St. Martin of Tours Parish – Seguin

Founded 1907

Not long after the town of Seguin was formed in western Sheridan County, a new Catholic parish was started. Settlers completed a church in 1907. Just a year later, a tornado destroyed the building. Parishioners salvaged what they could and rebuilt, and by 1916 they had a resident priest and by 1923, a parish hall.

In 1924, the church was moved one block and split in half, with 20 feet added in between. A year later, a tornado struck again, destroying the parish’s second structure.

Church services were held in the parish hall, which escaped destruction, until a new church was dedicated in 1931. Fire damaged the bell tower and choir loft in 1934.

Msgr. Michael Mulvihill implemented a novel approach in funding the parish, one that was featured in the Catholic Rural Life magazine. In 1947, he had a two-wheel trailer made to haul water to newly planted evergreens in the cemetery. He took the same trailer to the wheat fields during harvest, asking parishioners to donate one bushel per acre to the church. That year, he gathered 37 trailer loads, which raised $1,460 when sold at the local grain elevator at $2 a bushel.