The Peoria Register and North - Western Gazetteer carried the following, on Saturday, August 24, 1839.
Wrote by Samuel H. Davis, editor and publisher:

"At the West end of Kickapoo Town the corner stone of a Catholic Church was laid a few weeks ago, and the building is now in the progress of erection. We understand that the donors felt encouraged to enlarge the design since the work was commended and the building when completed will be most respectable dimensions. We are under the impression that three are very few persons of this religious denomination among the settlers in that township, though we doubt not that the erection of this house of worship will be the means of drawing together a considerable society."

The church referred to by Mr. Davis is St. Patrick's Church, located in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Kickapoo, Illinois. Whether the church was begun in 1937, as many old-timers say or in 1839 as the historical archives record, is still debated. What is debated is that the church was most respectable for its time and it did prove to be the way of gathering a considerable society.

Father John Blaise Raho, the first priest assigned to serve the settlers of the area indicates in his letter that the corner stone was laid on August 4, 1839. Father Raho also gives the church proper historical perspective by the following inscription he placed beneath the corner stone:

"Pope Gregory XVI was reigning as the Successor to St. Peter; Bishop Joseph Rosati was Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which included the Kickapoo territory; Martin Van Buren was President of the united States and Thomas Carlin was Governor of the State of Illinois."

The church ground and the cemetery that surrounds it was donated by William Patrick Mulveny, a native of Dublin, Ireland. His grave lies a few feet South of the church. The church was built by the men and women of Kickapoo. timbers were hand hewed and pegged. the sandstone was quarried near Joliet, Illinois and hauled by oxen cart to Kickapoo. The stone was laid by men and the mortar was mixed by the women.

St. Patrick's Church remained the only Catholic Church in the area until 1861. At that time the German Catholics purchased a former Episcopalian Church in the Village of Kickapoo. this became St. Mary's Church. Mass was offered in both churches until 1921 when the present St. Mary's Church of Kickapoo was built. the two parishes were then combined and Mass was no longer offered in St. Patrick's Church on a regular basis.

St. Patrick's Church was abandoned and allowed to deteriorate until the early 1960's. At that time the Bishop Rosati Council, Knights of Columbus, in cooperation with several other Knights of Columbus Councils in Central Illinois, requested permission from Bishop John Franz, then Bishop of Peoria, to begin a restoration program for the church. Bishop Franz granted permission and the many back breaking hours for the men who volunteered their time and talent began. The restoration program took three years and two months to complete. On the Feast of All Saints, November 1, 1964 a rededication ceremony was held.

Today, the church still stands as a tribute to those who brought the faith to this part of the world and to those who for thirteen decades have preserved the faith for the present generation in the Kickapoo Area.

Perhaps the spirit that moved the pioneers to build the church in the 1830's; which inspired their descendants for many generations to worship in the church and which encouraged the local residents in the early 1960's to restore the church to its original state, best reflected on the stones in the cemetery that surrounds the church. the weather-worn tombstones record the pious sentiments of the bereaved and thoughts of humble resignation and trusting faith. through these messages cut in stone the pioneers speak to us now separated in time by many generations.

Priests Assigned to Kickapoo
The following resided in either LaSalle or Peoria