Theodore James Ryken
...e sacristan for the Salford Cathedral. He arrived to Louisville in 1855 for similar duties. In 1858, the two German Brothers had to make a choice. They could accept the Bishop’s persuasions to return to Europe and continue working for the Xaverian Brothers or help the students in the locate area receive a decent education by teaching school. They decided to teach school, so the Bishop evicted them from the Brothers House at St. Patrick’s. They moved into classrooms at St. Mary’s ( Immaculate Conception ) shortly after. While there, the two brothers decided that Stephen was going to teach the 125 students in the lower classes while Francis taught the 85 students in the upper grades. Throughout the course of their time at the school, they hired a long line of underpaid lay teachers to assist them in teaching the students. They were the only Brothers in Louisville until 1860. In 1860, Ryken’s successor Vincent Terhoeven reached an agreement with bishop Spalding and sent eight more brothers to help with the school. The community eventually grew to 53 Brothers, mostly Americans who taught many of the students attending the Louisville grammar school and the newly opened St. Xavier College. Throughout the following years, the Brothers started many more scho...