"The first settlers in Bluffton Township, Winneshiek County, arrived in 1851. The Catholics among them were the families of Michael Gelice, Terrence McDonnell, Charles McLaughlin, and Barney Sutton. Before any church could be built visiting…
"Saint Anthony’s was a school for several years before it was a parish. As a parish it was dedicated first to Saint Malachi, then to Saint Aiden in 1880. Later to Saint Ambrose and still later to Saint Anthony. The parish had its beginning when…
"The oldest Catholic parish in Howard County began with four families from Canada with the family names of Christmas, Hannigan, Ryan and Welsh. At first priests from Prairie du Chien came to serve them, but in 1853 Father Clement Lowery from Decorah…
"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…