The Church Address
Wilson & Water
301 S Water
Maysville, MO  64469
DeKalb County

The Parish Office
301 N Cedar
Cameron, MO  64429
816-632-2768

All posts and comments to this site should express Christian charity and respect for the truth. Comments should be on topic and presume the good will of other commentators. Discussions should take place from a faith perspective. No advertising is permissible on this site unless it directly relates to diocesan, parish or school ministries or officially sanctioned events.

History

The first Catholics in Dekalb County came to work on the St. Joseph-Iowa railroad which was being built through Maysville and the county. This eventually became the Rock Island Line and was completed in 1886. others came around the same time to buy farms.

In 1881 there were four Catholic families and these four families may have been the Donovan, Probst, Sigrist and Tammany families. Other Catholic families, however, who arrived near the beginning of the parish included: Brennan, Downey, Gallus, Havet, Kennedy, Marr, Nold, O'Brien, Powers, Roach, Steiner, Stenhauser, Weigand and Zug families. There may well have been others. Before there was a church Mass was celebrated in private homes, one of which was the home of Franz Joseph Aloysius Sigrist.

Land was purchased in Maysville on 1 April 1890, (deed corrected 3 June 1891) from Edwin, Edward, Catherine and Theodore Davis, of Cleveland County, Arkansas. The site was part of Lot 21 in the New Survey of Maysville.

The first church was completed in 1887 and dedicated on 2 November 1890. The present sacristy was added at a later date. John Donovan and George Marr spent many hours raising the money to build the church. The Marrs lived south of Amity, MO. Timbers to build the church were hauled from Cameron by Wagon teams. Parishioners did most of the work.

An article in the DeKalb County Herald (6 November 1890) regarding the dedication of the church, states:

"The Catholic brethren of DeKalb County are to be congratulated on the energy and perseverance that they have displayed in erecting for themselves a house of worship. It is the only one in the county and it speaks well for the zeal of that denomination to their cause. Heretofore they were compelled to go many miles to attend worship, but now they have a Church centrally located within easy reach of all. This Church will not only be productive of good in religious circles, but will induce many Catholic citizens to locate among us, thus adding to the commercial prosperity of the community. Upon the broad principle of religious toleration every true citizen should unite in the wish that this new Church may grow and prosper and increase its power for good among all classes of our people."

For the dedication, members of the choir at Immaculate Conception (now Queen of the Apostles) parish in St. Joseph sang Peter's Mass in "D". They were James Bassing; Theo. Felling; Johanna Felling, organist; Lizzie Gramer; Theresa Kill; Ida Krull; Lon Prawitz; A. Schaefer; H. Vander Staag.

The candlesticks used at the first Mass in the church are still in use today. The stations of the cross also are original to the church, given by the Joseph Probst family.

The name of the church may have come about because Aloysius was the Confirmation name of Mr. Sigrist, who was instrumental in getting the parish started.

As seems to be the fate of mission parishes, Maysville has been associated with a variety of parishes with resident pastors: 1893, Hurlingen; 1895, Easton; 1901-02 Tarkio (priest came once a month); 1903, Chillicothe; 1911, St. Joseph (Cathedral/); 1912, Nashua; 1913, Liberty; 1916, Hurlingen. The only time there was a resident pastor was in 1920 when Fr. Louis Grohman lived at the parish for a few months. After World War I, for about a decade, the community seldom gathered for Mass in Maysville. However, Fr. Denis Mulcahy who was at Easton made a serious effort at reviving the parish and Fr. Lawrence Trapp continued the effort. Sometime between 1959 and 1962 the parish was established as a parish in its own right. Today it is a mission of Cameron.

In 1935 a basement was built under the church. Picnics held from 1936 to 1938 in the old Maysville Park, near the former County Home, paid for the new basement.

The diocesan census of 1959 revealed 27 children, 10 of whom were of grade school age and seven of whom were of high school or college age. There were 58 adult individuals. In 1984 there were 60 Catholics in the parish, living in 27 households.

After 1963 a new altar, baptismal font, back wall and table were built for the church by Donald Rathbun with the help of other parishioners. Carpeting was placed in the sanctuary. Also an Allen Organ was purchased hased for the church as the result of a bequest from Charles Sigrist. In September 1969, new oak pews were installed through contributions from parishioners.

New vinyl siding was placed on the church in May 1980, at a cost of $6978. This was the costliest undertaking of the parish since the building of the church.

Sources: Katherine Bartlett.Saint Aloysius Catholic Church, Maysville, Missouri; Diamond Jubilee:1890-1965; Ann Gallus. 1

1. Text reprinted with the permission of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph from This Far By Faith,Volume II, The Facts, published 1992 , Rev. Michael Coleman (Copies of this history are still available for sale from the Diocese of KC-SJ for $50 if picked up; $55 if mailed).

Priests who have served St. Aloysius Church are: Father Schaeffer, 1890; Father F.X. Hochgesang, 1910; Father Joachim Menne, 1911; Father Edward Mallen, 1911-1912; Father L.H. Grohman, 1914; Father F.X. Hochgesang, 1921-1932; Father D.P. Mulcahy, 1934-1935; Father L.J. Trapp, 1938-1957 Father M.J. Pilsl, 1957-1958; Father H.E. Faller, 1959-1962; Father Rodney Crewse, 1962-1967; Father Joseph Leonard, 1967-1968; Father Clarence R. Ryan, 1968-1971; Father John Giacopelli, 1971-1973; Father Thomas Whelan, 1973-1977; Father John Eldringhoff, 1977-1984; Father R. William Caldwell, 1984-1989; Father Patrick Tobin, 1989-1997; Father Alvin L. Herber, 1997-2001; Father Paul Turner, 2001-2012; Father Louis Farley 2012-2017, Father Thomas Ludwig-current.