shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com July 18, 2017 • Page 11 Mead Update Museum Pieces Holy Smoke! The Nun On The Cigar Box Dakota Territorial Museum Sister Mary Paul the residing Catholic priest, the truth must lie somewhere in the middle. The report given by the Daily Press and Dakotian was one about a young woman trapped in a convent unable to escape so that she can marry the love of her life. Vastly different, the day after this report, Father George L. Willard tells the public that Miss Kerns was given options. If she was to marry, she was to seek dispensation from her novice vows and marry in another community that did not know her. Father Willard continued to report that Miss Kerns was adamant that she strongly disliked the promiscuous Dr. Ross and marriage was no desire of hers. After much conversation with Dr. Ross and Sister Kerns, Father Willard was assured no marriage was wanted and would not occur. As you see, both accounts are so vastly different, it is hard to know what really was happening between Nellie and Vladimir. Nonetheless, ignoring the advice to not lead a double life, an ordinarily dressed Sister Mary Paul entered the home of George Hoffman on Dec. 28 and gave presiding Rev. Joseph Ward the name of Nellie Kerns. Having never seen the sister without her nun attire, the Rev. Ward did not recognize the young lady. Three months later, in March 1883, the Sisters of Mercy announced that they would be selling their school due to the lack of income. As if not enough damage had occurred, the local convent would take just one more hit from an unlikely source, William S. Stockwell, a Yankton cigar maker. Like Sister Mary Paul, William was a young heartthrob, and legend has it the cigar maker himself had a crush on the beautiful nun-to-be. It goes on to say that after reading the announcement of their marriage, a heart-broken William remarked, “If she was going to do it, why couldn’t it have been me?” He then began work on a new cigar … called the “Mary Paul.” Local priests would spend the next 15 years trying to get the nun and convent removed from the box. Initially, the lady was in a nun’s habit and then Stockwell was willing to remove just the habit. Still, the name and implications to the story it represented continued until Stockwell sold his business to Otto Schlegelmilch and Henry Grimm in early 1900. This box of great controversy and deep mystery is on display today at the Dakota Territorial Museum as a reminder of historic mysteries, scandals and lost loves. To see the box and learn more about what happened to Sister Mary Paul, Dr. Ross, Stockwell and the other sisters of Mercy after the scandal, visit the museum, which is open seven days a week. Photo: DTM The new furnaces have been placed in the Mead Cultural Education Center, and now the new electrical service for them and the rest of the building is being installed. Although the building had electricity when it was built, many of the wires are still the original ones from 1909. The new electrical updates will allow modern systems to run without any problem, and improve the safety of the electrical system throughout the rest of the building. If you have questions about the project or events please contact the Dakota Territorial Museum at 610 Summit Street (in Westside Park), on Facebook, visit our website at www.dakotaterritorialmuseum.org or www.meadbuilding.org, or call us at 605-665-3898. We are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon-4 p.m. on weekends. Kelly Hertz/P&D Omaha Street Percussion returns to Yankton July 20 to perform as part of the “Music at the Meridian” summer series at Meridian Plaza. ng the We rf b? If you are thinking that putting a Catholic convent on a cigar box was considered a bit out of line for the Sisters of Mercy residing on hospital hill in Yankton, you would be right. But there is much more than just bad feelings connected with this “elegant” cigar. Nellie Kerns came to Yankton with two other sisters (novices) and Mother Ignatius Lynch of the Omaha Sisters of Mercy community in 1878. Nellie’s community name was Sister Mary Paul Kerns and she was a real “looker” of her time, a fact that did not escape the attention of Yankton residents. Sister Mary Paul along with her fellow sisters initially focused on creating educational opportunities in the community as well as visiting the sick and dying. Other than difficulties in securing the funds for a school, all seemed to be going as planned until Christmas 1882. It was on Dec. 29, 1882, that the sisters learned that Sister Mary Paul had been living a double life when, the night before, she had secretly married Dr. Vladimir Sebiakin-Ross of Yankton. But this was just the beginning. Not only had Sister Mary Paul married but after she took her marriage vows she returned to the convent to continue her novice vows the next morning as if nothing had happened. This scandal would have far reaches, even appearing in the New York Times. As if Dakota Territory wasn’t trying to break the cliché of the “wild west” now news comes that it is so wild, it would even cause a nun to break her vows. It is rather difficult at this time to try and tell you exactly what hap- pened during the courtship or lack thereof of these two young people. According to newspaper accounts and those made by Father Willard, Su BY CRYSTAL NELSON Surf on over to www.missourivalleyshopper.com MV Shopper MV Shopper M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y In Print and Online! Call 665-5884 M I S S O U R I VA L L E Y Participating Businesses Are… Photos: Dakota Territorial Museum This cigar box, bearing the name and likeness of Sister Mary Paul of the Sisters of Mercy community, was produced by the Stockwell Cigar Company, whose owner, William S. Stockwell, was smitten with the nun and was heartbroken when she scandalously married another man. This cigar box is on display at the Dakota Territorial Museum. EARN REWARDS ON FILTERS, LUBRICANTS AND COOLANTS Earn a Case IH Reward Card with the purchase of any combination of genuine Case IH lubricants, coolants, filters, and Fleetguard® filters. Offer valid on qualifying purchases made between May 1, 2017 and July 31, 2017. One Invoice per submission and one Reward Card per household. 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