Jackson County IA Archives Biographies.....Weis, Charles 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ken Wright wright@prestontel.com April 10, 2010, 5:00 am

Source: History of the Weis Family
Author: Lorraine Weis Houghton

Farm Life in the Early and Mid 1900’s

By Lorraine Weis Houghton

with help from Marie, Erma and Gert

John’s son, Charles Weis, who is my grandfather, built a new house on this 
farm in 1932 at a cost of $2,800. The head carpenter, Gus Klemme, received 40 
cents per hour, plus room and board. The other carpenters received 25 cents 
per hour, plus room and board. Ray Deyen finished the woodwork with seven 
coats of varnish. A "hired girl", Rosie Mootz, helped Charles’ wife, Margaret, 
prepare all of the meals and helped with the laundry at this time.

When I was a child, growing up in this house, I remember how much fun my 
cousins and I would have playing in the "old house" that my grandfather, 
Charles, was raised in and lived in until he built the new house in 1932. At 
one time, the families of Charles Weis and his brother, John J. (Fiddler) 
shared this house. It was almost set up like a duplex with each family having 
their own side of the house and their own set of stairs, to go up to the 
bedrooms which were on the second level. The second level was not divided. We 
would play many games running up and down the double set of stairs in this 
house. It was just a giant playhouse for us.

A windmill, that fed water into a reservoir, provided gravity fed cold water 
for the barn and the new house. There was a sink in the pantry for washing 
dishes. If I remember correctly, we had to heat the water on the stove, in 
order to get the hot water to wash the dishes. Water was carried from this 
sink to fill a basin in the "washroom" for the men to "wash up" when they came 
in from doing work outside. I still remember the men lining up to "wash up" 
during haying season. Water was also piped into the barn to fill a water tank 
for the animals to drink from. There was a faucet to get water for other uses 
in the milk house section of the barn, including getting a cold drink for 
ourselves, as well as to clean the cows’ udders before milking, and to clean 
the milk buckets, and anything else that needed to be cleaned.

After the Charles Weis family moved into the new house, the laundry was done, 
for years, in the old kitchen that was in the limestone part of the house, 
which had been built by John Weis as an addition to the log cabin. They first 
carried the water in buckets to the tubs, from a faucet on the side of the new 
house, which was about 40 feet away. They heated some water on the wood fed 
stove to have hot water for washing the clothes, which involved rubbing the 
clothes clean on a washboard. Then the laundry was placed in a tub on the 
stove and boiled for a while. After that it was rinsed in water in another 
tub, and ran through a hand turned ringer. The old house was also used as 
a "summer kitchen" which was a place to prepare meat for smoking in the 
smokehouse, or for canning meat, fruit and vegetables.

Farming with horses was a pleasure for my grandfather, Charles. Horses were 
used in farming that farm until 1953, at which time the tractor took over. He 
also loved to cut wood for the wood stove or wood fired furnace, or any 
carpentry work he could find. Even though Charles never drove a car or 
tractor, he bought a new 1938 Ford. His son, Herbert, my father, drove that 
car most of the time. Many relatives remember having a lot of fun riding in 
that car, especially up and down the hills in the ½ mile lane. In 1942, 
Charles sold that car to my dad.

In preparation for the change from farming with horses to farming with a 
tractor, a lot of planning and money had to be spent. My dad, Herbert, bought 
a new threshing machine in 1950, a new Farmall tractor with a cultivator in 
1951, a Ferguson 30 tractor with manure loader, manure spreader and disc in 
1952 and a corn planter in 1953, all in preparation for farming without 
horses. 1952 was the first year that the entire corn crop was picked with a 
corn picker, rather than by hand.

Doing chores was always a family event. Each family member, including 
children, had their tasks. Some would feed the chickens, some would go and 
pick up the eggs, which at times could be tricky, as the hens didn’t always 
want to get off of the nest, and that beak could really pick you. About every 
spring, we would go to Scheckel’s Hatchery in Springbrook to get a new batch 
of chickens. This would give us a good supply of chickens for our supply of 
eggs and also our supply of chicken for Sunday dinner. We would butcher the 
chicken on Saturday, get them cleaned and cut up and cooked for Sunday dinner, 
especially when we had relatives coming to visit. It was common for relatives 
to invite each other for Sunday dinner. We children really got to know our 
first cousins well, as we visited each other’s homes often.

