In approximately 1798, Jacob Dittoe, a German-Catholic pioneer, moved to the Ohio wilderness in the area near modern-day Somerset. About seven years later, Dittoe began petitioning Bishop Carroll of Baltimore to send priests to his growing Catholic community. In a letter dated Feb. 1, 1808, Dittoe informed the bishop of the locals' needs for the Sacraments, and asked if a Catholic lawyer could validate marriages in the absence of a priest. Apparently, this letter moved the bishop to act. He sent a Dominican priest, Father Edward Fenwick from Kentucky to find Dittoe and serve the religious needs of his community. Fenwick traveled from Kentucky to Ohio along Zane's Trace, and learned of Dittoe's whereabouts when he reached New Lancaster. Lost on the poorly marked road, Fenwick followed the sound of an ax cracking through the wilderness to reach the home of Jacob and Catherine Dittoe in September 1808. From that time forward, Fr. Fenwick attempted annual visits. One notable exception was in 1812 when Bishop Flaget of Bardstown and Father Stephen Badin lodged with the Dittoes en route to Baltimore. Of the occasion, Flaget wrote: The 320 acres Flaget mentioned was eventually deeded to Fr. Fenwick as a site for a church and seminary. Bishop Flaget assigned Fr. Fenwick to Ohio as a full-time itinerant missionary in 1816. In 1818, Fenwick and his nephew, Fr. Nicholas Dominic Young, took up residence in a cabin Dittoe built as headquarters for the Ohio missions. Fr. Fenwick dedicated the original Saint Joseph Church on Dec. 6, 1818. A log structure measuring 22 feet long and 15 feet wide, it was the first Catholic church building in Ohio. Jacob Dittoe chose the parish patron saint. The first baptismal record at the new parish was that of Nicholas J. Ryan on Dec. 24, 1818. Conditions in the log church were harsh; winter temperatures dropped low enough that a brazier was used on the altar during Mass to keep the Communion wine from freezing. Fenwick left St. Joseph Church in 1821 when he was appointed as bishop of the newly formed Diocese of Cincinnati. Fr. Young carried on alone until 1823 when Fr. Daniel O'Leary joined him at St. Joseph and remained with him there until the mid-1830s. During that time, the log church was replaced with a brick one; it was dedicated on Jan. 11, 1829. In time, this structure became too crowded, so construction on another church building began in 1839. Despite funding difficulties, the church was completed and dedicated in 1843.
