Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1907-09-20
The Cornerstone Laid.


The ceremony of laying the corner
stone of the new church at Plymouth
Rock occurred last Sunday, as previous
ly noted in the PLAIN DEALER. Father
O'Donnell, of McGregor, a former
pastor of this church, being invested
by the Archbishop with full canonical !,
faculties, laid the corner stone. The
cross bearer was John Quinn and the
acolytes were Thomas H. Whalen and
Maurice Knox. Placed in the corner
stone were copies of the PLAIN DEAL
Err, the Catholic Citizen, the building
contract, the names of contributors,
and the following interesting historical
sketch.
September Is, 1907, the corner stone
is set; Plus the Tenth being Pope;
Most Rev. j. ]. Keane being Arch
bishop of the diocese of Dubuque; Rev.
Thomas Fitzgerald being pastor; and
the rest of the building committee
being Messrs. George Ryan, William
Mullaney, Thomas Whalen, Hugh Kelly
and Thomas Fleming.
The contractors are Messrs. w. C.
Pust and Hans Holger.
The corner stone was furnished by ]:
B. Barber of Cresco and was set by
Mr.. Ole C. Olson, of Harmony. Mimi,
who also built the stone foundation.
Knowing the Mediatorial Character
of the Church, the old settlers of this
place were always distinguished for
their zeal and maintenance of religion.
''There is one God and one Mediator
between God and and man, Christ Je-
sus." But Christ as Mediator is Christ
in His fullness; Christ's mystic body,
Christ and His church. For Christ and
his members cannot be divorced, ac-
cording to the Apostle: "For as the
body is one and hath many members;
and all the members Of the body where
as they are many yet are one body, SO
also is Christ. And the eye cannot say
to the hand, need not your help; nor
again the head to the feet, / have no
need Of you" Il Cor, XII; 12-21.)
Therefore, separation from the church
spells sterility and death. The gift of
eternal life is too great to be grasped
alone, but with hands locked with
Christ's in His fullness, that is, in SO
far as we are built into the fabric of
His Mystic Body, we have strength to
contain and bear the gift Of eternal
life.
1t is a dogma Of our faith, and the
teaching of the Fathers, that incorpora.
ton with Christ's church is necessary
condition for salvation. In view OF
this doctrine, the people of this locality
erected the first Roman Catholic church
in place about one-half mile south OF
the present site some as years ago, and
later the land was bought by Martin
Ryan. The church was 2Ox3O and II
feet high. 1t was attended as an out
mission from DEBORAH; the DEBORAH
priests who attended this place were:
Fathers Lowry, McNulty and Butler.
Father Lenihan, afterwards Bishop
of Cheyenne, located the present site,
and built the second church 3Ox6O and
16 feet high.
Some IS years ago, the Plymouth
Rock Mission was attended from Cresco
under the charge of Father Mccarthy.
Father Gaffney was the first priest
in exclusive care of the Mission. Then
came Father Brogan who built the
first parochial residence. Then sue
ceeded respectively Father O'Donnell
who solemnly lays this corner stone,
Fathers Cooney and Heer, all of whom
labored for the spiritual and material
edification of the church.
Father Fitzgerald is the present
incumbent. During his administration
Of not yet fully three years, this con-
gregation of about 40 families paid
some s13, 10000 for new pastoral resi-
dence and this new church. This alone
attests the Christian devotion of our
people, many Of whom are poor fnan-
cially.
When these walls shall be wrecked,
those who helped to build them shall
probably have passed away out of this
world, and may their souls, developed
into full correspondent with the Divine
plan, be each put into it's predestiped
place in the Heavenly Temple of Christ's
Triumphant Body, and there sing in
unison the mercies of the Divine Archi-
tect for ever and ever. Amen.
Faces Death; Laughs at 1t.
Muncie. Ind, Sept. 18.-The remark
able nerve" of Charles Nicholson, the
young man who was fatally injured by
falling down coal pit in the dark
ness near Ball Brothers factory, is
a source of wonder to his physicians
and his friends alike. Although he
Knows that the hemorrhages he is suf-
fering as the result of his breast bone
penetrating lung will prove fatal,
and he realizes that death is only two
or three days away, he sits up in bed
at his boarding house and laughs and
IL = - -