orphanages decreased, and in 1962 the property became Mercita Hall, a Group Home for teenage girls who were not being served by foster homes. Mercita Hall was operated by the Sisters of Mercy and gradually was replaced by Marian Hall, another agency serving severely-disturbed and behaviorally-disordered youth. By this time, there were very few nuns left and most staff were lay-women with specialized training.

In 1988 the property was transferred to the Archbishop of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

It appeared that at one time, the property would be re-developed for housing.

The original ten acres was laid out by as St. Domenico Court but it never happened.

It was later subdivided by Mary Stock as Penn Park and Roberts Court after 1970 with the remainder of the property to be known as Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth sometime in 2008 after its final consolidation of four pre-existing Catholic Service Agencies into one.

As of Spring, 2008, new Construction of an additional building to the rear of the former chapel /school room / dining room building (1938) is due to be completed in 2009. This expansion indicate that the property has become a small complex or campus consisting of 4 buildings providing numerous services for children and youth.

The new building standing on the former vinyard and drive will attach itself to the chapel-wing building. The original mansion building, c1893; the chapel / school room / dining room building, 1938, and the dormitory building, 1947 will join the new building.

All of the original founders have died and most of the former children are now elderly. The memories are fading.

The Current Occupant of the mansion-property is:

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth

1340 Partridge Avenue

St. Louis MO 63130

Phone: 314.854.5700

Fax: 314.854.5748

Disclaimer. The above information on this brief history of this institution is based on anecdotal information and several other sources that may not necessarily be accurate. Fifty per cent was taken from the City of University City, MO. website.

Additional information was added to the primary source.

If you think the information is inaccurate or inappropriate, anyone is welcome to write me @ pgenna2@juno.com. Thank you.

Acknowledgments:

City of University City, MO

Sisters of St. Mary (Franciscan Sisters of Mary), St. Louis, MO

Women's Retreat League, St. Louis, MO (Closed)

Fratellanza Society, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, O'Fallon, MO

St. Charles Borromeo Church, St. Louis City, MO (Closed)

St. Elizabeth Academy, St. Louis, MO

The Maurer Family, CppS: O'Fallon, MO

St. Ambrose Church, The Hill, St. Louis, MO

Sisters of Mercy, St. Louis, MO

Archdiocese of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

Mary Stock

Good Shepherd Services for Children and Youth, University City, MO

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