The Missionaries of the Precious Blood, established in Italy in 1815, and the Sisters of the Precious Blood, established in Switzerland in 1834, began their American ministry in 1844 in Peru, Ohio. In 1845 Swiss born Father Francis de Sales Brunner, a Missionary of the Precious Blood, bought 80 acres of land near St. Michael's Church in Thompson Township in Seneca County. This Mission Center cared for the spiritual needs of immigrants in Huron, Seneca, Crawford and Richland Counties. A brick house and chapel were erected and dedicated to St. Aloysius as a retreat house for priests and brothers and a seminary for students. On December 6, 1845 twenty-eight Sisters began perpetual adoration in a newly built convent dedicated to Mary of the Angels. In addition to the ministry of prayer, the Sisters directed an orphanage, taught in the local school, worked in the fields and garden, and provided housing and meals in the convent/Pilgrim House for visitors who came to the nearby Sorrowful Mother Shrine. Later, this Thompson Convent and Mission were referred to as Frank and then as Marywood. Due to changing needs and growth in other areas, the retreat house for priests and brothers and the seminary were closed. In 1951, the Sisters also responded to changing needs by selling their convent and surrounding property. The Sisters, Brothers, and Priests of the Precious Blood dedicated their lives in service to the Church and to the needs of the immigrant people who settled in north-central Ohio.