On July 21, 1845, eleven Ursuline sisters from Boulogne-sur-Mer and Beaulieu, France, arrived in St. Martin, Brown County, Ohio. Invited by Cincinnati Archbishop John Baptist Purcell and granted approximately 400 acres there to establish a school in the diocese, the Catholic order, known for providing quality education to young women, was led by Mother Julia Chatfield. The sisters quickly founded their convent and a day school and, within a year, admitted their first boarders. Originally called The Saint Ursula Literary Institute, the school operated for the next 136 years and educated local students as well as many boarders from across the U.S. and abroad. Between 1845 and 1981, the Brown County Ursulines taught 4.262 students from the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths. An 1858 prospectus declared the school's aim was to form young ladies to virtue, ornament their minds with useful information, and cultivate qualities that made virtue attractive in family and society. That vision expanded in 1974 to include young men. In 1958, the Ursuline Teacher Training Institute was established to prepare novitiates for careers in education, and in 1971 it incorporated as Chatfield College, offering two-year Associate of Arts degrees to the wider public. Chatfield College continues that legacy with a modern mission rooted in faith, community, and collaboration.