NEGenWeb Project

HISTORY OF
SS PETER & PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH
Colfax County, Nebraska

Note: The following information appeared in The Schuyler Sun, June 28, 2001
SS Peter and Paul was the first Czech catholic parish in Nebraska, established in the small town of Abie in 1876. Father Joseph Hovorka was the first pastor of SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church, from 1877-1885. Father Hovorka returned to Czechoslovakia, where he died in 1923. The church continued to grow when the second pastor, Father Koutek, also from the Old Country, arrived. A second church building replaced the first at a cost of $5,000. It was built east of the present cemetery.

On June 18, 1918, the church caught fire and burned to the ground. On October 31, 1918, work began on the present church, which cost about $30,000. Stained glass windows were donated at a cost of $90. The windows were recently releaded at a cost of $4,000 each. The new church was dedicated June 29, 1920.

The rural Czech community and SS Peter and Paul congregation felt all of the historic happenings of every rural community in the area. Although many youths served their country in wars, Victor Brousek, a faithful altar boy and active youth at SS Peter and Paul, was only 21 years old when he was killed in action in Korea.

The basement of the church was planned to house a small chapel for daily Mass and for classrooms, in order to decrease heating costs. Eventually the area became part of the kitchens where 800 to 1,000 people were and are often served during the annual dinner in mid-October.

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