History of St.Joseph's Catholic Church, Bastrop, Louisiana Submitted by Cheryl Johnson Source: Unknown Every effort has been made to determine the source of this information without success. If this information is copyright protected, please contact KSBSM@aol.com and the information will be removed promptly. ************************************************* Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http:/www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ This information was generously donated by Cheryl Johnson a great- grandaughter of the Rolleighs from Morehouse Parish. St. Joseph's Church, Bastrop, La. The story of the evolution of St. Joseph's Catholic Church is largely a story of priests who combined hardiness with saintliness, who rode for many hours on horse back to conduct a Mass in Bastrop, who have contributed the labor and love to the little church that kept it alive through the years as a mission until its triumphant evolution in 1943 into an independent parish. 1859 The earliest of these, of whom there is any existing record, was the Rev. Father Louis Gergaud, who, in the days before a Catholic Church was built in Bastrop, baptized three persons in the home of John R. Biggar in 1859. They were Martin Redmond, Theodore Redmond and Ann Jane Redmond, the first Roman Catholic baptisms of which there is any record in Bastrop. Their names may be read today, written in a beautiful copperplate script, in the ancient record book that today is a prized possession of St. Joseph Church. Father Gergaud later died in the dread yellow fever epidemic that swept through Shreveport. Next in the pagent of priests who attended Bastrop was Father Ludovic Enaut. His is a well known name in Bastrop and Monroe Catholic circles for it was he who built St. Joseph Church here and was prominent in the founding and erection of the St. Francis Sanitarium in Monroe. Work on St. Joseph Church was begun in November 1870, but the year before, again using a private home, Father Enaut had baptized two more Bastropians in the name of the Catholic Church. They were T.E. Rolleigh and John R. Biggar. Father C. Mahe followed Father Enaut in serving Bastrop. Like his predecessors, under whom he studied. Father Mahe conducted services here after a grueling ride on horseback, over rough, winding roads from Monroe to Bastrop. Father Mahe was transferred to Lake Providence, but 25 years later, after he was returned to Monroe as pastor, he again served St. Joseph church here. During the 25 years before Father Mahe's return, St. Joseph's Church congregation was served by the Rev. Martin, the Rev. Quelard, the Rev. Menard, the Rev. Jerome Bres, the Rev. Peter Cooney, the Rev. F.J. Pottuiers, the Rev. J. Rechitan, the Rev. J.B. Limoyne and the Rev. A. Vestrepin. Father Enaut again served the mission from 1906 to 1907 and Father Mahe, who later was made monsignor, returned to serve the mission for the next five years. Then kindly, widely-known Father Nick Vandegaer stepped into the history of St. Joseph's Church. As pastor of St. Matthew's Church in Monroe, Father Vandegaer made regular trips to Bastrop to conduct Masses in the little church. Until Father Vandegaer began his visits, there had been little regularity to the Catholic services held here "several times a year" is the most accurate way of describing them. Now services are held monthly. But Father Vandegaer became busier and busier with his sick calls and various church duties, and in 1924 his assistant, Father John C. Marsh, came over from Monroe to conduct his first Mass in the Bastrop church. He continued to conduct them for the the next seven years. To him goes the credit of organizing the Alter Society, laying the foundation for a Men's club and starting a building fund. In 1931, Father Marsh was transferred to the pastorate at Mansfield and Father E.B. and B.A. Scallan took over his work for the next two years. Father E.B. Scallan was transferred to Sacred Heart Church, Pineville and Father B.A. Scallan was made pastor of the LeCompte church. Father John Vandegaer (now in Natchitoches) and Father R.L. Aycock (now at Bunkie) conducted Masses at the Bastrop Mission church from 1931 to 1934. The next three years saw patient, zealous Father Martin F. Walsh at the helm of St. Joseph's. He is now in charge of St. Theresa's Church, Shreveport. Now a new arrangement was made whereby St. Joseph was to be served, not from the Monroe church, but from Rayville church, under this plan Father M. Richard Gremillion, resident pastor of Rayville, conducted services in Bastrop from 1936 to 1939. Father Couvillion succeeded Father Gremillion, but his relationship with St. Joseph's was short, for in 1939 the mission was tranferred back to Monroe and placed once more under Father Nick Vandegaer. But the juggling act was not done. The Bastrop Mission was placed under the charge of Franciscan Fathers in West Monroe in 1940. Father Jasper Mause was delegated to minister to the needs of the local congregation, and he was followed shortly thereafter by Father Walfrid Boesche, O.F.M. Father Boesche worked out a plan to take up part time residence in Bastrop and the small residence belonging to and adjacent to the church was remodeled for him. Father Boesche labored earnestly with the congregation. Rose bushes, crepe myrtle and various shrubs soon appeared on the church grounds and, within the church itself, a metal tabernacle was acquired for the alter and two statues soon flanked the alter on each side. It was Father Boesche who conceived the idea of having the Felician Sisterrs take charge of the Bastrop General Hospital, and in 1942, he saw his plan successfully carried out. Father Boesche was succeeded by the present pastor, Father Ulric Landolt, who is continuing the magnificent work of his many zealous predecessors. Gradually through the years of changing priests, growing congregations and more frequent services, St. Joseph's had grown farther and farther away from the status of a new mission center with the Rev. Ulric Landolt, O.F.M., as pastor. The territory of Morehouse and Richland parishes was now a seperate mission field and Father Boesche commuted between Bastrop and Rayville concentrating his efforts in Richland parish. And now a new chapter was to be written in the history of the church. In July, 1944, Father Ulric Landolt was joined here by the Rev. Medard Bulava, Of.F.M., whose purpose was to take care of the Catholic colored in Morehouse parish and for them he established Our Lady of Christians Church March 11, 1945. Father B. Bulava became ill March 21 and the Rev. Father Werner Holzer, O.F.M., replaced him here. So there you have it - the pageant of the priests in St. Joseph Church for 75 years. No doubt the distance between Monroe and Bastrop would have seemed not half so tedious to those early priests if they could have gazed into the future as they jolted along - if they could have seen then that their combined efforts through the years would result in today's independent parish with two resident priests and two Catholic churches.