Founded in 1857 under the direction of Father Herman Kessler at Gurtweil, Germany, to care for destitute children and to train religious teachers. Schools and academies were subsequently opened and in 1870 a number of the sisters came to America and were established in what was then the Diocese of Alton, Illinois and later in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. From the Alton community the O'Fallon and Ruma branches were founded. The sisters have 10 houses, including schools and one home for the aged in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis and the dioceses of Harrisburg and Fort Wayne. The mother-house is at Columbia, Pennsylvania.