Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
MAZZUCHELLI, Samuel
MAZZUCHELLI, Samuel. (Milan, Italy, 1806-Feb. 23, 1864). Iowa's pioneer priest. Mazzuchelli's assignment in 1835 to the Upper Mississippi Valley, from Fort Snelling, Minnesota, to St. Louis, Missouri, extended a distance of over four hundred miles along the MISSISSIPPI RIVER and up to sixty miles inland to the east and west. With an estimated 3,500 Catholics in the parish, Mazzuchelli was responsible for the construction of more than twenty churches.
Mazzuchelli's first church in Iowa was Saint Raphael's where he hosted Independence Day celebrations at the unfinished building on July 4, 1836. At the formation of the diocese of Dubuque in 1837, he was the only priest in the area except for missionaries who worked among the Native Americans to the north.
After the arrival of Bishop Mathias LORAS in 1839, Mazzuchelli was often asked to accompany the church officials as they traveled because of his great verbal ability in English. After a visit home in 1843, Mazzuchelli asked for an assignment in Wisconsin where he established a Dominican house. In 1857 Mazzuchelli delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Loras. On July 7, 1861, Mazzuchelli assisted Bishop Clement SMYTH in blessing the present SAINT RAPHAEL'S CATHEDRAL.