| The first official action of the Catholic
Church in the Buffalo parish occurred on October 20, 1880, when Father
Spitzelberger, Perham, Minn., said Mass in a farm house near Buffalo and
joined in marriage John Curran and Miss Mary Ann Davis, with Jeremiah and
Mary Curran as witnesses. Continuing visits of Father Spitzelberger during
the next year indicated that Buffalo had reached the status of a regular
Station, a definite place visited regularly, with the church records kept
under the name heading.
During the next period, to 1886, another outstanding priest, Fr. Joseph A. Stephan, visited Buffalo as a station. He later became the head of the Catholic Bureau of Indian Missions in Washington, D.C.. In Buffalo he said Mass in the Section House occupied by Daniel O'Neil. Pastors from Casselton, Father Schmitz and Father Majerus, officially continued the work of the church from 1887 to 1890, with others filling in as necessary to hold Mass in the section house, the school house and the town hall. The actual church was built under the auspices of Father Quillinan in 1900, at a cost of $2,500. Bishop Shanley dedicated the church, naming it St. Thomas after a generous benefactor. With his appointment as pastor of St. Bernard's at Oriska, Father Lemieux inherited St. Thomas as a mission. Under this new administration the first records indicate the baptism of Ada Ann, daughter of Hubbard Grommesch and Catherine Dimmer on July 26, 1908 and the marriage of Thomas J. Moore to Miss Catherine M. Pavlik on August 12,1908. On the occasion of Golden Anniversary of the church the actual Grotto was started in 1949, being completed in 1952, with the feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7 becoming another milestone. During the time that Fr. David Wild was pastor the construction of a new hall attached to the church was completed in 1969. The interior of the church was completely renovated by 1970, with an open house being held on May 24, 1970. |