Request & Response

Timothy Murphy, born in Ireland in 1800, was a San Rafael pioneer and generous donor to the Catholic Church. In his Will he left a three-hundred–acre lot (the Las Gallinas rancho granted to Timothy Murphy in 1844) in San Rafael to Archbishop Alemany to be used as a school, stipulating that it commence within two years of his death.  Timothy Murphy died in January of 1853, so there was an urgency for the school to begin in January of 1855. Archbishop Alemany asked Sister Frances McEnnis, Sister Servant (Sister-in-charge) of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum & Free School in San Francisco, to establish a school on Timothy Murphy’s property in San Rafael, commencing in January of 1855 as stipulated in the Will.  

Sister Frances McEnnis responded to Archbishop Alemany’s request by consulting with Superiors in Emmitsburg.  And thinking she had their permission to establish the school in San Rafael, she sent Sister Corsina McKay there on January 7th of 1855. This secured the property in Las Gallinas to the Archdiocese as stipulated in the Will of Timothy Murphy. Unfortunately, Sister Frances misunderstood;she did not have permission to establish the school and her Superiors were not pleased.

Arrival & Early Days

Sister Corsina McKay, two lay women and four orphans traveled by boat across the Golden Gate Strait to Las Gallinas in San Rafael. A few days later, Sister established St. Vincent’s Seminary, a school for children in the neighboring areas (presumably in a wooden building already constructed there).

St. Vincent’s Seminary became a school for children from the neighboring areas of San Rafael; some were likely boarders. Then orphans from the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum in San Francisco joined the number of students attending the school; now, it was an orphanage and school. The Sisters served at St. Vincent’s Seminary in Las Gallinas for less than a year. Sister Corsina and company departed the first week of September, again traveling by boat across the Golden Gate Strait to San Francisco.

Sister Frances McEnnis as Sister Servant of the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum & Free School was also the Sister-in-charge of St. Vincent’s Seminary in Las Gallinas. She wrote three letters to Father Burlando to inform him about the affairs of the orphanage and school. In addition, Sisters wrote in the Annals about St. Vincent’s Seminary.

Sister Frances McEnnis chose Sister Corsina McKay (age forty-four) to establish the school in San Rafael to meet the requirements of the Will of Timothy Murphy.  Sister Corsina served in the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum & Free School until 1855. In 1856 she journeyed to Los Angeles where she was one of the original Sisters who established the orphanage and school.  Six years later, she was missioned to Santa Cruz (as Sister Servant) to establish the orphanage and school there in 1862.  After nearly twenty years in California, she was missioned back to Emmitsburg where she died on September 22, 1888.  She was the last of the five original San Francisco Sisters to die.  

Over the Years

Although the Daughters of Charity served in San Rafael briefly, they were the founders of an establishment that continues to the present time under Archdiocesan sponsorship.  The Dominican Sisters and Christian Brothers carried on the work through the years. This establishment is known today as St. Vincent’s School for Boys on St. Vincent Drive in San Rafael. Sister Frances misunderstood her Superiors response to the request to establish a school in San Rafael. However, this misunderstanding and the establishment of the St. Vincent’s Seminary in Las Gallinas in 1855 secured the property for the Archdiocese, allowing the boys’ orphanage to commence in 1855 after the Sisters’ departure and to continue to the present time.