"Located about 15 miles northwest of Dubuque, the parish was established at French Settlement, about two miles from the present site. There French families of the Trois-Rivieres district of Quebec had put down their roots. […] Bishop Mathias Loras…
“State Center was at the end of its run for the Northwestern Railroad in the early 1860s bringing Catholic employees among the first settlers of that Marshall County Town. Among the priests making missionary journeys to State Center were the…
"In 1870 Father Clement Lowery went to visit Stone City from his Cedar Rapids parish. He celebrated Mass, administered baptism, and instructed the children of the French, German, and Irish immigrants, who had been attracted to work in the quarries.…
"Father John J. Quigley, pastor of Elkader from 1867 until after 1880, is the first priest of record to visit the Catholics of the Wadena area. From Elkader Father Quigley traveled thirty miles east on difficult roads to celebrate Mass in the home of…
"As early as 1854 Mass was celebrated in Waterloo by priests who traveled the area to provide pastoral care to the scattered communities of Catholic pioneers. In 1861 trustees of the newly formed Saint Joseph Parish bought two lots on the east side…
"Saint Joseph Parish in Dubuque was formally established by Archbishop Henry P. Rohlman on November 1, 1949, after the archdiocesan consultors had reviewed the area census of Catholics. Msgr. Michael J. Martin was immediately named the founding…
"Saint Jude School opened in September 1962 with 370 students. It was staffed by six Sisters of Charity B.V.M. and five lay teachers. Archbishop James J. Byrne dedicated the church-school to Saint Jude the Apostle on September23. Mary Green, the…