(Photo credit above: The Catholic Times, Diocese of La Crosse)
  |  Southwest Wisconsin and the "Tri-State Area" St. Paul, Minnesota was a famous mystery writer who was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Menomonie and was founder of alcohol-recovery centers for religious. |
The photos of the three paintings at the top of the page were taken by Jeff Gardner and are used by permission. The paintings are from the lower level vestibule of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse. The drawings above were submitted from 6th grade school projects. View the repots in their entirely by clicking the links.
The above WCWCatholic timeline shows that Baraga and Mazzuchelli were contemporaries as were Eckert and Casey. Read what Solanus Casey thought about Eckert here. Below is a reprinted article about a meeting between Baraga and Mazzuchelli.
"Few persons can realize the emotion of two priests who, after months of solitude, have the consolation of meeting. Their first concern is, naturally, the sacrament of penance and their mutual spiritual progress…."
Reprinted by permission from the Catholic Herald in the Diocese of Superior, WI, this article features Solanus Casey, Frederic Baraga and Kateri Tekakwitha.
View stained glass windows on the history of the Catholic church in Wisconsin and of the early bishops of the Diocese of La Crosse. The windows are from the diocesan Mother Church, St. Joseph the Workman.
Reprinted by permission, this is an article that ran in the Chippewa Herald. It talks all about the history of the Catholic Church in Chippewa Falls. Very interesting.
Some miscellaneous Wisconsin Catholic (and secular) history resources:
E-books:
The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century by Francis Parkman - You can read all 638 pages of this book on-line for free thanks to www.freecatholicebooks.com .
The Chronicles of Canada, v. 4 The Jesuit Missions: A Chronicle of the Cross in the Wilderness by Thomas Guthrie Marquis - Also from www.freecatholicebooks.com .
Library books:
A Tradition of Caring: Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, St. Joseph's Hospital, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin - printed by Rooney Printing, Chippewa Falls, January, 2000. This book has lots of general Catholic history about the Chippewa Falls area.
St. John the Baptist, Cooks Valley, 1885 - 1995 - Compiled by Maxine Zwiefelhofer and printed by Rooney Printing, Chippewa Falls. This is an amazingly in-depth look at the early families who settled Cook's Valley.
The Good Old Days by Paul H. Raihle - This secular book of stories about "Northwestern Wisconsin" centers around the Chippewa Falls area. Published in 1954, many stories told about the late-1800's are written from the author's direct experience.
West Central Wisconsin: A History by John G. Gregory and Hon. Thomas J. Cunningham, 1933. This is an expansive, multi-volume secular work.
History of Northern Wisconsin "Containing an Account of its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources; An Extensive Sketch of its Counties, Cities, Towns and Villages, Their Improvements, Industries, Manufactories; Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; Views of County Seats, Etc." This is a multi-volume secular work (but does contain some early local church histories). The great thing about this book is that it is a 1988 reprint, originally written by the Western Historical Company in 1881!
Websites: