The first church and founding parish community members circa The church was built by early families shown here. The men donated material and labor.
The present church of St. Joseph was dedicated on Nov. Laying the cornerstone is William Bauer, president of the Parish Board, with Joseph Ausman, past president, assisting. The town of Spring Brook sits in a broad valley, which can be in viewed from Elk Mound, a 1,foot mound of earthen material that was deposited as the glaciers of long ago receded.
It is in this area, northwest of Eau Claire and halfway to Menomonie, that a number of Catholic families from Ozaukee and Sheboygan counties, of mainly German descent, arrived in the early s. Anticipating a demand for serving the spiritual needs of these early settlers, Bishop C. Subsequently, the new congregation adopted St.
Joseph as its patron and members pitched in to build a church, which they completed in Families of this first congregation include such names as Green, Paquets, Molitor, Schranz, Mickelbook, Schumacher, Simmer, Schaaf, Hanke, Blott and Ackerman, most of whom lived close to the original church.
Pete and Lucile are the folks β¦ whose family goes back to day one. All the families that go back to day one β¦ I grew up with. Many [of the families] are either no longer in the church or have moved out of the area and [it is sad] to see that part of the history [of the congregation] gone.