Milking the cows by hand was handled by the adults or by the older children. 
Then the milk had to be separated, so that the cream could be saved for sale 
to the creamery. The milk was used to make "slop" for the pigs. Milk was added 
to ground up oats to make this slop. It was then poured into troughs for the 
pigs to slurp up. The children, from about age 6, were usually the ones 
assigned to feeding the new calves from a bucket. Carrying the milk from the 
barn to the hogs was generally a task for the "strong" members of the family. 
As children, we always wanted to appear "strong". I vaguely remember our sows 
having baby pigs. I remember we had a wood stove in that part of the building 
that was used for that purpose. This area was divided into pens, so each sow 
had their own space. I remember my dad spending a lot of time, in the middle 
of the night, having to watch so that the sows didn’t lie on their little 
pigs. When I was a child, these pigs were raised as feeder pigs and would be 
sold to the market to be slaughtered for food.

We grew up understanding that some of our animals would be used for our food. 
Generally, my dad’s brothers, Nick, Oris, and Leo and his sister, Lena and 
their father, Charles, and the older nephews would come to help on the day we 
butchered a pig or a cow. Several of the wives and their children would also 
come to help prepare the meal for the help. The animal was slaughtered on the 
farm, cleaned, and either skinned or the hair on the hog was removed by 
dipping in heated water. The animal would hang for a couple days in the cold 
weather to cure. Then it would be cut into pieces, wrapped, labeled and 
frozen. Some of the pork was always ground up and put into casings to 
make "pork sausage" which was hung in the smokehouse for a few days, until it 
really had the smoke flavor. Then, after we had a meal with this great 
sausage, the rest was wrapped and frozen. Some of the beef was canned in quart 
jars. When we had unexpected company, a fast dinner could be prepared with 
canned beef, mashed potatoes and the gravy that was made in the jar during the 
canning process. Just the thought of it makes me hungry now.

Charles Weis also built new additions to the barn, including a milk house west 
of the barn, as well as a lean on the south side of the barn. After moving 
from the farm to retire in Springbrook, my grandfather, Charles would help out 
the elderly, repairing screen doors, and doing other carpentry work or odd 
jobs. He also would walk over to the farm, especially during planting, 
harvesting and wood cutting season to help my dad with farming during the day, 
and then walk back to Springbrook at night. This was about a three mile walk 
each day.

Grandpa Charles had a big garden in Springbrook, with wonderful grapes, 
strawberries and red raspberries. Just recently an old school mate from 
Springbrook, Sharon, told me how much she enjoyed the grapes that my 
grandfather would hand to the children as they were walking home from school. 
I had actually forgotten how we would munch on our bunch of grapes almost all 
of the way home.

Over the years my dad built many new buildings to house the chickens, cattle 
and hogs and built many additions to the barn. He upgraded the milking system 
from milking by hand to a pipeline system to be able to sell Grade A milk. Dad 
always enjoyed milking his holstein cows. The reason we know he enjoyed it was 
because he was always singing and whistling in the barn. All of us kids were 
so fortunate to be able to work with dad while he was doing something he 
enjoyed so much. As my sister, Pat, recalls, Dad always said, "You can’t just 
tell the kids to work. You have to work with them."

The descendants of John Weis and their families enjoyed living and working 
this farm for many years. They were the families of Charles, then Herbert and 
then his son, Ardell, who lived on this farm until the late 1970’s when it was 
sold to a non family member. In 2006, the farm house with all of the buildings 
and a small acreage were sold to a descendant of Peter Weis, who was a brother 
to my great grandfather, John Weis, who originally lived on this farm. In 
2010, a Weis family descendant and her family is again living in the square 
two story house that was built in 1932 at a cost of $2800.00 plus the cost of 
room and board for the workers.

 

Electricity, Bathroom, and Milking Machine Come to the Farm

By Lorraine Weis Houghton

with help from my siblings, Wayne, Pat and Ardell

and the records kept by my mom

In 1946, Charles sold the farm to my parents, Herbie and Gert, who had rented 
it for four years. When I was six years old, in 1949, I remember the Rural 
Electric Authority "REA" coming into our area building the lines for 
electricity. The people living in the town of Springbrook already had 
electricity, but many of the farmers who lived down a lane and away from the 
roadway, needed to have the lines built through their land. I remember 
watching them dig the holes and putting those big electric utility poles in 
the ground and eventually getting the electric wires connected. I remember an 
electrician coming to our house and dropping the lines behind the plaster 
walls, so that we could receive electricity. We had electricity from the 
basement, to the first floor, to the second floor where the bedrooms were, to 
a light in the attic. Our lights were turned on September 12, 1950. I was in 
1st grade, and just couldn’t believe how I could sit at the kitchen table and 
be able to read, with all of that light from the florescent light above.

