Parish during 1853-1905

Rev. Joseph Patchowski, J, a priest from Corpus Christi, Newport, was the first to offer Holy Masses at the homes of Frank Bezold and Joseph Goetz. The first church and school were built of logs and were constructed under the supervision of Father Voll. There is a Baptismal record signed by him in 1853, which states that he baptized a person, "in the Church of St. Peter." Succeeding Father Voll were Fathers Schaudenback, Schweiger, Schulte and Spitzelberger.

In September of 1857, the first full-time Catholic school was opened and conducted in German. The first teacher was Mr. Silbersack, a member of the parish. At this time the Pastor of Four Mile held Masses once a month.

In August of 1864, Bishop Carrell appointed a recently ordained priest, Rev. John Stephany, who was a native of Phortz, Rheinpfalz and Bavaria, as the first resident pastor. Shortly after assuming the pastorate, Father Stephany began the building of a brick church to replace the log church, which had become too small to accommodate all the members. Mr. McCardy owned the property upon which the church was built. He donated 10 acres for the purpose of building a church, school and rectory for the few Catholic families who had settled here primarily from Germany. Mr. Frank Bezold, a member of the parish and a stone mason, laid the foundation for the first church. The new brick church was brought to completion under the direction of the Benedictine Fathers in 1866. Rev. Gabriel Guerster, O.S.B., blessed the new brick church under the patronage of Sts. Peter and Paul in the spring of 1867. The parish was no longer known as St. Peter Mission.

From the records it seems that in 1874 Reverend William Cassander built a new priest house. Between 1877 and 1881, Reverend Meiwes built a new school. Reverend Clement Keller was the pastor from 1888 to 1905. He began the construction of a new and larger brick church. The cornerstone was laid on August 17, 1898. A year later, Bishop Maes dedicated the church and blessed the bell. Mr. and Mrs. William Schack were the first couple to be married in this church. Father Keller was also responsible for initiating the building of a new rectory.

Parish during 1906 - 1972

Reverend Wendelin Goehrig, pastor from 1906 to 1909, completed the rectory that Father Keller had begun. Reverend Joseph Broerman succeeded Father Goehrig in 1909. During his term in 1916, the Sisters of Divine Providence replaced the school's lay teachers. In 1927, the new brick church was torn down due to safety reasons.

Father Broerman oversaw the building of the present concrete basement church at a cost of about $22,000. Bishop Howard, Bishop of Covington, blessed the church on December 8, 1928. Succeeding Reverend Joseph Broerman were Reverends Stoeckel, Bauer, and DeJaco. Reverend Louis DeJaco was pastor for 19 years! Fulfilling Father's request, in 1948 the Sisters of St. Benedict replaced the Sisters of Divine Providence in the parish school. During his last year, Father DeJaco remodeled the rectory into a school and Sister dwelling. The old school, having been condemned, was torn down. During the summer of 1951, a new parish house was erected; however, Father DeJaco died before it was completed. In 1951, Reverend Frederick Terhar was appointed pastor of the parish. The 100th Anniversary of the Parish was celebrated in 1953, during his tenor. Most Reverend William T. Mulloy, D.D. was Bishop of Covington at that time. In 1957, Father Terhar undertook the task of building the first phase of our present school. The new school consisted of three classrooms, a cafeteria, and two restrooms. A gym was in the plans but it was decided there was not enough money at that time. The 3 classrooms were called "The Big Room," "The Middle Room," and "The Little Room." Bertha Erhardt was the first cafeteria manager. The Sisters of Notre Dame served as the faculty until 1972.

Upon the death of Father Terhar on July 31, 1959, Father Joseph Rueter was appointed administrator. He served until Father Charles Donovan was appointed Administrator in 1960. During the administration of Father Donovan, the church sanctuary was refurbished. In 1966, Father Donovan was transferred to another parish. Father Charles Hoffer then became the pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Father Hoffer served us well during his stay. Because of the baby boom of 1959-1961, the Diocesan schools were overcrowded by the late 1960's. To alleviate this problem, it was decided to send the first grade students to the public schools. Some schools were able to remain open with the full eight grades. Father Hoffer and the parishioners tried to keep our first grade open, but at that time we had 3 teachers in 3 rooms. No matter how the students were divided, the numbers were over the state limit for a classroom. We had no choice but to drop our first grade. This continued until 1972.

