About St. Patrick · Eastman, Wisconsin
St. Patrick Catholic Parish serves the rural Crawford County communities of Seneca and Eastman in southwestern Wisconsin, in the Diocese of La Crosse. The parish church sits on State Highway 27 outside the Village of Seneca, with the parish rectory at 106 Main Street in Seneca, and is pastored together with neighboring parishes in the Northern Crawford Community (NCC) cluster. Sunday Mass is the heart of parish life, accompanied by weekday Masses, an annual bazaar featuring a famous smoked pork-chop dinner, and stewardship projects such as a recently launched roof-painting fund.
- Established
- 1872
- Patron
- St. Patrick
- Rector
- Rev. Thomas Huff
- Diocese
- Diocese of La Crosse
Why belong here
St. Patrick's offers the full traditional rhythm of a small-country Catholic parish: a Sunday morning Mass at 7:30 a.m., a Saturday evening vigil Mass at 7:00 p.m., and weekday Masses on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Rooted in the rich pioneer Catholic heritage of Crawford County since 1855 and formally established in 1872, the parish remains a tight-knit community where the annual bazaar, smoked pork-chop dinner, basket raffle, cemetery stewardship, and roof-painting fund are hands-on ways to belong. The parish shares clergy with neighboring St. Philip (Rolling Ground) and St. Mary (Gays Mills) under the Catholic Churches of NCC umbrella, so visitors and new parishioners find an actively shared pastoral life across the Northern Crawford Community.
Mass times at St. Patrick
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. (before Mass)
Parish History & Pioneer Catholic Heritage
Catholic worship in the Seneca/Eastman area predates the parish by nearly two decades. Father Lucien Galtier, a French priest from Prairie du Chien, said the area's first known Mass in the log home of Robert Garvey in November 1855. Within a few years two log mission churches were built: St. Peter's in the Garvey Settlement and St. Mark's in Copper Creek. A small frame St. Peter's was erected in 1866 on land that later became the Lawrence Kneeland farm. On May 10, 1872, Bishop Michael Heiss of the newly created Diocese of La Crosse formally established St. Patrick Parish of Seneca by decree and appointed Father Chrysostom Veryst as its first resident pastor. Father Veryst built the present stone church, which was dedicated on October 25, 1874. The parish's 1972 centennial book (St. Patrick Parish Seneca, WI 1872–1972) documents this pioneer Catholic heritage and remains a key reference on the parish website.
- First area Mass: November 1855 in Robert Garvey home by Fr. Lucien Galtier
- St. Peter's log mission: 'a few years' after 1855 in the Garvey Settlement
- St. Mark's log mission: 1859, Copper Creek, land donated by Lawrence Bird
- Frame St. Peter's: 1866
- Kneeland Cemetery land donation: 1870 by Thomas Kneeland (three acres)
- Parish canonically erected: May 10, 1872 by Bishop Michael Heiss
- First resident pastor: Fr. Chrysostom Veryst (May 1872 – c. 1880)
- Present stone church dedicated: October 25, 1874
- Fr. Patrick Murphy of Rising Sun died Oct. 16, 1874 and is buried at St. Patrick Cemetery
Parish Identity & Clergy
St. Patrick Parish is pastored by Rev. Thomas Huff, who serves as pastor for the three Northern Crawford Community (NCC) parishes: St. Patrick (Seneca/Eastman), St. Philip (Rolling Ground), and St. Mary (Gays Mills). The parish belongs to the Diocese of La Crosse and sits within the Prairie du Chien Deanery. The NCC cluster shares a single parish website, contact details, and stewardship calendar.
