 The first Catholic settlers in Madison County <unk> near present @-@ day Battle Creek , northwest of Madison , in the late 1860s . In 1874 , they organized a parish ; in 1874 – 75 , they built St. Patrick 's Church , the county 's first Catholic church . In 1877 , they wrote to Bishop James O 'Connor of the Diocese of Omaha , asking that a priest be assigned to visit the church at intervals until a permanent priest could be assigned to the parish ; in apparent response to this , Franciscan missionaries based in Columbus were given the responsibility of providing for Madison County . 
