Belleville St. Francis of Assisi Church

In the early settlement years, Belleville area Catholic families had
only occasional home masses said by the parish priests from Oak Hall
near Oregon.

In the mid 1860’s, the rural Irish and French communities near Dayton
and the German and Irish settlements in northwest Montrose township
organized Catholic congregations. The year 1869 saw the erection of St.
James Church in Dayton and St. Raphael Church, west of Paoli. St.
Raphael was renamed St. William when a new and larger church replaced it
in 1900 in the village of Paoli.

One priest served these parishes with St. James initially the mission
church of St. Raphael, and later the reverse, when a rectory was
acquired in Dayton.

The village of Belleville (with the advent of the railroad) had
continued to grow and by the turn of the century had become the largest
of the three communities.

During the pastorate of Father J.P. Peschong (1905-1910), some twenty
Catholic families in and around Belleville formed the nucleus for the
new St. Mary of Lourdes congregation. Donations from members and
non-members helped with the cost ($7,480.00) of a new church building.

In December of 1910, Archbishop Messmer of Milwaukee dedicated the new
church. The church bell was a donation by the Lamboley brothers, Costant,
Albert and Gustave.

At the Bishop’s suggestion, Father A.J. Mason (1910-1919) moved from
Dayton to Belleville. A rectory adjacent to the new church was built in
the early 1920s.

In 1918, St. William in Paoli became the mission church of the new
parish in Verona. St. James remained as the mission church of St. Mary
of Lourdes.

In the early 1950s, during Father Esdras Gariepy’s residency, it became
obvious that the fifty-year-old structure had become too small and
frequent major repairs were creating an excessive financial drain on the
congregation. A committee was formed, and a modern A-frame church with
attached offices, kitchen and church hall was designed and built. The
new St. Mary of Lourdes Church was dedicated in 1956. The church has
served the congregation well over the years.
Starting in 1981 and concluding on July 4, 2010 the parish was under the
spiritual leadership of Father Ken Klink. On July 11, 2010 we welcomed our
current spiritual leader Father Mick Moon.

The Parish facilities also provide accommodations for many Belleville
organizations in need of a meeting place. The hall, which was doubled in
size in 1969, is regularly used as a preschool nursery center and a
meeting and meal facility for the Belleville-Exeter-Montrose Senior
Citizens program.

The parish has grown from its 1910 membership of approximately 20
families to 490 families in 2001.

The first Mass was celebrated in the new St Francis of Assisi church on Nov 1 2008.