History

On June 17, 1905, Henry Klaas, John Kehle, Valentine Fitsch, Peter Schmidt and Joseph Weilandt, Catholics of German-descent from Klaasville, Indiana, purchased farmland from the Highland Colony Company at Calhoun, Mississippi. Total cost was $22,000. Optimistically they changed the name of the community to Gluckstadt (Lucky Village). In the fall, nine families moved their household furnishings, farm implements and livestock to the South in Illinois Central Railroad “immigrant cars.” Over the winter they worked to build new homes and clear land in preparation for the spring planting.

In the first few years, the community gathered in the Klaas home for Mass when either of two German-speaking priests could come; usually once a month. Other Sundays, they rode in wagons or walked along the railroad tracks to Canton, a 10 mile round-trip.

Father A.P. Heick of Holy Ghost Church in Jackson encouraged the settlers to build a school which could serve as a church as well. In 1911, on 4 acres of land acquired from Joseph Weilandt, the men built a battan-board, one-room, one-teacher school. The building also served as a church.  In 1914, Father Heick reported 47 Catholics at the mission. New families came: the Aulenbrocks, Minningers and the Weisenbergers. Finally with help from the Extension Society, the settlers contracted to build a church for $1,750. On November 25, 1917, it was dedicated in honor of St. Joseph. Unfortunately, the church building was destroyed in a fire but a second church was built and dedicated in June of 1929. On Good Friday, April 12, 1968, misfortune struck the community again. The second St. Joseph Church burned to the ground. The following seven years, the community gathered for Mass in the Parish Hall. The old school house had been enlarged in 1952 to serve as a community hall. The original one-room school became a kitchen. In the crisis, the building was returned to its original useful purpose.  When funds were finally available, the present Heritage Hall was dedicated on April 6, 1975 and served as the church until the completion of the present church.  In 2006, St Joseph was named a Parish after having been a mission parish for 101 years. An official Groundbreaking Mass for the current church building was held on Sunday, November 21, 2010 and parishioners were pleased to celebrate a Dedication Mass for the new sanctuary on Sunday, October 16, 2011.  In August of 2022, a fulltime pastor was appointed to St. Joseph Gluckstadt.

Annual harvest festivals were started for fund raising and proved very popular. Chicken barbecues, game booths, raffles and bingo are all part of past memories. Gradually, these barbecues evolved to chicken spaghetti dinners and then to the popular “Red Beans and Rice Festival”.  St. Joseph's Germanfest was the major fundraiser for over 30 years and served as an attempt to retain the legacy of the forefathers. Many people throughout the state of Mississippi and the United States attended. Throughout the years Gluckstadt's St. Joseph Catholic Church has continued to be a pioneer congregation exhibiting the virtues of hard work, devotion to family, to the land and to the community and thanksgiving to God.

“FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, I AM THERE IN THEIR MIDST.” - MATTHEW 18:20