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“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…

“The first Catholics came to the county in the 1850s and their number increased as the Civil War veterans came west to claim government land. They were visited by Father William Edmonds of Iowa City and Father Clement Lowry of Cedar Rapids. Father…

“When Father John J. Hanley became pastor in 1887, he saw to the building of a three-story frame school and convent, which was known as Saint Xavier’s for many years. Cedar Rapids Sisters of Mercy staffed the school until 1940; then the Dubuque…

"Landolm Haas, a veteran of the Mexican War, was the first settler in Saint Mary Parish, arriving in 1851 to take advantage of choice land at a low price. Father David Slattery was the first resident pastor and began the parish records. He came in…

"Father Thomas J. Murtagh came from Masonville and Father Patrick S. O’Connor from Oelwein to celebrate mass for the Catholics of the area in the 1890s. They were of Czech, German, and Irish ancestry. In 1895 Father O’Connor brought together the…

"Saint Mary’s of Hanover and Saint Mary’s of Dorchester in Allamakee County have been joined by only eight miles of road, and they had a common pastor until 1915. In the beginning the pastor of Lansing, Father William Jacoby, celebrated Mass in a…

"Saint Mary Parish began with the French Catholics who settled in Clayton County as early as 1833, and missionary priests celebrated Mass and the sacraments whenever they came to the village. The first German families arrived in 1845. Guttenberg…

"When Greene began to thrive in the 1870s because of the railroads, the Catholic settlers were no longer satisfied with Mass in homes or halls and traveling four miles to Saint Mary’s in Coldwater. They were eager for a church of their own. In 1878 a…

Historical documents pertaining to the history of Saint Mary Parish in Goodell, Iowa.

"Saint Mary Parish came into being in response to the petition of German families to Bishop Loras in 1819 for permission to establish a parish to provide for the German speaking Catholics of Dubuque. The first church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity,…