St. Joseph Church - Westphalia, Missouri
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 26.426 W 091° 59.774
15S E 587599 N 4255160
Historic Catholic Church in the small central Missouri community of Westphalia.
Waymark Code: WMCVVY
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 10/16/2011
Views: 4
In the summer of 1835, a small group of Westphalian families settled along the Big Maries River, Two of the groups Dr. Bernard Bruns and a Mr. Bartman, located on the bend of the river near the present site of the town and, in the following year, opened a store. Lack of funds, the difficult task of clearing the land and preparing it for cultivations and disease and loneliness discouraged many. A few who had the means to do so returned to Germany, but other immigrants continued to augment the group that remained, and conditions slowly improved. In the spring of 1837, a log chapel was built, and in it, a year later. Father Ferdinand Benoit Marie Guislain Helias d'Huddeghem celebrated Mass. Father Helias named the log chapel in honor pf St. Joseph, patron saint of Belgium.
Soon after his arrival. Father Helias purchased 40 acres from Francis Geisberg and laid out the town of New Westphalia --now Westphalia. From this village, Father Helias conducted his missionary activities throughout central Missouri. Indefatigable in his work, he was often very outspoken and so antagonized many of his parishioners. In the spring of 1842, he returned to St. Louis, leaving affixed to the church door a Latin distich of his own composition. Translated, it reads:
Why should the man who courts hardships hie to the dusky Indies?
Let him come to Westphalia and he will find hardships aplenty.
Within a few months, however, he became the resident priest of Taos where he remained until his death 30 years later.
In 1848, the log chapel was replaced by the present ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, a buff stone structure in modified Romanesque design. The present spire was added in 1883. In the sacristy are preserved a small antique painting, said to have been sent to Father Helias by his mother, the Countess of Lens, antique silver religious vessels, and an elaborately embroidered cope that was once used by Pope Boniface VII. - Missouri: A Guide to the "Show Me" State, Tour 8, pg. 467.
The church continues to serve its parish and continues to play a significant role in this small central Missouri community. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.