In July 1969, Father Ambrose Wagner was appointed pastor. One of Father Wagner's last assignments was the closing of Immaculate Conception Church in Newport, Kentucky. Father brought the Infant of Prague and several other statues with him to our church. When Father Wagner took control of the parish, he administered to the spiritual needs of the church and let the committeemen and volunteers take charge of the daily operations of the parish. At the end of the school year in 1971, the Sisters of Notre Dame left our parish. The Diocesan Board of Education directed us to close our school because of a lack of enrollment, which was less than 70 students for 7 grades. Father Wagner let the parents take the initiative to keep the school open. The parents were successful in convincing the Diocese to keep the school open as a private school within the Diocese. Lay teachers were hired and William Hipple was appointed the principal.

Parish during 1973 - Present

In 1975, the Church Committeemen were concerned about the appearance of the church. Rain caused the windows to leak and water to come in under the platform of the sanctuary, allowing puddles to form in the Communion line. When Bishop Ackerman came for Confirmation in March 1976, the Committeemen met with him to discuss the possibility of completely renovating the church. The Bishop was in total agreement with the need. Father Wagner wrote for permission to do the work. Permission was granted. The work was completed inside and out by 1979. Father Wagner was scheduled to leave July 1, 1979, but asked to stay until the work was completed.

In November of 1979, Father John Seiler was appointed Pastor. After a year, Fr. Seiler resigned to become chaplin to the sick at St. Luke Hospital in Ft. Thomas, where his compassion toward the sick has been greatly appreciated.

Father John Resinberg was appointed Administrator until Father David Shockey was appointed Pastor on July 1, 1981. Father Shockey was a good match to our parish. He was a strong leader. He listened and explained why he agreed or did not agree with someone. Father Shockey strongly believed in Catholic education. When our school enrollment dropped to 39 students, he led the fight against closing the school. Again, the diocese let the school remain open.

In 1988, the parish debt from the renovation of the church was retired. The school was instructing 74 students in 3 classrooms with 3 teachers. It was decided to build on a 2-room addition and hire a fourth teacher. When Father Shockey's 10 years of service were completed, the church and school were in sound order.

In July 1991, Father Joseph Boschert became our new pastor. Due to the opening of the AA Highway, and the fact that the sons and daughters were remaining faithful to their roots and were building on the family land, the parish doubled in size. The school enrollment also increased. Father Boschert led the parish through an extensive building program. Four classrooms were added, 4 more teachers were hired, and a large social center with ample parking was built. Volunteer work and a successful pledge drive permitted the parish to become debt-free.

In 2001, it was predicted that in the year 2004-5, the first grade enrollment would be over forty. The options were discussed and it was decided to build 4 more classrooms. A kindergarten was started in 2003. On July 1, 2005, Father David B. Gamm became our new pastor.

2012 Land Purchase

In 2012 the parish purchased 10.45 acres of land adjacent to the church property. For information about this purchase, please view our Land Purchase Flier. As of April 4, 2013, we have paid off this purchase.

Some Interesting Parish Facts

At the 100th anniversary of Sts. Peter and Paul, in 1953, the oldest married couple still living was Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Gubser, who were 89 years old.

In 2003, the couple married the longest in the parish was Helen and Bill Brossart, who celebrated their 66th anniversary on November 14th of that year.

The oldest member of the parish in 2003 was Carl Butsch, who was born on April 14, 1914.

The largest family in 1953 was Frank and Francis Reis, who were blessed with 15 children.

In 2003, the largest parish family was Nick and Betty Seiter, who were blessed with 11 children.

Also in 2003, the largest family whose children still remained in 12-Mile and were still active members of the church the Alvin and Eileen Reis family, who were blessed with 9 children and 19 grandchildren that year. Incidentally, Alvin Reis is the grandson of Frank and Francis Reis.

Leo Bezold, son of Dominic and Christine Bezold, was the first baby to be baptized in the present church in January 1929.