In 1837 Bishop Simon Brute decided that the Catholic congregation in Shelby County had grown enough to merit its own resident priest. Father Vincent Bacquelin arrived on horseback to fill that role, and he spent two years offering Masses in a log cabin home owned by the Worland family. By September of 1838 work had begun to build a church on two acres of land donated by Thomas Worland. By October of 1839 the church was dedicated to the patron St. Vincent de Paul, and the first Mass was celebrated there. Many priests have followed and ministered at St. Vincent de Paul, the first Catholic Church of Shelby County.