10/03/2026
One hundred and seventy-five years ago, in October 1851, St. Michael Parish completed construction of its first church. One hundred years ago, on October 3, the parishioners of St. Michael celebrated the Diamond (75th) Jubilee of that church, which by then had been attached to the main church and served (and still does) as the Chapel. The Diamond Jubilee was acknowledged as a celebration of an “epoch” time, and, according to the following excerpts from an article in the Minster Post dated October 2, 1926, “in later years when it is remembered as one of the outstanding events in the history of the village it will serve as an encouraging element to men and women of later generations.”
The Diamond Jubilee of St. Michael Church
to be Celebrated on Next Sunday, October 3, 1926
Congregation at Ft. Loramie will offer Entertainment to Multitude
The pastor and the members of St. Michael Catholic congregation at Ft. Loramie are reveling in a thrilling state of expectancy at this particular time, and the citizens of neighboring communities are observing their enthusiastic maneuvers with pleasurable interest. These people have decided to make Sunday, October 3, a festival day in the affairs of their church and because the program with all attendant items will refer to the succeeding events of this body, it is expected that it will prove to be an epoch time in the history of the community.
Viewed from the foreground as a religious demonstration, it arouses in the breast of every observing individual a spirit of gratitude to an All-Wise Being in Whose name every distinct movement of the organization has been carried forward; while in later years when it is remembered as one of the outstanding events in the history of the village it will serve as an encouraging element to men and women of later generations.
During the period between 1838 and 1849 Father Louis Navaron was the central figure in religious affairs in that locality. During these years of great struggle and much privation among the men and women of the locality, services were held in a log house that stood at the site where the Quinlin drug store is now located. But the faithful worshippers had dreamed of a more pretentious place in which to worship. With their axes, their hatchets and their saws they set themselves to work to erect a church house during the year of 1849, and victory came in due time. It was while the men were engaged in this work that an epidemic of cholera pounded down upon the community and spread terror in every direction. The work was necessarily delayed and the matter of financing was interfered with because of so much sickness and many deaths. The building was completed in the year 1851, and it was during that same year when Father August Berger was assigned to the pastorate.
***Missing from the Minster Post article but included in the Sidney Daily News and the Shelby County Democrat were details about the celebration: St. Michael Church at Fort Loramie celebrates its Diamond Jubilee on Sunday, October 3rd, and for the occasion a big pageant will be given by the school children of Fort Loramie beginning at 2 o’clock. Church service at 10:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. Supper served at 4:00 P.M. on the school grounds until everyone is served. Also plenty of entertainment. Music furnished by the Sidney Band.
