Road trip with new camera

Got a new camera for my birthday, (49 whoopee), so it has taken a while for me to get some more pics to post, old camera died and Lovely Wife kept hinting not to spend money on a new one, so the wait. Any way some pics of my unique area, this pic is of St. Aloysius church in the little burg of Carthagena, at the corner of state routs 127 and 274 with St Charles Seminary, home of the Precious Blood Society of Priests in the background

None of these parishes are in "towns" all but St John really only have a cluster of 10 or so homes all the rest of the parishioners are farm families or rural home owners, almost all are desendants of the original settlers, many of the children can find their family names on the stained glassed windows or on statues bases as donors

this shot was taken 10 minutes later but the clouds already moved in, but is essential to make my point, this right off of sr127 on sr119, 2 miles down from Carthagena in the forefront you can see the steeple of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in the burg of Cassella, (the name was supposed to be Cappella, low german for chapel, however in german script double pp's look like ss's and the "english" postmaster named it Cassella) anyhow, 1 mile east, next in line is St Rose church, in the community of St Rose, and one and a half miles further east of that in the distance is St John the Baptist

Now standing in front of St Rose and looking north we see St. Sebastian, a country church with no "town" around it but the cluster of houses are known as Sebastian, 15 minutes after the long shot down 119 and the sun was back

Now some on the individual parishes from the website


http://www.grandlake.net/lctc/index.html






First, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This parish is located in the hamlet of Cassella, on Ohio 119 just east of US 127. This parish Lists approximately 106 households as parish members. The parish was founded in 1847. The early settlers were German immigrants and all loyal Roman Catholics. Early on they attended services at St. Rose parish, but the distance they had to walk made the establishment of their own church practical.
The first church was a frame building located just west of the present church, across the road. A new, larger church was built in 1858. This is still the same church in use today, although many modifications have taken place. In June 1886, a fire almost destroyed the church. Only the four brick walls remained. Restoration started immediately and by 1887 the exterior was completed, except for the spire. By 1890 the interior of the church had been frescoed and new altars and windows installed. A new tower was erected. In 1912, it was decided to dig a basement under the church, which was finished by 1914. In 1915, the fire-scarred walls were covered with stucco.

St. Rose Parish is located just west of Maria Stein on St. Rte. 119. The village was named Rose Garden back then. In 1839 the parish of St. Rose was established, and the early settlers started meeting in the home of Mr. Joseph Kleinhenz. The first pastor was Father Louis Navarron, who made a monthly trip from Versailles to serve the new parish. A log church was erected on the north side of what is now St. Rte. 119. Although this was a log building, like all the other buildings in Rose Garden, it was distinguished by a steeple. The parish then listed 78 families.
less than ten years this church was outgrown. The parish decided to build a new church on the south side of St. Rte. 119 near the cemetery. This brick church was dedicated in 1854. In 1905 a rectory was built to the pastor could reside in the parish.
By 1910 the parish decided that a new church was necessary. In one week $21,479 was raised, and the project proceeded. The cornerstone was laid in 1911, and the church was dedicated on September 18, 1912. Almost every item in the church has on it the name of the donor. Since this parish has a very stable population, many parishioners can see the donations of their families over the years. St. Rose parish today lists about 100 families.

(this is the only pic I didn't take}
St. Sebastian Parish is located on County Road 716A, about a half a mile north of St. Rte. 274 just west of Chickasaw, Ohio. Although most parishes were organized in an existent town, St. Sebastian Parish was organized by 20 farmers who did not want to walk to Maria Stein or St. Rose for Sunday Mass. In 1852, they received permission from the Bishop of Cincinnati to organize and build a church. They picked a spot in the woods and the cornerstone of the new church was laid in the spring of 1852. The frame building they built was on the present site of parish cemetery. By the 1870's it was obvious that the parish needed a new church, but there was some disagreement about the site of a new church. The new brick church, dedicated on October 10, 1879, was built where the present church stands. On January 12, 1903, the church completely burned to the ground. Not only was the church destroyed, but everything in the church was lost, including all parish records. There was much discussion about where to build the new church, but the final decision was to build it at the same location. At this time one group of parishioners left the parish to form the parish at Chickasaw and another group left to form the parish in Montezuma.
The present church at St. Sebastian was consecrated on September 18, 1904. Soon after the 48 families of the parish built a rectory. At this time the parish consists of about 70 families.


St. John the Baptist is the oldest Catholic Parish in Mercer County and as such is the "mother parish". The first mass was celebrated on June 24, 1836, by Father Henry Damien Junker, then pastor at Minster. There were 45 people attending. By the following spring the new parish had built their first church building. This frame building was blessed on April 9, 1837. Within ten years it became apparent that it was being outgrown, and in 1849 a new church was being built, being dedicated on October 13, 1850. It stood approximately where the present church stands, with the main doors facing west.
The parish continued to grow and on August 15, 1887, the congregation voted to build a new and larger church. This present church had the cornerstone laid on May 5, 1889 and was dedicated on November 11, 1891.
The Precious Blood community assumed the care of the parish in 1845, providing pastors to the present day. Until 1906 the pastors lived at the Maria Stein Convent. A rectory was built and the pastor, Fr. Otto Missler, moved in September, 1906.
Today St. John the Baptist Parish lists approximately 341 households.



the "Steeples" of southern Mercer county, Ohio
Grain elevator legs and Catholic churches, St John in the distance

Will post pictures of the interiors soon