SAINT JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC CHURCH

Pilot Grove, Missouri

In 1827, Samuel Roe, a Methodist, claimed land from the government which comprised most of what we know as Pilot Grove. The village was to the north at the "Pilot Grove." When the M.K.T. railroad laid tracks and established a depot, business moved from nearby Mt.Vernon, Clear Creek and the village to plots on the Roe farm. He donated a plot to Father. John Conrad, O.S.B., in 1893 for a church site on Fourth and Harris Streets. Later, the rest of the block was purchased for a school, run by the Benedictine Sisters from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

This was the beginning of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. In the spring of 1893 Joseph Ganter, whose brick yard was in the old village, was given the contract to make the bricks. Except for part of the masonry work, all the labor and materials were donated by the parishioners, who numbered about 30 families, using local clay and coal for firing, bricks were ready and construction began in the spring of 1894. The dedication took place September 15^th

During the next ten years the congregation swelled with the many Irish Railroad employees and it was necessary to enlarge and remodel. In 1929 the basement for a new church was begun, but the hard times of the Depression prevented completion. Using the finished basement, Farther Becker enlarged community activities; a hot lunch program, a cannery employing 20 people, a moving picture show, a skating rink, a 4-H group and a vocational program for youth. A convent school had been built on the site of the original church.

In 1951 the present mission-style church was built. Those whose lives were touched by St. Joseph’s return every fall for a homecoming dinner on the grounds. The 100^th year anniversary will be celebrated in 1993.

St. Joseph’s had its earliest beginnings long ago, but not far away, when Stephen Young and Lawrence Sommers came from Germany and settled on government land at Clear Creek in the 1840’s . Twenty-one families followed and a BRIG, A missionary priest hearing of the settlement, rode on horseback from Taos, Missouri, to serve Mass. He was Farther Helias, a Jesuit, known as the " Apostle of Central Missouri." Later Rev. George Tuerk came weekly from Boonville. The handmade log cabin on land donated by the Sommers served as church and school. By 1856, St. John’s and its school were the major Catholic center outside of Boonville Missions were established at St. Martin’s and Pilot Grove in the 1870’s, both located on the Boonville-Georgetown road.

 St. Martin’s had a brick church and frame school building which served the area and became a rail stop for visitors to Chouteau Springs. The school included a home for the faculty Sisters and boarding school for students. The school and church closed in 1967. Only the cemetery remains on the land donated by Daniel Martin, who came for Bavaria. The earliest burial in the cemetery is that of the Martin’s daughter, Agnes, in 1865.

St. John’s at Clear Creek is now a mission of St. Joseph’s and actively serves the rural community. Many of the parishioners are descendants of the first 23 families.

According to the Luke Gospel, Helis was the father of Joseph, the father of Jesus. The Jesuit missionary chose the name Helias when he was ordained a priest and it could be said that he is the father of St. Joseph’s Church.

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