Rare Sister Charlotte Testimony - tortured nun

[ILG]

Having come from a Catholic family and having had an aunt who was a nun, I would really like to know if this is true or not.

[Sister Alvear]

It is true as far as I know...I know people that knew her very close...I think Brother Blume had close connections in some way also...

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by jacko

Charlotte Keckler was a fraud and a professional liar as the following data proves beyond a doubt.

Charlotte Edna Keckler was born Rhoda Edna Cackler April 12th 1898 in Lucas Co. Iowa to her parents William Henry Cackler & Cora Belle Triggs. Her parents married April 18th 1888 in Spencer, Clay, Iowa and they had 9 children, four boys & five girls, Charlotte ( Rhoda) was the fifth in line. Charlotte was named after her paternal grandmother who was Rhoda Charlotte Porter and used her grandmother’s second name for her fictitious name along with a corrupted version of her family name.

The family was definitely not catholic as Charlotte’s grandmother divorced her husband, and Charlotte’s grandfather’s brother also divorced and remarried. Apparently Charlotte’s grandparents on both sides moved to Lucas Co. to settle it. They were of some Protestant denomination, perhaps Lutherans? So all her rant of “I was reared in a devout Roman Catholic home” is completely false. If Charlotte had been reared a catholic she would know perfectly well that the teachings she declares are catholic as regards telling lies and robbing up to $40 are totally false and a medieval invention by Protestant Churches to discredit the Catholic Church.

William, Cora and their first five children (Charlotte aged 2) were living in Doyle Township Hopeville town, Clarke, Iowa on the 1900 census.

By 1910 they had moved to Wolf River, Doniphan, Kansas. The next two children after Charlotte were born in Missouri and the last two were born in Kansas. (Charlotte is age 12 on this census).
On the 1920 census the family is at Hiawatha, Brown, Kansas, and Charlotte is 21. The family name is miss transcribed as Cacler.

In 1925 according to Kansas State census Charlotte is still in Kansas.

The 1930 census finds her parents and her youngest sibling in Sabetha, Nemaha, Kansas.
And Charlotte was in Hiawatha, Brown County, Kansas age 30, should be 32 in 1930! working at a hospital and as a bookkeeper.

So how does this lady manage to be with her parents until 1925 and at the same time declares she had been locked away in a convent since 1910 With difficulty I would think!

According to the 1940 census, Charlotte was living in Moline, Rock Island, Illinois in 1935.

The following is the information on her 1940 census record and her name is Rhoda C. Keckler, this is the first reference to having changed her surname.
She was lodging and lived at 19th Street, Moline, Rock Island, Illinois
High school 4th year, nurse, age 34, (42 would be correct) why did she lie about her age?

Her Uncle John Cackler lived in Moline ward 4, Rock Island, Ill. On the 1920 & 1930 census. This town was 400 miles from Sabetha, Nemaha, where Charlotte's’ father lived.

When her eldest brother died in 1975 Charlotte was named as Miss Rhoda Kackler and was in Napa California. He was a member of the Christian Church.

It is clear from all this data that Charlotte never left the USA for any length of time and was never locked away in a convent.

This guy claims “I helped publish the book Charlotte wrote, FROM CONVENT TO PENTECOST. She was in a convent in Quebec, Canada. Charlotte WAS a Carmelite nun. She would not say it was in Canada during her testimony. But it was.”
Sorry to say the first Carmelite convent in Quebec, Canada was founded from USA in 1877 and only lasted until 1877 due to lack of numbers and revenue. The sisters returned to USA. The second attempt was made in 1951 and was a success, so that couldn't be true!

Where are you getting this info?

[KeptByTheWord]

The Catholic church put out all kind of information to try to say this never happened. Without seeing the actual census records, there is no way to know for sure, if this guy has any credible information or not.

[jacko]

All this research is my own and if anyone should wish to verify it all they have to do is go on the family research sites such as ancestry and family search and look up the census records mentioned in my post.

What in my post makes you presume I'm a catholic and trying to cover up for the Catholic church?

In fact I believe absolutely in honesty in the media and if a story just doesn't ring true, independent to what human society it belong to, in honour of honesty it should be thoroughly investigated, don't you think so?

I would be very happy to hear on this forum from anyone who can prove my research wrong, I would have no problem whatsoever in stepping down and admitting I was wrong. Thank you.

[Sister Alvear]

I would say contact pastor blume

[aegsm76]

Originally Posted by jacko

All this research is my own and if anyone should wish to verify it all they have to do is go on the family research sites such as ancestry and family search and look up the census records mentioned in my post.

What in my post makes you presume I'm a catholic and trying to cover up for the Catholic church?

In fact I believe absolutely in honesty in the media and if a story just doesn't ring true, independent to what human society it belong to, in honour of honesty it should be thoroughly investigated, don't you think so?

I would be very happy to hear on this forum from anyone who can prove my research wrong, I would have no problem whatsoever in stepping down and admitting I was wrong. Thank you.

Can you post your links where you found this info?