- Pastor: Rev. Thomas Huff
- Diocese: La Crosse
- Deanery: Prairie du Chien
- Cluster: Catholic Churches of Northern Crawford Community (NCC)
- Parish phone: 608-734-3252
- Rectory/mailing: PO Box 35, 106 Main St, Seneca, WI 54654
Kneeland Cemetery & St. Peter's Frame Church Site
The three-acre Kneeland Cemetery, donated to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1870 by pioneer Thomas Kneeland as a Catholic burial ground, is the parish's oldest piece of real property and predates the current church building. It lies off Highway 'E', west of Highway 27, and is the site of the parish's early 'little frame church' of St. Peter. St. Patrick Parish continues to steward this historic cemetery, which is registered with the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. The cemetery is treated as both a sacred place for parishioners and a financial asset of the parish, with an active volunteer restoration program.
- Donated 1870 by Thomas Kneeland (3 acres) to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee; deeded to the Diocese of La Crosse in 1872
- Site of the 1866 'little frame church' of St. Peter, built in the Garvey Settlement
- Burial place of early pioneer parishioners and area settlers
- Restoration projects include: mowing/trimming, GPR scanning for unmarked graves, metal-detector survey, headstone cleaning and repair, perimeter marking, planned entrance arch/gate, and mapping the original 'little frame church' site
- Active volunteer group; donations may be mailed to the parish (Kneeland Cemetery Fund) or placed in the parish collection box
- Registered with the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison
Parish Life & Annual Bazaar
Parish life centers on the Sunday Mass, the men's and women's societies that keep the church and grounds in repair, and the parish bazaar — the signature community fundraiser featuring a Smoked Pork-Chop Dinner, games, and a basket raffle. The 2026 bazaar is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, with dinner served 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Annual Bazaar & Smoked Pork-Chop Dinner (Sunday after Labor Day weekend)
- Basket Raffle — coordinated by parishioner Susie Garfoot
- Games and raffles for parish fellowship
- Cluster-wide NCC outreach (AppleFest food stand with St. Mary's Gays Mills)
- Volunteer counts toward student service hours
Stewardship & Parish Maintenance
In addition to ordinary offertory giving, the parish has launched a Church Roof Painting Fund to repaint the church's aging and rusted roof. A generous parishioner has pledged to match donations up to $10,000; with another $10,000 from parishioners, the full $20,000 project can be funded. Donations marked 'Roof Repainting Fund' may be mailed to the rectory or placed in the collection box.
- Church Roof Painting Fund — $20,000 total goal with $10,000 matching pledge
- Restricted donation envelopes marked 'Roof Repainting Fund'
- Ongoing cemetery maintenance fund at Peoples State Bank, Seneca
- Volunteer maintenance teams for cemetery grounds
Sacraments & Pastoral Contact
Masses, Confessions, and Eucharistic Adoration are accessible through the parish schedule; baptisms, marriages, anointing of the sick, and other sacraments are arranged through the rectory during normal hours. The rectory (106 Main Street, Seneca) and parish phone (608-734-3252) are the main points of pastoral contact.
- Confession: Sunday 7:30 – 8:00 a.m. (before Mass)
- Baptism / Marriage / Anointing: by appointment through the rectory
- Pastoral care for the homebound coordinated via the NCC pastoral team
Catholic Churches of Northern Crawford Community (NCC)
St. Patrick Parish is one of three parishes in the Catholic Churches of Northern Crawford Community (NCC), sharing a pastor, website, and pastoral team. The cluster serves rural Crawford County in southwestern Wisconsin. Resources, schedules, and contact information for all three parishes are centralized on the NCC website at catholicchurchesofncc.com.
- St. Patrick Parish, Seneca/Eastman
- St. Philip Parish, Rolling Ground (First Fridays 8:30 a.m.; First Sundays 10:30 a.m.)
- St. Mary Parish, Gays Mills
- Kneeland Cemetery (Seneca) — St. Patrick Parish
- St. James Cemetery (Rising Sun) — linked to the cluster
- Shared website: https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Chrysostom Veryst (Verwyst)May 1872 – c. 1880
First resident pastor; appointed by Bishop Michael Heiss immediately after the parish was canonically erected in May 1872. Built and dedicated the present stone church on October 25, 1874.