Through countless hours of hard work and labor in the late 1800s, more than twenty Cedar Grove families built Holy Guardian Angels Parish. An endowment to honor their dedication and continue their legacy was endowed in the Franklin County Community Foundation in 2004. Ruth Fohl, a Cedar Grove native, endowed the Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church Endowment to honor the founders of Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church especially the Eva Rosenberger Fohl and Louis Dehner families.
Each year, the income from the fund will preserve the original investment of the Church forefathers by caring for the grounds and cemetery of Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church in Cedar Grove, Ind. More specifically, the fund is to provide support for the continued maintenance of Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church and Holy Guardian Angels Church Cemetery.
Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church was first organized in 1872. According to the August 8, 1895 issue of the Brookville Democrat, the first parish Mass was celebrated at the home of Phillip Eschenbach in 1872. The home is currently owned by David Fohl. The original Church was constructed four years later.
On the third Sunday of January, 1874, divine service was held in the new church for the first time. The congregation at this time numbered thirty families. Members of the Fohl, Dehner and Rosenberger families are listed on the first register, dated in 1874.
According to Fohl’s history, by 1895, both the red brick church, dating from 1874, and the white frame school had grown too small. The former church was converted into a two-room school and the original school was converted into a teacher’s residence.
In August, 1895, the current Church was official. The Brookville Democrat carried a detailed description of the Church, saying the Queen Anne Gothic style structure was nearly 100 feet long with a frontage of 48 feet. The arches over the windows are from Findlay, Ohio. The tower on the west side is 106 feet tall and is topped with a gilt ball and cross 11 feet high.