I remember the excitement of being able to see outside at night. We had a big 
yard light on a pole between the house and the barn. This important pole held 
the wires that brought electricity to our farm. Electricity was wired into the 
barn, the old red shed next to the house, the grainary, the tool shed, the 
steel building (which my dad built in 1946) and the outhouse. I don’t think 
the old corn cribs that we sitting in the middle of the yard, probably since 
John Weis owned the farm, were wired for electricity. My dad built a new 
double crib in 1953, which was wired for electricity at that time.

With the farm now having electricity, we didn’t have to carry our lantern to 
get from the house to the barn or to the outhouse at night, as there was 
another light in the back of the house in that direction. You may notice that 
we did not get a bathroom in the house until 1954, so for five years, we all 
appreciated that light on the way to the outhouse and in the outhouse. All we 
had to do was flick a switch. Electricity was also run to a pump on the 
windmill, so that we didn’t have to depend totally on wind power for our 
water. If we had too many quiet days, dad would tell us kids to turn the pump 
on, which would pump more water into the reservoir.

Since electricity was now available in the barn, it didn’t take long for my 
parents to buy a new "Surge" milking machine. Before that, all milking was 
done by hand. At this time, we separated the cream from the milk and the cream 
was sold in 8 gallon cans. The separator and all of those plates had to be 
washed every day, which was usually done by my mom or one of us older kids. 
The milk was carried to the hogfloor to feed to the hogs. In the milkhouse, in 
1952, a water heater and an elevated wash tank were installed. This was used 
for washing the milking equipment. My brother, Wayne, recalls this tub was 
sometimes used to give the children their baths.

I am thinking it was about 1950 when we started selling Grade B milk in 10 
gallon milk cans to Kraft. Once we started selling Grade B milk, our farm was 
strictly a dairy farm. The pigs were sold and all of Dad’s time and energy 
were devoted to the cows, and everything necessary to keep them healthy. As 
far as we can remember, the price at that time was $2.35 per hundred pounds of 
milk. We all remember "Bill the Milkman" picking up the milk cans, and how he 
could swing those heavy cans into the double decker milk truck. He always gave 
the small children gum if they were in the house yard. This was his way to be 
sure all of the kids were safe in the yard and not around the truck. They say 
you could set your clock on him. At this time, the separator was removed. We 
had an electric milk cooler installed in the milkhouse, to keep the milk cans 
cold. We could still skim cream off the top of those cans for whipping cream. 
Those big heavy milk trucks coming down the lane did not do the lane any good. 
My dad spent a lot of time, filling ruts, and spent a lot of money for gravel, 
keeping the lane in good shape.

In 1965 a bulk tank was installed in the milkhouse, and the Weis farm was now 
a Grade A dairy farm. In 1969 a pipeline was installed that carried the milk 
directly from the cow to the bulk tank, rather than my dad or brothers having 
to empty the milking machines into buckets which were then carried and dumped 
into the tank. All of these advances made farming a little easier, but farming 
was always hard work. In 1976, when Herb and Gert retired from farming, the 
dairy herd consisted of 27 cows. Grade A milk was selling for $9.25 per 100 
pounds with a 3.5 test. Mom said that when most of us kids were still home, we 
milked up to 50 cows.

It was also in 1952 that new phone lines were installed so that we could have 
a rotary dial phone, and not be on a party line with eight other people. A 
party line was one in which all of the people on the line could hear each 
others phone ring, and could hear the conversations, if they picked up the 
receiver. Each party on this party line had a different ring. I remember ours 
was "2 longs and a short". If we wanted to call any one else, it was 
considered long distance and you had to dial one long ring to call 
the "Operator". She would then connect you to the person you were calling. The 
operator could also give you the correct time.

A bathroom was added to our house in 1954. The pantry was converted to a 
bathroom, with a bluegreen bathtub, sink and stool. I vaguely remember a sink 
being installed in the washroom. I assume that was the time we got a water 
heater, probably back in 1949, when we first got electricity. I still remember 
the excitement of turning the faucet and having either hot or cold water come 
out. Since the pantry was converted to the bathroom, white metal "Kelvinator" 
kitchen cabinets, with frosted glass sliding doors, were installed in the 
kitchen. A new double sink was placed in the cabinets under the window in the 
kitchen.

