After the division of the North American Province into three separate provinces in 1939, there was a short period when expansion of ministries ceased. However, Mother Lidwina Jacobs recognized that, despite any risks involved, it was necessary and desirable to respond positively to new needs. Thus it was that when Father Michael Shaw, pastor of St. Michael Church in Warsaw, contacted her about purchasing the Farman Mansion to be “a center of religious witness in that strongly anti-Catholic region” she was willing to consider the possibility. After some on-again, off-again maneuvers, the property was purchased for $2500. The thirty-room mansion was renamed St. Anthony Hall.
It was no small feat for the new foundation to become self-sustaining. The plan was to use the extra rooms for women boarders, to offer music lessons, and to open a kindergarten. After several months of preparation, the sisters moved to Warsaw in 1942; that fall a Kindergarten class was begun. By 1943 the chronicler admitted that “until this time, our big house had remained empty, with only an occasional boarder to give us some extra work. Our appeal for permanent boarders had met with no response, except for a few odd cases which we could not accept. We often thought that God had other designs for us, and so we resigned ourselves and prayed. (With a new class of student nurses a the Wyoming County Community Hospital, more rooms were needed for them.) When Miss Barber (the Director of Nursing) came to inspect the rooms on January 14, we were surprised at her change of attitude. This we attribute to Father Shaw, who had at our request talked to her and dispelled her fears about religious differences and had assured her that she would not have to worry about midnight parties and other violations of rules if her students were living at the convent. Miss Barber was delighted with the lovely rooms . . . (and on January 21 we were informed) that she was planning on sending us fourteen students. Since we were only prepared to accommodate eight students, we had plenty to do during the next few weeks.”
As was true in so many other cases, the sisters rose to the occasion. With lots of hard work and many trips to bring necessary items from Stella Niagara, all was completed in time to welcome the first group of nursing students. The kindergarten, too, began to thrive and an annex was soon built to provide more space for the larger class. Within a few years additional grades were added and by September 1949 St. Michael School was opened in three army surplus buildings. St. Anthony Hall remained the convent for the sisters until 1970 when finances necessitated its sale.
From the chronicle of St. Anthony’s Hall, (St. Michael Parish), Warsaw, NY, and S. Urban Archer’s A History of Holy Name Province . . .