My great-grandmother (Sophia Messersmith) put her three sons into the Catholic Orphanage in LaCrosse (St. Michaels) and, according to family tradition, her daughter was placed in a girls orphange in the Tomah/Sparta area. I could find a reference to this orphanage in the library in LaCrosse, but have no further information. Any suggestions on how to find out more about this girls "asylum"??

Variations on this surname used by the family are Schmidt and Smith