 

Weis, Peter

Peter Weis was born February 1, 1828 in Berbourg, Luxembourg. According to 
Jane Miller research, it is assumed that Peter died young. He is not shown on 
the 1843 population list for Berbourg, and is not listed in the estate papers 
for Gertrude and Francois Weis in 1869.

Weis, John – Zimmer, Marie

John Weis was born May 27, 1830, in Berbourg, Luxembourg and married Marie 
Zimmer in Berbourg on February 20, 1860. John and his wife Marie stayed in 
Berbourg. Their children were Gertrude, 1861; Katherine,1863; Magdalena, 1864 
(Theodore Wagner); John E. W., 1861(Anna Dondlinger) and Barbara, 1866.

Two of their children, John E. W. and Magdalena immigrated to Jackson County, 
Iowa. John E. W. and his wife Anna are buried in the Saints Peter and Paul 
Cemetery in Springbrook, Iowa. Magdalena Weis Wagner is buried with her 
husband Theodore in the St. Joseph’s cemetery in Bellevue, Iowa. John E. W’s 
granddaughter, Wilma Weis Poll, remembers that her grandfather also worked as 
a stonemason and helped with one of the later additions of the Kegler-Gonner 
store.

Weis, Barbara

Barbara Weis was born April 12, 1833, in Berbourg, Luxembourg. She remained in 
Luxembourg and worked as a cook and was listed as single in 1870.

Weis, Gertrude

Gertrude Weis was born September 2, 1835, in Berbourg, Luxembourg. She 
remained in Luxembourg, and worked as a seamstress and was listed as single in 
1870.

Weis, Peter – Gosche, Mary

Peter Weis was born September 12, 1837, in Berbourg, Luxembourg and married 
Mary Gosche on June 16, 1868 in Springbrook, Jackson County, Iowa. Peter and 
Mary are buried in the Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Springbrook, Iowa. 
There children were: Anna, 1869 (Sister Mary Blasia); John Peter "Jim", 1870 
(Rosina Jacobs/Katherine Weimerskirch) (Ray Banowetz, noted in 
acknowledgements, was married to Alma Kloft, who is a descendent of John Peter 
and Rosina Jacobs line as well as Jane Miller, also in acknowledgements, who 
is also a descendent of John Peter and Rosina Jacobs.); Frank Peter , 1872 
(Katherine W. Weinschenk); Katherine. 1874 (Sister Mary Flowberta); Rosina, 
1877 (Mathias Jacobs); Infant, 1879 (died at birth); John L, 1879 (Catherine 
Jacobs); Michael Peter, 1881(Theresa Ritter); Margaret "Maggie", 1883 (Sister 
Mary Vita) and Gertrude,1885 (Peter Reistroffer).

Peter Weis, in 1874, was the first teacher to instruct classes in the Saints 
Peter and Paul parochial school in Springbrook, Iowa. This was a white frame 
structure, 20 by 35 feet, with only one door as an entrance and exit. After 
their marriage in 1868, Peter and Mary lived in Andrew, Iowa, where their 
first two children, Anna and John Peter were born. Peter was working as a 
stone mason for his brother John, when he lived in Andrew. According to the 
1893 Jackson Township census, Peter Weis owned a farm on the east side of 
section 23 and 27, just east of the road heading south out of Springbrook, and 
just behind the church property. Later, this property was owned by his son, 
John Peter (Jim Weis). Then was owned by his son, Leo Weis and later, his son 
Richard Weis.

The John L Weis Family Moves to Armstrong, Iowa

A son of Peter Weis, John L. Weis and his wife Catherine Jacobs, owned the 
hotel in Springbrook, Jackson County, Iowa. It was called the "Spring Brook 
Hotel". It advertised Reasonable Rates and a Feed Barn in Connection. It was 
located on the southwest corner of the main intersection in Springbrook. There 
is now a bar in that location. They moved their family from Springbrook to 
Armstrong, Emmet County, Iowa, which is in the northwest part of Iowa, shortly 
after 1908. Two other Jackson county families also moved to Armstrong at the 
same time. They were the John and Lena Sturm and the Ted Roling family. John 
and Catherine moved there to farm, where they farmed near Halfa, which is 
close to Armstrong, Iowa. Upon retiring from the farm, John and Catherine 
moved to Armstrong, Iowa.

