Browse Items (254 total)

"In the southwest corner of Jackson County, between Maquoketa and Wyoming, the town of Fremont was platted in the center of Monmouth Township in 1859. Five years later, on May 5, 1864, Joseph J. Kopsa called a meeting of the area Catholics. He gave…

"The oldest Catholic parish in Howard County began with four families from Canada with the family names of Christmas, Hannigan, Ryan and Welsh. At first priests from Prairie du Chien came to serve them, but in 1853 Father Clement Lowery from Decorah…

"Saint Anthony’s was a school for several years before it was a parish. As a parish it was dedicated first to Saint Malachi, then to Saint Aiden in 1880. Later to Saint Ambrose and still later to Saint Anthony. The parish had its beginning when…

"The first settlers in Bluffton Township, Winneshiek County, arrived in 1851. The Catholics among them were the families of Michael Gelice, Terrence McDonnell, Charles McLaughlin, and Barney Sutton. Before any church could be built visiting…

"The second half of the nineteenth century saw many immigrants come to Iowa from the Slavic areas of Europe. A large portion of them settled in Cedar Rapids and along the rail lines extending from Cedar Rapids to Marshalltown. Czechs built the first…

"When Saint Columbkille Parish was officially erected on May 24, 1997, the newly appointed pastor Father John R. Fogarty did not have to look for parishioners and buildings. The residents of West Hill welcomed Bishop John J. Hennessy’s decree…

"Before any Catholic church was built in Dumont, priests from neighboring parishes ministered to the Catholics of the area. Four Ackley pastors are especially remembered, Father Peter O’Dowd, D. H. Murphy, Lawrence H. Burns, and Michael A. Meagher.…

"As the “north end” of Dubuque grew during the 1880s, Archbishop John Hennessy found it necessary to establish Sacred Heart Parish. Continued growth in that area inspired the Archbishop to found another parish, Holy Ghost, on Central Avenue. Holy…

"The German families in Dubuque asked Bishop Loras for permission to form a parish and built a small stone church at 8th and White Streets in 1851. Although named Holy Trinity, it was replaced in 1867 by the present Saint Mary Church at 15th and…

"Father Bernard W. Coyle of Waverly is reputed to have celebrated the first Mass in the Allison community in the 1880s. He continued to care for the Catholics there on his many journeys. The further accounts of the parish’s beginning are confusing.…