Mother Julia Chatfield, O.S.U. (1809-1878)

Born in London, Julia Chatfield was raised an Anglican but attended an Ursuline boarding school in northern France to complete her education. She converted to Catholicism, which caused a permanent break with her family. She entered the Ursuline order in 1834 and took her final vows in 1837. Later, she decided to become a missionary to the United States, and in 1845, she led eleven Ursuline sisters to Ohio. A group of eleven sisters led by Julia Chatfield settled in Brown County in 1845. Originally from an Ursuline Convent in northern France, the nuns came to Ohio at the request of Bishop John Baptist Purcell. The sisters chartered their school in 1846 as the St. Ursula Literary Institute. The Ursulines had a reputation as excellent educators and girls came from all over the United States to attend the academy. Subjects taught at the school included English, French, music, fine arts, modern languages, physics, and natural history. The community became known as the Ursulines of Brown County. In 1971 Chatfield College was opened.
(From the Ursulines of Brown County website)