Michael Peter Weis and Frank Weis Move to Kansas

Two of the children of Peter Weis and Mary Gosche moved from Jackson County, 
Iowa to settle in Decatur/Norton/Sheridan counties in northwest Kansas. They 
were Michael Peter Weis who married Theresa Ritter in Leoville, Kansas, and 
Frank Peter Weis. One of Michael Peter Weis’ sons, Joe, came back to Jackson 
County, Iowa as an adult. He was always referred to as "Kansas Joe". According 
to Michael Weis, a descendant of Frank Weis, after the early death of Frank 
Weis’ wife Katherine Weinschenk, (age 30), Frank left Springbrook and moved to 
Kansas and stayed with various relatives including his brother, Michael Peter 
Weis and Michael’s son, Leo. Apparently, Frank went back and forth between 
Iowa to Kansas. In checking the census from Iowa, we see that in 1920, Frank 
is shown as living with his mother Mary, and his two children, Mally and 
Dolores in Springbrook. Also, in the January 1925 census, Frank Weis is shown 
as living with his mother in Springbrook, Jackson Township. In 1930 he was 
shown as living in Dresden, Kansas. Frank died in 1947 in Leoville, Kansas.

Frank and Katherine’s sons, Malchoir (Mally) and his brother Romie remained in 
Jackson County, Iowa after the death of their mother and lived with their 
grandparents Peter and Mary Weis and Malchoir and Louisa Weinschenk. Romie 
later lived with his aunt and uncle, Henry and Cora Weinschenk Stevens. At the 
age of 16, Romie moved to Dubuque, Iowa to learn the baker’s trade. Two 
daughters, Adele and Dolores lived with their grandparents, Malchoir and 
Louisa Weinschenk, with a few exceptions. In the 1920 census, Dolores and 
Mally are both shown as living in Springbrook with their grandmother, Mary 
Weis, age 69 and their father, Frank Weis, age 47. In this same census of 
1920, Mally is shown as a hired hand on the farm of John Scheckel. He is 
still, at age 22, in the January 1925 Iowa census shown as living in Jackson 
County, Iowa with his first cousin, Florence Weis Kilburg and her husband, 
Dominic Kilburg, and working as a hired man. We assume Mally moved to Kansas 
in 1925, as he married Mary Goscha on August 25, 1925. The 1930 census for 
Selden, Kansas shows Malchoir and Mary with two children, Alfred and Wilbur.

This was the start of the Weis family in Kansas, as far as we know. Michael 
Weis, who is from the Peter/Frank/Malchoir/Wilbur Dean/ Michael Weis, did a 
lot of research on the Weis family, understanding at the beginning that the 
entire Weis family had moved to Kansas. What a surprise for him to find out 
how many of the Weis family members had remained in Jackson County. Michael 
Weis may be contacted by email at weishomer@yahoo.com

Gosche and Weis Connection

By Sheryl Hays and Michael Weis

Three of the children of Theodore Gosche and Maria Schmit Gosche were related 
to the Weis family through marriage. Peter Weis married their daughter, Mary 
Gosche in Springbrook, Iowa on June 16, 1868. Peter’s brother, John Weis 
married another daughter, Margaretha Gosche in St. Donatus, Iowa on Mary 18, 
1864. A son, John Peter Gosche married Magdalena Wolf on February 1, 1872 at 
Saints Peter and Paul Church in Springbrook, Iowa. (Malchoir Weis married Mary 
Helen Goscha, a granddaughter of John and Magdalena.)

The Gosche name was spelled many ways, including Gosche, Gauche, Gausche, and 
Goscha. According to Sheryl Hays, Theodor & Maria Gausche arrived in NewYork 
City, on the British steamship "Medway"on May 2, 1867, with their daughters, 
Maria and Catharina; Catharina's son Franz, and her husband, Peter Roeder; 
their son Peter and his wife Margaretha Friedrich, and their children: Maria, 
Nicolas and Margarete Gausche. From the information I received from Sheryl 
Hays, two of the Gosche children, Margaretha and Johann, arrived in America 
before their parents.


Theodor Gausche was born July 9, 1802 at Gasperich, Luxembourg, and was the 
son of Nicolas Gausche and Marguerite Adam. He married Maria Schmit on 
February 16, 1832 at Hesperange. She was born on May 19, 1806, at Hesperange 
Luxembourg, and was the daughter of Joannes Schmit and Elisabeth Schoumacher.


