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"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…

"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…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Matthias parish in Cascade, Iowa.

"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…

“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…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Mary parish in Eladora, Iowa.

“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…

“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…

“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,…

"The second parish in Waterloo Catholic history is Saint Mary’s, which began with the appointment of a pastor in 1898. “The German Catholic Saint Mary’s Building Association” was formed in 1894 to work toward a German parish. The German…