Churches

An index to the churches in Schuyler County, Illinois.

Catholics Held Meetings Here As Early As 1838 Rushville had a small Catholic group, numbering eight families, as early as 1838, a fact that is certified by the reports of missionary priests coming from St. Louis, Mo. Previous to the year 1844, the western part of Illinois was included in the jurisdiction of the bishop of St. Louis, and many prominent priests visited Rushville in that early period. Of these may be mentioned Father Peter Paul Lefevere, later bishop of Detroit, Mich., who referred to Rushville as a possible out-mission of the old ghost parish, Fountain Green. This was in … Read more

The Roman CatholicChurchby Howard F. Dyson The CatholicChurchThe Rushville Times,October 7, 1948

Since early in the’sixties, the Roman Catholics have had services in Rushville, but the congregation was never large enough to support a resident priest.  In the early days, when Rushville was a parish in the Chicago diocese, services were held at the home of Patrick Fox, and the priest made regular visits hereto minister to the little congregation.  About 1870 the present church building was erected, and services are held once a month. When the diocese of Peoria was erected in 1870, Rushville parish was included in the territory taken from the Chicago diocese. Excerpted from Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois … Read more