In the northeastern corner of Effingham County lies the township of St. Francis. Being principally prairie, and therefore favorably adapted for agricultural and grazing purposes, it was not long, when the tide of immigration was at its height in the last century, until settlers began to penetrate the swamps and high prairie grass of the future St. Francis Township, and convert its primeval lowlands into prosperous farms.

The only village in the township is Montrose, a place of about 375 inhabitants. It is situated in the southwestern quarter of Section 3 of the township. The village was laid out by J.B. Johnson, the proprietor of the land, in the summer of 1870. Stores were soon opened carrying "a miscellaneous assortment of merchandise." But in the rising village two of the most energetic and successful businessmen were Mr. Phil Wiwi and Mr. Nicholas Dockendorf, Catholics. The former opened (1871) the third store- "a neat business house"-of general merchandise. "In addition to his mercantile business, Mr. Wiwi erected a grain house which he operated very successfully, handling more grain during the year than was shipped from any other point on the road of the same size. He opened a market for live stock also, and was considered one of the heaviest shippers in the county. Mr. Dockendorf together with a partner operated a mill with great success. The other Catholic pioneers were mostly German and Irish farmers.

Prior to the year 1879 the Catholics of Montrose, Woodbury, Jewett, and Toledo attended the churches either at Teutopolis, Spring Point, or one of the other churches in the vicinity. The Church at Spring Point has long since passed out of existence. It was situated some three or four miles north of Montrose, near the William Myers's farm it was attended by Franciscan Fathers from St. Joseph College, Teutopolis, Illinois  

Towards the year 1879, chiefly owing to the efforts of Mr. Phil Wiwi, this small group of Catholics determined to have their own church. Going back to the summer of 1878, a delegation of three- Mr. Phillip Wiwi, Mr. Nicholas Dockendorf and Mr. Hirschfeld- called on the Franciscan Fathers at St. Joseph College, Teutopolis, Illinois to consult with the Superior of the Franciscan Commissariat and the Rector of the College, the Very Reverend Mauritius Klostermann, OFM as to the possibility of having regular services at Montrose. They assured the Reverend Rector that a parish could be organized at Montrose consisting of about twenty-five families and that they were willing to assume all the debts of the new church, a condition demanded absolutely by Father Mauritius. Receiving such assurances the Reverend Rector promised that whenever a Father could be spared they would have services.

In January 1879 a site for the new church was purchased. The plans for the church were drawn up by Brother Adrian Wewer, O.F.M., architect. Mr. Nicholas Gehl of Sigel, Illinois superintended the construction of the edifice, which cost $1570.00. The new church "displays a great deal of taste and is an ornament to the town." The little frame church was soon completed and on November 9, 1879, the Very Reverend Mauritius Klostermann, O.F.M., with St. Rose of Lima-America's first Saint-as patron.

. The task of organizing the new St. Rose of Lima Parish fell to the lot of Reverend Francis Haase, O.F.M., who also directed the parish for the first six years of its existence. Father Francis was indefatigable in organizing the parish and in furnishing the new House of God. He begged vestments, a chalice, a monstrance and other articles necessary for Divine Services.

Some two or three years later, thieves broke into the church and carried off the monstrance, ciborium and other things. A Protestant minister, upon his return from church near Dexter, Illinois, noticed a thief climbing out of a window. The latter, spying the minister took flight leaving behind a sack, which contained articles stolen at Montrose. When this was found out at Montrose, Mr. Wiwi's son, George, quickly drove over with a team to recover the monstrance and the ciborium, etc. The horses, valued at $300, died from exhaustion caused by over-spirited driving. This was a heavy loss for Mr. Wiwi, but he felt compensated in the recovery of the church articles.

At the time when the parish was organized, Mr. Wiwi had engaged a private tutor, Miss Lena Wessel, to instruct his children. However, the Catholic children of the neighborhood also attended these classes which were conducted in the room above Mr. Wiwi's store. The teacher was a good Catholic and hence the curriculum of studies included also Christian Doctrine. As soon as Mr. Wiwi's children had received their First Holy Communion, the teacher was dismissed and hence the school was closed.

The second pastor was Reverend Hugolinus Storff, O.F.M. The credit of having been the fist one to attempt a parochial school at Montrose belongs to Father Hugolinus. He was spurred on by the low standard of education that prevailed among the children in the county, many of whom could neither read nor write. He again engaged the service's of Miss Lena Wessel who conducted regular classes in the church for an entire year. After that it was discontinued. Another unsuccessful attempt at conducting a parochial school was made under the pastorship of Reverend Valentine Doerenkemper, O.F.M. Since then no further attempt has been made to establish a Catholic school at Montrose.

St. Rose Parish owes very much to its tenth Pastor, the Reverend Timothy Magnien, O.F.M. In his zeal he prevailed upon the Reverend Rector of St. Joseph College to send another Father to Montrose so that Services could be held twice a month. He labored zealously to raise the standard of the spiritual life of the parishioners. The various societies were quickened to new life. Altars and statues were procured for the church. He brought the entire parish together in several festive gatherings and to add to the solemnity, he procured the services of the choir and orchestra of St. Joseph College.

The Church records show that the following Franciscan Fathers were either pastors or conducted services at Montrose between the years 1879 to 1925, in the order given herein: Francis Haase, 1879-84; Hugoline Storff, 1884-85; Fidelis Kaercher, 1885-86; Stephen Scholz, 1886-88; Valentine Doerenkemper, 1888-91; Bonaventure Faulhaber, 1891-95; Walfried Rompe, 1895-97; Clemet Moormann, 1897-98; Ignatius Reinkemeyer; Hilary Kieserling; Eugene Hagedorn; Theodosius Plassmeyer; George Wetenkamp; Celestine Kaiser; Timothy Magnien, 1899-1901; Apollinarus Johmann, 1901-03; Cosmos Garmann, 1904-06; Honorate Bonzelet, 1906-07; Clementine Hagen, 1907-08; Gratian Gehring, 1908; Didacus Gruenholz, 1908-10; Benvenute Muller, 1910-13; Cyrinus Schneider, 1913-16; Berard Zehnle, 1916-17; Joseph C. Meyer, 1917; Lambert Brinkmoeller, 1917-18; Emmanuel Behrendt, 1918; Vitalis Bartkowiak, 1918-20; Ephrem Muench, 1920-24; Maximilian Klotzbucher, 1924-25; Angelus Zwiesler, 1925-----.

Right Reverend James A. Griffin, D.D., visited the parish in 1924, and arranged with the Franciscan Monastery at Teutopolis to give the parish regular services every Sunday.

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 Joseph J. Thompson, editor, Diocese of Springfield in Illinois Diamond Jubilee 1853-1928 (Hartman Printing Company, Springfield, Illinois 1928), pp. 435-436