[Disciple4life]

Wow!!! I tried to listen to the video but the audio was too bad. So I found this on youtube and it is much better audio quality.
I listened for about an hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_4ZytFF-NM

[jacko]

From familysearch.org

Parent's marriage

Wm. H. Cackler, "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934"
Name: Wm. H. Cackler
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 18 Apr 1888
Event Place: Spencer, Clay, Iowa, United States
Age:
Birth Year (Estimated):
Birthplace:
Father's Name:
Father's Titles and Terms:
Mother's Name:
Mother's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Name: Cora Belle Triggs

Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated):
Spouse's Birthplace:
Spouse's Father's Name:
Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Mother's Name:
Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms:
Reference ID: item 1 p 165
GS Film Number: 1435879

Digital Folder Number: 004312787

1900 Census
William Cackler, "United States Census, 1900"
Name: William Cackler
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1900
Event Place: Doyle Township Hopeville town, Clarke, Iowa, United States
District: 29
Gender: Male
Age: 33
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Race (Original): W
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head
Number of Living Children:
Years Married: 12
Birth Date: Jan 1867
Birthplace: Iowa
Marriage Year (Estimated): 1888
Immigration Year:
Father's Birthplace: Illinois
Mother's Birthplace: Pennsylvania
Mother of how many children:
Sheet Number and Letter: 5B
Household ID: 109
Line Number: 58
Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number: T623
GS Film Number: 1240424

Digital Folder Number: 004120102

Image Number: 00260
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head William Cackler M 33 Iowa
Wife Cora B Cackler
F 33 Iowa
Son Clarence Cackler
M 13 Iowa
Son Clinton Cackler
M 10 Iowa
Daughter Liddie Cackler
F 7 Iowa
Son Wayne Cackler
M 5 Iowa
Daughter Endna Cackler (Charlotte)
F 2 Iowa

Endna Cackler in household of William Cackler, "United States Census, 1900"
Name: Endna Cackler
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1900
Event Place: Doyle Township Hopeville town, Clarke, Iowa, United States
District: 29
Gender: Female
Age: 2
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): W
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Number of Living Children:
Years Married:
Birth Date: Apr 1898
Birthplace: Iowa

1910 census
Rhodie Cackler in household of William Cackler, "United States Census, 1910"
Name: Rhodie Cackler
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1910
Event Place: Wolf River, Doniphan, Kansas, United States
District: 47
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Birth Year (Estimated): 1898
Birthplace: Iowa
Immigration Year:
Father's Birthplace: Iowa
Mother's Birthplace: Iowa
Sheet Number and Letter: 3B
Household ID: 70
Line Number:
Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number: M1283
GS Film number: 1374450

Digital Folder Number: 004328332

Image Number: 00896
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head William Cackler
M 45 Iowa
Wife Cora Belle Cackler
F 44 Iowa
Son Clinton Henry Cackler
M 18 Iowa
Daughter Lydia Ellen Cackler
F 16 Iowa
Son Wayne Raymond Cackler
M 14 Iowa
Daughter Rhodie Cackler F 12 Iowa

1920 Census

Rhoda Cacler in household of Wm Cacler, "United States Census, 1920"
Name: Rhoda Cacler (Charlotte)
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1920
Event Place: Hiawatha, Brown, Kansas, United States
District: 22
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Can Read:
Can Write:
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
Own or Rent:
Birth Year (Estimated): 1899
Birthplace: Iowa
Immigration Year:
Father's Birthplace: Iowa
Mother's Birthplace: Iowa
Sheet Number and Letter: 4A
Household ID: 97
Line Number: 43
Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number: T625
GS Film number: 1820525

Digital Folder Number: 004300842

Image Number: 00581
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Wm Cacler
M 51 Iowa
Wife Cora Cacler
F 50 Iowa
Daughter Rhoda Cacler F 21 Iowa
Daughter Bessie Cacler
F 20 Iowa
Daughter Elva Cacler
F 17 Missouri
Daughter Lena Cacler
F 14 Kansas
Son Chester Cacler
M 8 Kansas

From ancestry
1Rhoda C. Keckler 1940 Census C Keckler
Name: Rhoda C Keckler
Age: 34
Estimated birth year: abt 1906
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthplace: Kansas
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Lodger
Home in 1940: Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois
Map of Home in 1940: View Map

Street: 19th Street
Inferred Residence in 1935: Moline, Illinois
Residence in 1935: Moline, Illinois
Resident on farm in 1935: No
Sheet Number: 10B
Occupation: Nurse
Attended School or College: No
Highest Grade Completed: High School, 4th year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 50
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 52
Income: 400
Income Other Sources: No
Neighbors: View others on page

Household Members: Name Age
Minnie C Kieley
75
Rhoda C Keckler
34
Emmett L Hartley
33
Robert F Brown
37


More of this another day as I didn´t copy all the records to my pc just took notes so will have to look for them again.

[jacko]

This is taken from Charlotte's account,

“As the years dragged by I learned to use a hammer, saw, shovel and anything else a man normally does. We worked very hard, performing heavy manual labor, digging out underground rooms and tunnels, building walls, plastering, etc. Often we were two, three or four miles back in the tunnels. Sometimes we wondered if we even had voices because of the strict rule of silence, and would speak in whispers to each other. The very next morning Mother Superior would call the offenders out and say, "You are going to do penance." We wondered how she could have heard us. One day we learned that all thirty-five miles of tunnel under the convent were wired so she could hear every whisper.”

This passage (along some others that will be mentioned in due course) in Charlotte’s story is what really got under my skin and set off all the alarms that this story can´t be true and gave me the motivation to investigate her whole story. Can someone please explain how on earth young girls and women with presumable a very limited education would have the know-how to dig out and build tunnels for miles underground, without them caving in and provide them with ventilation and on top of that bug the whole place, something that wasn’t invented until 1941? And nothing less than Thirty-five miles, a feat that not even the best engineers in the world would have been able to accomplish without all their studies and equipment! Besides, lets presume the convent would have at most an acre or two of land, keep in mind, one square mile = 640 acres (260ha) for what purpose would they want or need 35 miles?
This is so far-fetched one would have to be pretty crazy to swallow this fat fish!