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Catholic Parish roots go back to 1847
By Steve Moyer
Nevada Daily Mail
A traveling Catholic priest named Donnelly stopped in Vernon County, in or near Nevada as it is today, in 1847, and stayed with an Irishman with the same last name. A German, a Kentuckian, and one other man brought their families to hear Mass. It wasn't until 1879 that it's certain that another Mass took place in Nevada.
A parish was organized in 1880 by four families with the Rev. John Daly from Montrose as pastor. The next year the church bought a lot on Pine Street between Locust and Walnut . A building was constructed "with much help" from non-Catholic neighbors.
In 1891, the church bought the Nevada Christian University for $15,000. Situated on 10 acres on the west side of Nevada, the building was purchased by the Sisters of Saint Francis from the Abbot and renamed Saint Francis Academy and Orphans Home, a school that taught both day and boarding students. "The Sisters weren't connected to the parish, however," the Rev. Anthony Pileggi, the current parish priest, said. "The only connection to the parish were the parents who sent their girls to the academy."
The number of Catholic families increased with the building of the Missouri Pacific and the Katy railroads and a new building was needed to handle the crowd. In 1897 a tract of land was purchased at the corner of Main and Allison streets at the cost of $550.
The lot was cleared and excavation done with 22 volunteer workmen and several teams of mules from Pohl's brickyard during the summer of 1899. The church was built at a cost of $3,811.24 by F. Dye.
The congregation gathered in the new church for the first time early on the morning of Christmas Day, 1899, and the church was dedicated on Jan. 14, 1900, by Bishop John J. Glennor of Kansas City, who spoke on the topic 'Gladstone, Bismarck and Leo XIII.'"
With 80 families in the parish the parishioners were saying there was a need for a school. A lot adjacent to the church was purchased and the school constructed for a total cost of $4,300. There was some dispute over what to name the school. Some wanted it to be named after Saint Joseph, the patron saint of youth, and others wanted it to have the same name as the parish. The priest, the Rev. Basil Egloff, came up with a solution. "You may vote for either or both names as many times as you wish," he said. "But each vote costs a nickel and the one that gets the most votes wins."
The school was named St. Joseph School and that name lasted until 1958 when Bishop John Cody ordered it changed to St. Mary's. The school opened in September 1905 but closed in 1917 when the Sisters of Saint Joseph were withdrawn. It reopened in 1923 with 50 students who were taught by the Sisters of Saint Francis.
The Sisters served the school for the next 48 years. They walked to the school each morning and in the winter this required them to be at the school before daylight to build fires in the pot-bellied stoves for heat.
In 1970 the side altars and communion rail were removed. "That was done so that liturgical changes by the Second Vatican Council could be implemented," Pileggi said.
Two lots adjoining the east side of the church property was purchased and in 1974 a new rectory was built. It was at this time that the Sisters of Saint Francis advised the pastor that they did not have enough teachers to staff the school and the upper grades were discontinued.
In 1980, the centennial of the parish William C. Cox, pastor of the First Baptist Church, wrote a letter to the parish. "Greetings and congratulations on your 100th birthday. We, the members of the First Baptist Church, celebrate with you and note well how you have served our Lord in you own fellowship and spread his love in our community," Cox said. "For 80 of those 100 years you have been our congenial close neighbors with a common boundary. Our steeples stand high to those who pass by, denoting a haven of rest for the soul."
A new school was built on the site of the old one in 1991 and the First Baptist Church let the parish use their Sunday School rooms while construction was going on. St. Mary's currently has 18 students and approximately 450 parishioners.
During the parish's 125 years there have been 20 priests who served the community, the latest being Pileggi. "In the summer after I got here I was standing on the parking lot and a long-horned steer came running through," Pileggi said. "I thought to myself 'What have I got myself into.'"