Browse Items (254 total)

“Saint Donatus Parish is the only parish in the United States named for this heavenly protector against storms. Soon after the Iowa Territory was opened to settlement in 1833, pioneers from Luxembourg in Europe took up residence on the fertile hills…

“In its 110 years, Saint Wenceslaus Parish in Duncan, located in Hancock County, has only had ten pastors. Before the first church was built in 1900, the people attended Mass in Garner or were visited by traveling priests, who celebrated Mass in…

“The mission was raised in the status of a parish in 1858, and Father Andrew Trevis was appointed the first pastor in addition to his duties as seminary president. He was soon followed by Father Patrick McCabe as the first permanent pastor. In 1870…

“In 1902 the Catholics were numerous enough to buy the vacant Methodist Church in Little Turkey for $500 and Fathers John Broz and Peter Kloss blessed it. Father Joseph Dostal, pastor of Spillville and brother to the two Dostal founders, celebrated…

“Newhall’s Saint Paul Parish began with Father Alfred P. Meyer’s letter to Archbishop James J. Keane asking permission to start a parish. There had been two parishes in the neighboring town of Norway. One of them began as a Czech parish, with the…

“The first Catholic church in Story County was built in Nevada in 1870 under the direction of Father Delaney and that year dedicated to Saint Patrick. At some time afterwards Father Patrick Smith lived in Nevada for several months, but not as an…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Patrick parish in Monona, Iowa.

“The first Catholics in Norway area were of Czech heritage, and the first priests came to minister to them in their own language. Father Anthony D. Urban visited them while pastor of Spillville and celebrated the first Mass in the area in 1865 in the…

“The Catholics of Nashua in Chickasaw County bought property and built a church in 1868. Before that, Mass was celebrated in the homes of the O’Donnells and the Doughertys. After forty years as a mission, the parish received its first resident pastor…

“Father Richard Nagle, living in a farm house near Monona and serving a wide area, saw to the building of the first Catholic Church in the town in the 1860s. About the same time, James McGregor gave the Catholic parish a parcel of land at the head of…