Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (Ottoville, Ohio) records

In 1845, the Miami-Erie Canal through Ottoville was completed. This brought a lot of German settlers to the town. The Catholics among the settlers had to attend Mass in Delphos, seven miles away. In this same year the priest of Delphos, Otto Bredeick, purchased forty acres of land from the government for use by the Catholics in Ottoville. Some of the acreage was set aside for the church building and the rest of the land was sold for the benefit of the church. On this remaining land a small frame church was built. It was completed in 1850. When the church was built, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church became a Mission of Delphos.

In 1860, a second church was completed. This was a large, gothic style church that was built to accommodate the growing number of members. In 1861, the Mission of Ottoville was transferred to Fort Jennings. In 1864, the parish received their first resident priest, Father Anthony J. Abel. Father Abel saw the need for a larger church and in 1885 the parish completed their third and present church. It was a large, magnificent gothic style church.

Over the years, the congregation has grown steadily and the church has been renovated. Because it was primarily a German-speaking congregation, prayers and sermons were said in German until 1921.

Mossing, Lawrence A. S.T.D. History of the Diocese of Toledo. Northern Ohio - West Section Missionary and Parish History. Diocese of Toledo. Toledo, Ohio. 1984. Pages 177 - 180.