St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Williams seats 228 people. On Sunday, most of them were filled as people gathered to celebrate. Archbishop Thomas Zincula came from Dubuque and was the principal celebrant of the special anniversary Mass. He was assisted by Concelebrants the Rev. Francis Anane, current pastor of St. Mary’s, and former priests the Rev. Stephen Meyer and the Rev. Carl A. Ries.

Sunday was also the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the day Catholics around the world contemplate the significance of the cross as the instrument of their salvation, and the 70th birthday of Pope Leo XIV, the first American to be elected pope, spiritual leader of the Catholic Church.

There was unmistakable joy as families recalled the baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals that defined their lives here. Many former members returned to join the celebration, and attendees came from across Iowa and even from other states for the special commemorative Mass.

Catholic settlers came to Williams from Bohemia, Canada, France, Ireland and Germany. Their motivations were many. Some were escaping military conscription, others escaping famine. Most were drawn by the promise of a new life, a rare opportunity to start over in a new land.

— Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Kolleen Taylor
The Holy Spirit Sisters from Carroll and Webster City opened the program celebrating the St. Mary’s Catholic Church 150th anniversary at the Williams Community Center Sunday.

The parish has been blessed with several thorough, well-documented histories, including a complete list of priests who have served the parish and the changes to the building and liturgy during their tenure.

One of the most interesting records is a list of early settlers, and the year they came to Williams.

1868 — Tom Duffy family

1869 — Haijsman, Doyle and Duffy families

1870 — Gleason family

1874 — Frank Murphy family

1876 — Brady and Lynn families

1877 — Kearney family

1878 — Franklin family

1879 — Andrew Smith family

1881 — Mason family

1883 — Maury family

1884 — Ricke and Dennis Murphy families

1887 — Handfelt family

1894 — Butler family

1900 — Maubach family

1913 — Benjamin Hall family

As a testament to the permanency of Williams, St. Mary’s parish and life in rural Iowa, a number of descendants of these pioneers are still attending St. Mary’s five, six, even seven generations later.

Among the pioneers of the parish, more came from Ireland than anywhere else, and a review of the names of priests assigned to St. Mary’s reveals a preponderance of Irish surnames. It was common for the members of ethnic Catholic parishes to request a priest of their own nationality.

In his homily, Archbishop Zincula asked that Williams’ first settlers be remembered as “people of modest means whose hard labor prevailed over uncertainty. When times were tough, they didn’t lose heart, but sacrificed again. This mirrors the suffering of Christ on the cross.”

He also asked for “a moment of thanksgiving for all God has done for the generations before us,” and admonished attendees to “hand on your faith to your children and grandchildren.”

Archbishop Thomas Zincula has served as Archbishop of Dubuque since 2023. Before that, he was Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport from 2017-2023. He is a native of Mount Vernon.