Browse Items (254 total)

“Several Brannon families came from Ohio in 1852 and were followed by their friends in later years. They built a stone church dedicated to Saint Rose, which was supplanted by a larger frame church in 1877. When lightning struck the church in 1881,…

“In 1854 the Waverly area settlers gathered for the first Mass in Bremer County. A few years later Bishop Mathias Loras bought a block of property from Frederick Cretzmeyer in 1855. It became the site of the first church and came to be known as…

“While resident pastor of Ackley from 1870 to 1881, Father Peter O’Dowd covered at least five counties in his missionary work among the scattered Catholic settlers. After visiting the Williams area in Hamilton County to celebrate Mass in their…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Mary parish in Eladora, Iowa.

“Eight men organized Eagle Township in Black Hawk County in 1858. At least three of them are buried in the Eagle Center parish cemetery. A majority of the first settlers were Catholic. The first church was built on five acres of high ground, but…

"Saint Matthew Parish began in August 1922 when Archbishop James J. Keane sent Father DanielP. Mulcahy from Vinton to Cedar Rapids. He had no church and only a few parishioners. In 1926 a combination brick church-school-rectory was completed and…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Matthias parish in Cascade, Iowa.

"On April 8, 1928, Father Joseph F. Wiehl and three members of his parish in Chester drove through muddy roads to nearby McIntire in the northeast corner of Mitchell County. There he celebrated the Easter Mass with more than one hundred faithful of…

"The advent of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad with its shops attracted some to Belle Plaine, and the fertile farm land brought others to the area. As more Catholics arrived, Sunday Mass outgrew private homes and the public school was used until…

“The Catholics of Nashua in Chickasaw County bought property and built a church in 1868. Before that, Mass was celebrated in the homes of the O’Donnells and the Doughertys. After forty years as a mission, the parish received its first resident…