St. Mary (Cascade, Iowa)

St. Mary (Cascade, Iowa)

"Saint Mary Parish was established in 1857 with the appointment of Father John Baumgartner to care for the German speaking Catholics who had been members of Saint Martin Parish in Cascade along with their Irish neighbors. They began the construction of a stone church, where Mass was offered for the first time on Christmas 1859. It stood for over a century, but was used for other purposes when another church was built in 1884. After Father Baumgartner's death in 1875, Father John Baumann was appointed pastor of Worthington and Saint Mary's to serve the German speaking people of the two Dubuque county towns ten miles apart. Language and ancestry was a divisive factor in the Cascade community for many decades. It delayed the merging of the schools years after the needs of the German speaking population ceased."

- Rev. Edgar Kurt, The Witness, Parish Profile #33, n.d.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque.
The Center for Dubuque History at Loras College.

Loras College
Kucera Center for Catholic Thought
Frank and Ida Goedken Series: "Spiritual Life in the Upper Mississippi River Valley"

Burback, Emily. Burns, Daniel. Gibson, Michael. Oberfoell, Carol. Waldmeir, Helen. Waldmeir, John.

English.

Various primary and secondary sources.

1857-mid 1990s
History of the parish over the span of about 140 years, including information about its priests and parishioners.

CLOSING/MERGER (9 documents)
CORRESPONDENCES (5 documents)
MASS PROGRAMS (3 documents)
PARISH HISTORY (11 documents)
VOCATIONS (2 documents)

Unknown author. “Cascade: Home for Vocations.” Copied from The Witness, 7 March 1957 edition. The Witness, 14 January 1971.

Unknown author. “DEDICATED TO THE GLORY OF EDUCATION. St. Mary’s New School Formally Established by a Beautiful and Impressive Ceremony.” Cascade Pioneer, morning 19 April 1895.

Unknown author. “Saint Mary Parish, Cascade.” List of priests. Circa 1991.