History of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Stoneham, Texas St. Joseph Catholic Church was established in 1909 by a group of Polish-speaking immigrants from the Grimes Prairie, Stoneham and Plantersville areas. For many years, Stoneham’s Polish community worshiped either with the Polish community of St. Stanislaus in Anderson or with the Ukrainian-German community of St. Mary in Plantersville. In 1909, because of historical rivalries and antagonism rooted in the Old World and the arrival of a new pastor at St. Mary, the Polish community in the Stoneham area separated itself from the Plantersville community, joining itself with the Polish community of Anderson as a mission, and built its own sanctuary in the present location, under the spiritual leadership and jurisdiction of the Polish-speaking pastor of St. Stanislaus in Anderson. This arrangement would last until 1967 when jurisdiction would be transferred to St. Mary in Plantersville with St. Joseph as its Mission. This is the present status, uniting the communities of St. Mary and St. Joseph.
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History of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Plantersville, Texas On February 2, 1894, the Right Reverend Nicholas A. Gallager, Bishop of the German Roman Catholic Church of the Diocese of Galveston purchased for $30.00 the parcel of land where St. Mary’s now stands. The seller was Cordella H. A. Baker, Executrix of the Jack Baker Estate. This parcel was out of the league of land granted to John Landrum as a Colonist in Austin’s Colony.
History of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Chappell Hill, Texas The polish community of Chappell Hill is situated in Washington County, midway between Houston and Austin. Chappell Hill was a progressive, small town before the Civil War. The land was very fertile, and under normal conditions produced good cotton and corn crops. Yield per acre of cotton was normally one to one and one-half bales, and corn was six to eight bushels per acre. The agricultural opportunity was one of the reasons Polish immigrants flocked to Washington County.
