The Early Days of St. Rose
Just one mile north of Cuba City, there existed a community and a Catholic Church, both named St. Rose, which were established decades before Cuba City was founded.
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| The community of St. Rose, located in Smelser township at what is now the intersection of Highway 80 and St. Rose Road. The St. Rose Catholic Church and Cemetery is visible just west of the intersection and the railroad. From the Atlas of Grant County, Wisconsin, Warner & Foote, 1877. (Digitized by the Wisconsin Historical Society.) |
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| A closer look at St. Rose from the same 1877 atlas. When the railroad's plans to travel through St. Rose became known, land was set aside and multiple lots (visible here) were laid out. Most went unsold. |
The below history of St. Rose was published in 1979 as a three-part serial in the bulletins of the St. Rose Catholic Parish. A few annotations and links have been added to provide more information, when possible. Thank you to Rachel Butts for sharing this unique piece of history!
ST. ROSE HISTORY, 1852
(An unpublished account of the beginnings of St. Rose Parish as given by Eddie Doyle to Florence Kilkelly in the 1950's) [1]
I lived with my grandparents, the Kilbrides, in a small cottage just west of the present cemetery. The first church was made of red brick which is now located on the corner as you turn off Hywy 80 onto the cemetery road. Mike and Ellen Kilbride donated ten acres of land for the church, but after a squabble they took back eight acres. Before the church was built, Mass was said in the houses using dressers or tables for altars.
The reason for two Catholic churches being built in a small community was that the Germans and the Irish or other nationalities couldn't get along. So each built their own. The cemetery was usually always just behind the church because it was a custom to visit the graves after each Mass.
When the little red brick church became too small, the white clapboard church, which has been hauled to Benton to be reconstructed (in 1974 it toppled) was built. [2] While in the cemetery white church was only 10 to 12 feet from the front gate. This has an iron fence around it. It had just a main altar. A Mr. Byrnes, a contractor from Dubuque, drove over with a big sorrel draft horse team. He had a number of teams and low slung wagons for hauling. He hauled the rock for the new church from a quarry on the old Faherty farm operated by Ed McComish. Mike Kilbride and Henry Byrnes shingled the wooden church free of charge. Shingles were bought in Galena. For heat they had one tall cast-iron stove in the main part of the church and a smaller stove in each of the side rooms. A confessional and wardrobe was in a side room and priest and altar boys were in the other. Mary Ann Kilbride took care of the linens, sang and played the organ.
Mrs. Will (Carrie) Faherty organized the choir and was a leader for 40 years. Elizabeth O'Neill (Ed and Jane's mother) was also a leader and singer for years. She sang so beautifully she could have been on stage.
Candles were used for lighting at first, then kerosene lamps. Mike Kilbride taught catechism before Mass and on Sundays when there was no Mass. The first Stations were black and white French prints which Grandpa O'Neill framed with tiny black crosses on top. On the back of some or all should have been some back-up board made out of measuring sticks, unless these were replaced. The altar was cupboard-like painted white. The pews were painted yellow with brown trim. Fr. Miller built the first tower and placed the first bell in it.
Nearly all the parishioners walked to church to save the horses for work the next day. If, in the winter or after a rain, their clothes would be hung around on chairs near the stove to dry. The Kilbrides many times served coffee. The bell rung by the Janitor (Mr. Kilbride) was a sign that the priest had gotten as far as what is now the Randecker house. Eddie Doyle took care of the priest's horses. Fr. Clary was the first resident priest. He was a temperance man. Fr. Miller was the second and Fr. Albright was the third. Fr. Weber, a married man whose wife died, had a son, Lou and a daughter, Abbie. When the children were grown, the dad became a priest.
The Kilbrides always served coffee and snacks to the priest so that he was able to perform the baptisms and other business. (This was in the days of the Communion fast.) Later the priest would have dinner with them. Before ministers came to our area, priests baptized and married non-Catholics. Fr. Mazzuchelli started the fund raising program for the Benton Methodist Church when their old one burned.
Father Bergen, a later priest, was six feet tall and weighed 200 lbs. and was late one Sunday and early the next; but he was a prince of a man. The depot was across from Murrays on the East side of the road. This building is now at Leslie.
The Kilbride's has a sunken well and all the neighbors around for a fourth of a mile carried water. The well was 16 feet deep and they had to bail the water out with a bucket.
The Banfield property was divided thus: N.E.-Tom Banfield; N.W. and S.E. Joe Banfield; S.W. Kilbrides. Mike Faherty was the first person buried in the cemetery. He was 52 years old; killed himself working so hard. He was so kind and he loaned $500 to Mike Kilbride for 80 acres.
A mine called the Wicklow, at old St. Rose, was discovered in drilling for water and here the ore was discovered at its best at 85 feet going east and going west about 200 feet. Lead was about 120. Through disagreement in management the mine died just in sight of a good strike. The vein ran 4:00 to 10:00 o'clock.
Farm land has to be near water. Rail splitting was a part of farm work, used for fencing. Meals consisted of hardtack, cornbread, potatoes, vegetables, pork and beef. Very few sweets. They took potato peelings, browned them in the oven till crisp, and then ground them for coffee. Flour was $13.00 per bbl., butter was 25¢ a pound, laborers worked for 25¢ a day, teachers got $22.50 a month, corn was 20¢ a bu., wheat was 60¢. Land sold for $1.00 to $1.25 an acre. It was hard to raise live stock because of the wolves. These wolves would always howl a day or two before a storm.
Articles of furniture were very plain and made out of log slabs if made at home. There was a furniture factory later in Galena. Feather ticks were used on beds as mattresses for warmth. Chimneys were made by placing sticks crossways in the form of a square and plastering them inside and out with mud or clay.
In the white frame church at St. Rose, along with the black framed stations I have previously described, was a statue of the Blessed Virgin. It was about 30" high. Paul Hoppenjan's mother donated $10 to the church for it when the church was moved to Cuba City. This statue had been stored in the hay mow on the Hoppenjan farm and it was brought to town when the church was built. The elbow was broken. (This statue is no longer around.)
Just behind the previously described white altar hung a large oil painting of Madonna and Child. The story of the painting is very interesting. The actual painter of the oil has not been established. While Fr. Clary was pastor, a well-to-do man named Hoffman volunteered to donate this beautiful painting--but to finish it there were some special chemicals needed. So it was shipped to Germany by boat. The freight over and back was terrific and Mr. Hoffman refused to pay the bill for which Fr. Clary very nicely kicked him out of the church. After a few months of this, Mr. Hoffman crawled on his hands and knees to go to church. Mrs. Kilbride interceded for him and finally got the two to forgive and forget.
First Parishioners of St. Rose in 1852
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