Theodor & Maria had seven children, all born at Hesperange:

Marguerite, born May 25, 1833

Pierre (Peter), born March 5, 1835 – married Margaretha Friedrich at 
Hesperange on December 19, 1859.

Jean (Johann), born December 17, 1836 – married Margaretha Heintz on February 
19, 1863 at Hesperange. Arrived in United States on May 1, 1864.

Jean Pierre, born November 29, 1838 – married Magdalena Wolf on February 1, 
1872 at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Springbrook, Iowa.

Catharina, born December 4, 1841 – married Peter Roeder at Hesperange on 
December 6, 1864

Margaretha, born August 28, 1844 – married John Weis on May 18, 1864 at St. 
Donatus, Iowa. Arrived in the United States on April 7, 1864.

Maria, born January 27, 1849 – married Peter Weis on June 16, 1868 at 
Springbrook, Iowa.

Most of the Gausche/Gosche family settled in Jackson County Iowa. Nothing more 
is known about Peter and Margaretha Gosche, and Johann and Margaretha. They 
have not been found after the 1870 Jackson County census.


Sheryl Hays is a descendant of the Gosche family and may be contacted by email 
at shays22@cox.net.

John Gosche and his wife, Magdalena Wolf moved to Selden, Sheridan County, 
Kansas. Sheridan County is just south of Decatur County in Kansas, which is 
where some of the Weis family members settled. At some time, that line of the 
Gosche family changed the spelling of their name to Goscha. Malchoir Weis, son 
of Frank Weis married Mary Helen Goscha, who was the granddaughter of John 
Peter Gosche and Magdalena Wolf. Michael Weis is a descendant of this line. He 
may be contacted by email at weishomer@yahoo.com.

Tombstones of Weis Ancestors

Many gravestones of Weis family members have been posted to 
http://iowagravestones.org. If you have a picture of a relative’s gravestone, 
that is not posted, please feel free to post it. It is a great help for later 
generations interested in their roots.

 

Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Springbrook

Many Weis family members were pioneers in this parish, who brought their 
masonry skills from Luxembourg. The younger generations remember their parents 
and grandparents speaking of helping to build both of the churches and the 
schools.

In 1864 John Weis was awarded the contract to build a 40 by 70 feet rock 
church for the newly organized parish of Saints Peter and Paul in Springbrook, 
Jackson County, Iowa. This church was enlarged in 1890.

The first church rectory was built in 1867. In 1901 a new brick veneered 
rectory was built. During the 1970’s, the convent was converted to a church 
rectory/office and the old rectory was rented out. During the 1980’s it was 
decided that it was too expensive for the parish to maintain this building 
that was built in 1901 and it was razed.

The first parochial school in Springbrook was built in 1874. It was a white 
frame, 20 by 35 feet building that was located to the west of the above 
church. This school was used by all grades until 1884, when the upper grades 
moved to the first floor of the rock school (see next paragraph). Grades one 
and two continued in this school until the 1951 – 1952 school year, when those 
grades moved to the larger rock school. The area of the old wood school 
structure, to the west of the church office is now part of the cemetery.

When the parish had grown to 110 families, a new three story, rock school 
which measured 30 by 50 feet was erected just west of the cemetery in 1883. 
The school was placed under the direction of the School Sisters of Notre Dame 
in September of 1884, and opened with an enrollment of 50 students. The 
basement and the second floor of the school were used as housing for the nuns. 
The top (attic) floor was used for boarders at the school. There were nine 
boarders the first year. In 1950, a new convent was built. This made it 
possible for all of the students to be in the rock school, as the remodeling 
made classrooms on two floors, as well as restrooms in the basement. One of 
the basement rooms was still used by the sisters who made the hosts used at 
mass. The school was closed, in 1969, because of low enrollment. This building 
was razed in the 1980’s.

In 1937, after comparing the cost of enlarging the church to accommodate the 
large number of catholic families or building a new church, it was decided 
that a new brick church would be built at a cost of $50,000.

On the location of the first church, a convent was built in 1950 for the 
Sisters of Notre Dame, who taught in the rock school that replaced the wooden 
structure. This convent was used by the School Sisters of Notre Dame until 
1969, when the school was closed. The convent was eventually converted to a 
rectory/church office.

 

 

 

 

 

 


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