The first Catholic Church.

One of the first things settlers of the area sought was someone to guide their spiritual needs. Preacher Martens was not an ordained minister, but he married and buried and baptized people of all faiths until regular ministers began arriving. Some people wondered for years whether their grandparents or parents were legally married through the vows taken at the hand of Preacher Martens; but he was a justice of the peace, so they were bound good and tight!

By 1885, Manning had five religious denominations conducting services regularly: Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Christian, and German Lutheran. The Manning census of 1895 lists 451 Lutherans, 135 Methodists, 115 Christians, 96 Presbyterians, 73 Catholics, 14 Congregationalists, 7 United Bretherns, 5 Universalists, 5 Baptists, 3 Evangelicals, 2 Episcopals, 2 from the Church of England, and 242 listing no religious belief.

Today, six denominations hold regular services in or near Manning: Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Zion Lutheran, Trinity Lutheran, and Baptist.

The Catholic parish in Manning traces its origin to the first Mass offered in the area in 1866 in the home of James Martin. In those early years Manning was considered "mission" territory and was served by visiting priests who on occasion visited the area to administer the sacraments. In 1889 a Father O'Farrell moved to Manning and served the Catholics at Buck Grove and Manilla as well. At this time a small wooden frame church was built on land donated by the Milwaukee Railroad Company.

The Catholic property was advertised for sale at the Carroll court house in 1894 because of back taxes. The parishioners were in dire straights because of a drought that year. Mr. Edward Signall, a non-Catholic, came forward with $1,000 to redeem it. Money was raised to repay Mr. Signall and a clear deed to the property was submitted to the Archbishop of Dubuque, who was responsible for the north half of the state. In 1889 Manning was no longer the center of the mission territory and the priest moved his residence to Manilla. Manning was assigned to Halbur in 1909 and Father Baemler was the pastor. In 1911 Manning was assigned to the Dedham parish and in 1915 the priest at Templeton administered the mission in Manning.

In 1916, the Bishop of Sioux City, who now had charge of the 24 counties in northwest Iowa, sent Father John Berger as resident pastor. The parish built a new church and purchased the Nicholas Schilling house to serve as a rectory. The makeshift rectory served the parish until 1980, when a new rectory was completed with adequate facilities to house the offices and quarters needed in the administration of a parish.

The Catholic cemetery came into being early in the history of Catholicism in the area. Land was purchased in 1878, by Joe, James and Tom Finnerty and Edward Signall (whose wife was a Catholic); the earliest burial was M. S. Schnitter, 24 years of age, who was buried in 1882. Edward Signall, the early non-Catholic benefactor of the parish, converted to Catholicism before he died and is buried in the cemetery he donated next to his wife and eight of his ten children.

The first Catholic marriage was recorded August 28, 1887, between John F. Mulloy and Catherine O'Leary.

In 1920 Manning was given a mission to serve at Lidderdale, and the Manning pastor traveled each Sunday to Lidderdale for Mass.

Early pastors were Fathers Wolfe, O'Malley, J. J. Keane, J. A. Roder, John Achatz and Thomas Molloy, who came in 1954. Under Father

Molloy new impetus was given to building a badly needed church to house the growing parish. The present church was dedicated on June 6, 1956, and the old church was converted into a parish center and the children were taught religion classes in that building and in the basement of the rectory. In 1962 Father P. J. Nooney was named to succeed Father Molloy, who was appointed pastor of the Onawa parish.

In 1967 the parish was given to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and Father Vasti, MSC, was the first missionary pastor; he was followed by Father Norbert Weber, MSC, who served as pastor for nine years. During his administration the parish build a new parish center with adequate class rooms for the growing parish. The Lshaped building was dedicated in 1970. In the years following, plans were made to provide an adequate rectory and the property on the west side of the block was purchased for the building of a future rectory and parking lots.

Rt. Rev. Msgr. Edward V. Vollmer, who served the diocese from May, 1941 until his untimely death at age 49 in 1963, is the only vocation to the priesthood from Manning. However, there are vocations to the religious life.

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart withdrew from the administration of the Manning parish in January, 1977. Rev. Msgr. Dean P. Walker was appointed pastor in January of the same year. In 1978 contracts were let for the building of the new Sacred Heart Rectory with completion date in the spring of 1980.

From humble beginnings in the parlor of the James Martin home, the Manning parish has experienced a steady growth. It is a relatively young parish with around 260 families and numbering some 850 souls. It is one of the few parishes in the state where there is an increase in the number of farm operators, as compared to a census of the area 20 years ago.