About us

 

St. Mary's Catholic Church is a parish of the Diocese of Joliet and in the old farming community of Beaverville, Illinois; located 90 miles south of Chicago in northeast Iroquois County.

 

For nearly 165 years St. Mary's has been rich in their French Canadian heritage, currently serving about 100 families.

 

The legend of the founding of St. Marie says that thirty-two families from the area of Montreal, Canada, mostly newlyweds and singles came up the St. Lawrence River in search for farmland on the prairie.  They traveled across the Great Lakes and stopped at Fort Dearborn (Chicago). They then pushed south through the swamps and frontier until they reached what is now Beaverille.   The group consisted of families with names such as Benoit, Dionne, Boudreau, Fortin, Nourie, LaFond, and at least six Arseneau families.   The settled in this area for the good land and the many creeks.  In 1905, the village name, St. Marie, was changed to Beaverville when the village founders realized there was another town in Illinois with the name St. Mary.

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