Browse Items (3180 total)

In a stable, Mary in red and white holds a naked baby Jesus. Joseph in blue stands behind her. In front of them kneels a shepherd with a crook, dressed in brown. There is a cow next to the people. The card is on a white, gold, and holly background…

The baby Jesus lays in a straw-bedded manger. Mary, dressed in red and dark blue with a golden head wrap and halo, is either picking him up from the manger or laying him down. Joseph, in deep red and green with a golden halo as well, stands over…

"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 first resident pastor was Father Patrick McMahon, coming to West Union in April 1879. It was he who began sacramental records. He lived with the John Owens family during his one-year pastorate. Father Laurence H. Burns came in May 1880 and…

"While pastor of Parkersburg, Father B. W. Coyle served Shell Rock for nine years, from 1882 to 1891. He led them to build a church in 1891 and dedicated it to the Holy name of Jesus. From Father Coyle’s time, the Holy Name Mission continued to be…

"In 1892 Bishop John Hennessy appointed Father Peter D. O’Malley to form a parish at LaMotte, about four miles from his country parish at Saint Theresa’s. Many area Catholics had poor roads and long distances for attending Bellevue, Otter Creek,…

"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 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…

“When John Plettchette died in 1859, he left six acres on condition that a church be built within two years. When Bishop Clement Smyth did not send a priest on the grounds that there was no church, John Heles and Joseph Friedman assumed leadership…

"Father John Zlebcik formed the Catholics of the Walford area into Holy Trinity Parish and directed them in building their first church. Hand hewn oak beams supported the floor, and the pews were homemade. The church bell was donated by Francis and…