Ohio Historical Marker: New Riegel Parish and Convent

St. Boniface Catholic Church began in 1834 as a mission of several area churches and in 1836, the parish built its first church. In 1844 Bishop John Purcell commissioned Swiss born, Father Francis de Sales Brunner, a Missionary of the Precious Blood, to take pastoral charge of St. Boniface. Under the leadership of Father Brunner, the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, established in Italy in 1815, and the Sisters of the Precious Blood, founded in Switzerland in 1834, began ministry here in New Riegel (Wolfscreek) in 1844. Over two hundred acres of land were purchased for the priests, brothers, and sisters. The Missionaries brought spiritual support, farm labor, and education to the German immigrants of New Riegel. The sisters began their ministry of prayer in the convent, Mary at the Crib, on December 22, 1844. 

A school was opened in the Sisters of the Precious Blood convent where both orphan children and boarding girls received a Christian education. The orphanage closed in 1912 and later the sisters taught in the New Riegel Public School until 1976. A Cloister was established in the convent for Sisters of the Precious Blood in 1954 and closed in 1979. Responding to the needs of the time the Sisters initiated the sale of the convent and property in 1979. In 2001 fire destroyed the former convent. In 2003 the Missionaries of the Precious Blood returned the pastoral care of the parish to the Diocese of Toledo. In July 2005 St. Boniface Parish along with St. Peter, Alvada, and St. Nicholas, Frenchtown, formed a new parish called All Saints. New Riegel is considered to be the "Cradle of the Community" in America for the Missionaries and Sisters of the Precious Blood.