Saint John's Abbey Church in Collegeville, Minnesota, a tall concrete banner wall with a bell frame and a honeycomb window wall behind a wide stair

Saint John’s University – Collegeville, MN: The Great Hall Monk and the Real Deaths Behind the Legends

Midwestern US Haunted Schools

Saint John’s University is a Benedictine school in Collegeville, Minnesota, and its archive has traced the campus ghost stories to the real events behind them. It also records that the best known one was made up by a professor in 1966. The sister College of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph shares that archive and a legend of its own. This guide separates the documented from the folklore.

What the record says

Three real deaths from the 1800s sit behind most of the stories. The archivist’s 2023 talk (PDF) lays them out.

  • Brother Leo Martin, 1880. A 24-year-old monk and expert carpenter died when a plank slipped as he removed boards on scaffolding, dropping him 50 feet, while the first abbey church, now the Great Hall, was being built.
  • Max Schmoeger, 1870. A European student who hoped to become a priest died on January 1, 1870, at age 22. Years later, according to Alexius Hoffmann’s history, his aged mother asked that a flower or some dust from his grave be sent to her.
  • Father Anselm Bartholmy, 1890. On July 3, 1890, the young monk and a student, Felix Nelles, were carrying sod across Lake Sagatagan to landscape the grounds around the first Stella Maris Chapel. The boat leaked and sank under the wet sod. Anselm was hampered by his habit and drowned. The archivist summarizes a 2006 Abbey Banner article.

The archive’s Stella Maris page says the first chapel was built in 1872 and burned on April 17, 1903. The present chapel held its first Mass on June 11, 1918.

The legends

The Great Hall monk. As told, a young monk fell from a scaffold. His grieving mother demanded answers from the abbot, was refused, and returned at the dedication, where she was ejected and cursed him. She drowned when her buggy overturned in a lake. Afterward came wet footprints, or a crack in the floor.

The Stella Maris bell. A monk rowing the chapel bell across the lake on a foggy night stood up, his cassock caught on the bell, and both sank. Trail walkers are said to hear a bell or splashing.

The bear. A student walking by the lake meets a bleeding young man chased by the sounds of a huge animal.

Other tales. A blue light in a Quad tower, a helpful monk who vanishes in the Alcuin Library basement and a student ghost at Frank House also appear in the archive’s list.

Saint Benedict’s “Steve.” The Newsleaders reported in 2017 that the Benedicta Arts Center is rumored to hold the spirit of a man named Steve who died during construction. It also summarized a 1999 report of a security officer hearing footsteps.

What the record does not support

  • The monk’s mother, the curse, the footprints and the crack. The archive says they have no particular basis in fact. Father Hilary Thimmesh, an English professor, admitted he made up the story in 1966 and told it to students. Folklorist Helen Gilbert studied how it spread. The Record of November 22, 1968 printed a version and promised “facts behind the fantasy” the next issue, which the archive says never appeared.
  • A bell. The 1890 drowning involved sod, and no bell has ever hung in the chapel. The 1890 chapel also burned in 1903, so the story is not about the one visitors see today.
  • The bear’s ghost. The real episode is a 1860s tragedy involving a pet bear and a nine-year-old boy, not a college student. The archive says his parents took him back to St. Paul.
  • A caged monk in the tower. The archive, citing the Record in 2012, says the blue light came from weather-station equipment once on top of the tower.
  • Luke Andrews of Frank House. The legend involves a student’s suicide. The archivist found no record of a student with that name ever attending, or of such a death. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
  • A haunted Benedicta Arts Center. The article’s only source for Steve is a website listing, and the fine arts programming director called it “just a rumor.”

Visiting

Saint John’s is a working university, abbey and school, and campus buildings are not open to the public except where stated. The Abbey Church is open daily from before morning prayer until about 10 p.m., according to the Abbey’s visit page, and visitors may tour on their own except during Masses, prayer services and events. Groups of six or more can request a guided tour from a monk at least two weeks ahead. Residence halls and monastic quarters are private.

The Stella Maris Chapel Trail is open to the public, runs 3 miles round trip from the lake beach, and allows no dogs or bikes. The Benedicta Arts Center is a performance venue, so shows go through the CSB+SJU box office.

FAQ

Is the Great Hall ghost story true?

No. The archive says Father Thimmesh admitted inventing it in 1966, though Brother Leo Martin did die in a fall in 1880.

Was a bell lost in Lake Sagatagan?

Not according to the archive. Anselm Bartholmy drowned in 1890 carrying sod.

Can visitors walk to Stella Maris Chapel?

Yes. The trail is open to the public, though the Sacred Spaces page calls it a two-mile hike, so check the map.

More haunted schools in Minnesota

Read about the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona and Concordia College in Moorhead, or use the campus ghost walk guide.

Sources

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Top image: Saint John’s Abbey Church, Collegeville, Minnesota, May 2023. Photo: Lorie Shaull, CC BY 2.0, cropped, via Wikimedia Commons