St. Francis of Assisi Catholic church was established in October of 1871 by the Rev. Francis Joseph Buh, a young Austrian priest who had come to assist the Rev. Francis Pierz in the missionary territory of central Minnesota.
Father Buh was assistant to Father Pierz, then 80 years of age, at Crow Wing, later at Belle Prairie and then coming to Brainerd to establish a parish. It was he who named the parish after St. Francis of Assisi, and he continued to come here until 1880 to pastor the church.
The first church building in Brainerd was a wooden structure on South Fifth Street in the same block as the courthouse, with the Rev. P. B. Teutenberg as first resident pastor, 1883-1885.
Priests were sent out from St. Cloud, which had been designated a division of the St. Paul Diocese in 1875. In 1889, the Diocese of Duluth was established with Brainerd included. The Rev. Thomas Gleason,(1889-1890), was the first local priest to serve under the first bishop, the Most Rev. James McGolrick.
The original church and parish house were believed to have been destroyed by fire, probably while the. Rev. E. J. Lawler was pastor, 1890-1892, and a more substantial structure built.
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+ Father Pierz performed his first marriage on Dec. 6, 1852.
+ A trading post was once located on Round Lake (within 100 yards of the Cinosan, Store).
� First Baptism by Father Pierz was Gustave Jean Beaulieu, aged 2 years, on August 1, 1852.
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Property was acquired on North Ninth Street, present site of the church, and building started. Services were temporarily held in the courthouse and in the Cooperative store on 10th Street.
The Ninth Street church was completed during the pastorate of Msgr. D. W. Lynch, who served for 14 years from 1892 to 1906. He was succeeded by the Rev. J. J. OMahoney, who served from 1906 to 1920, and during whose term the parochial school was built in 1909.
The Rev. James Hogan (1920- 1942) succeeded Father OMahoney and at the 1947 Diamond Jubilee of St. Francis church, Father Hogan was the only living former pastor.
On March 9, 1933, St. Francis churcif and most of its contents were lost in a fire.
Plans were immediately formulated for a new church and the present Romanesque style building was started on July 1, 1933. Services during the construction period were held in Franklin Junior High school and a small chapel in St. Francis school.
The first Mass was celebrated in the new St. Francis church on Feb. 11, 1934, with the Most Rev. Thomas A Welch, Bishop of Duluth, formally dedicating the church on June 3 of that year.
Because of the depression years, the sanctuary and other interiors of the church were fitted temporarily and not completed until 1948. A statue of St. Francis for the exterior entrance was a gift of school children, who also have given other furnishings as have parishioners.
On July 17, 1942, the Very Rev. Thomas F. Scott (Msgr. Scott after 1961) became the 20th pastor of St. Francis church, coming here from Floodwood. The parish debt of $40,000 was liquidated in 1945; changes and modernizations were made in the sanctuary; a new school and recreational facilities were built increasing the value of parish property to $1/2 million.
Because of the growth of the parish and over-crowded facilities, a new parish was created in April of 1963, the parish of St. Andrew's. In addition to land for a parish complex and furnished home for the resident pastor, St. Francis was able to give $200,000 in cash for the new parish.
After serving the parish for 27 years, Msgr. Scott died Dec. 18, 1968, while attending a Diocesan meeting in Duluth. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dennis McEnery, present pastor, in 1969, with the Rev. Gabriel Brennan, assistant.
Extensive remodeling of St. Francis rectory and improvements to the convent were accomplished in 1969,and this Centennial year of the church, extensive work is being done in the interior of the church.
During the 100 years of its existence, St. Francis church has had 17 young men in the priesthood, two religious brothers and 24 girls become Nuns.
There are presently 884 families, a total of 3,100 members, in the parish.
The local priests serve as chaplains at St. Joseph's hospital and a mission at St. Thomas of the Pines.
Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1871-1971).
