Browse Items (254 total)

“Readers need to remember that St. Anthony is the name of a town in Marshall County east of Zearing. St. Anthony is named for two men, Saint and Anthony. The Catholic church in St. Anthony is named for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. While Father Dennis…

“German Catholic settlers moved into western Dubuque County in the 1860s and some made their homes in the town of Worthington. Many went to Dyersville for Mass and the sacraments, and fewer went to Saint Martin’s in Cascade, where instructions were…

“Settlement of Winthrop and the surrounding area began with the coming of the Illinois Central Railroad in 1868. Most Catholic immigrants were Irish. Some came as laborers on the railroad, staying to make a permanent home. Others came to farm the…

“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 homes…

“Immaculate Conception Parish owes its origin to Father Thomas Hore, a native of the parish of Our Lady’s Island in County Wexford, Ireland. His life would be good material for an interesting saga. Father Hore, born in 1796, completed his theological…

“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…

“During the three-year pastorate of Father Michael Daly, a new parish site was purchased near the center of the city at 1010 Des Moines Street, and Father Thomas J. O’Brien supervised the building of the present brick church dedicated to Saint Thomas…

“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…

“Father Clement Lowery was assigned to northern Iowa and southern Minnesota in 1863. While he lived with James and Mary McDevitt in Waukon, he celebrated Mass in their home until 1864. During that year he purchased four lots and a house from the…

“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,…