St. Dominic

Our History

A brief note in early summer of 1904 began the life of St. Dominic Catholic Church. Bishop Schwebach’s short letter to Messrs Terra, Matushalk and Langford gave the Catholic church a home in Frederic, Wisconsin. With permission granted by the Bishop in LaCrosse and the donation of a site by William Starr, a Frederic pioneer, the construction was begun. The church community was to pay one hundred dollars down and the balance on the completion of the church. Area residents such as John Matushalk, George Hagberg, Maggie Murphy, C. A. Carlson, M. Beaulieu, John Anderson, Martin Fox, and Thomas Smith, gave contributions, or donations of money in the amount of seventy-five cents to fifty dollars. The contractor, W. E. Weaver, made an agreement with the church community that called for him to erect a building at a cost of twenty-five cents per block, when he provided them, and twelve cents when they were provided by the congregation. Father Louis Archambault, a Dominican from Farmington, helped in the construction of the church. Among the church workers were Melbert Beaulieu and his sons Francis and Fred. Melbert and Francis cleared all the trees from the wooded lot. They helped make and lay cement blocks along with Father Archambault, who dressed in overalls and helped pour cement into molds right along with the parishioners. Prior to the establishment of a Catholic Church, in Frederic, as a parish unit, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries visited the area twice a year. The best known of these missionaries were: Father Cassimer Voght O.F.M., Chrysostom Werwyst O.F.M., and finally Father Odoric Derenthal, the priest, who said the first mass in Frederic, at the home of John Matushak, in 1902. A Franciscan from Ashland, Father Odoric, was most highly remembered because of his work with the Chippewas. Given the name “Kosslnsian” which meant “Little Father”, he traveled to their homes and ministered to their spiritual needs. Gordon Holmes, a zealous Native American Catholic, from Trade Lake, was a special friend of Father Odoric. Mr. Holmes taught his children and other Native Americans their catechism. On a missionary trip to Stone Lake, Father Odoric was approached by Mrs. Pat McHale, a convert, who wanted him to build a church in Clam Falls. “I was dumbfounded,” writes Father Odoric in his diary, “at hearing such a foolish idea. He continued, “After a few weeks I received a letter from Mrs. McHale at Ashland and she said, Dear Father, We had a supper dance when the River Boys (the men delivering logs down river) passed here and we made eighty dollars.” Again she wrote, “Father we had another social and made thirty dollars. I would like the church. What name do you purpose?” Father Odoric concluded, “I sent her a pretty plan made by our brother Leonard and selected St. Michael the archangel, thinking we needed a valiant defender against the power of darkness, who was very busy in this part of the country.” The foundation of St. Michael Church in Clam Falls was laid in 1902 and served the needs of the Catholics in the area. Some families attending St. Michael were; Greeners, Malinovskys, McHales, Fahlands, Martins, Mrs. Warren Smith, Knights, Tyminskis, and Weinzierls. Many of these families became members of the St. Dominic congregation in 1944 when St. Michael closed. Dorothy Fahland, whose home contains the dresser used as an altar by the early missionaries, remembers that church was held every Sunday in Frederic but not at St. Michael. Some other things that she could recollect were that St. Michael church was smaller, that everyone dressed in his or her best to attend church, and that most people traveled by horse-drawn sleds or wagons to attend mass. Thomas Malinovsky, also a member of St. Michael, recalls a cold, stormy winter when Father Bernard Fries came to Clam Falls to say mass. Because the snow was so deep and drifted, his car got stuck, and he had to walk a quarter of a mile to the church. He said mass for the parishioners. A collection was taken up, and the total contribution was twenty-five cents. In 1907 the women of the parish formed the Women’s under the patronage of St. Rose of Lima. The guild was responsible for sponsoring bazaars and parties to help support the church. The young parish soon grew old enough to need a cemetery. In 1908 land was deeded to St. Dominic Church by the Maple Grove Cemetery Association for the sum of one dollar. This plot, adjacent to the municipal cemetery still serves the church community. Handwritten entries in baptismal records testify to the number of priests who have served the people of St. Dominic. One of the earliest was Father Joseph Fagan, a missionary from Superior, who came to say mass for the few Catholic families in Frederic. Despite the poor roads and other handicaps, the congregation moved forward. Father Fagan would sometimes pass the home of Henry VanLoo, where he would pick up Henry and his sister Alice. Henry remembers that Father Fagan drove a Chevrolet coupe, with mohair upholstery, and that Father “Drove like crazy!” According to Henry, most people came to church in wagons. To keep warm, in winter, the wagons were filled with straw and warm rocks. The rocks had been heated in kitchen ovens, prior to the ride to church. Henry remembers that many parishioners attended mass with pieces of straw stuck to their clothing. Father Fagan recalled the first venture of the Sisters of St. Joseph, who came to work, as nurses, for the Frederic hospital for 1918-1919. But, because of the lack of a daily mass in the community, they reluctantly had to leave after the short stay. At this time Frederic was one mission church, among ten or twelve, being served by the Cathedral of Superior. Missionaries sent from the cathedral were: Father Borucki, in 1918, Father Ignatius Kinney, from 1918-1920, Father M. A. Proch, from 1920-1921 and Father Henry Shaney, from 1920-1927,. Father Joseph Annabring, who later became Bishop of the Superior Diocese, came in 1927. He inaugurated vacation religious instructions; perhaps the first of its kind in the Superior Diocese. Father Ludwig Bohl came to serve as a missionary in 1929.