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"The 1850s brought to Iowa some priests willing to ride from one settlement to another to provide pastoral care for the Catholic pioneers. Among them was a Czech Redemptorist missionary, Father Francis Kroutil, who spent himself visiting the…

"Father F. Kenny was pastor of Sabula and caring for the Preston Catholics, when Bishop John J. Hennessy appointed him resident pastor of Preston and in charge of the Sabula parish as well. He was the first to celebrate Mass in the area, first in the…

"Father John Nemmers, their Gilbertville pastor, celebrated the first Mass in the new church in the summer of 1906. It was probably on July 4, as the first recorded baptism took place after Mass on that date. The church was probably named and…

History of the St. Joseph church and parish in Rhodes, Iowa.

"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…

History of the St. Joseph church and parish in Stark Settlement, Iowa.

“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…