To start with the history of Annunciation we must go even further back to the very start of the Catholic Community in Indiana.

Although Indiana was made a state in 1816 the Catholic population was very sparse in this area of the state.  In 1835 Bishop Brute, passing through Terre Haute on his way to Chicago, wrote: "Had I said a Mass in Terre Haue, about twenty Catholic might have been present".

The National Road was completed in this area as early as 1840 and Catholic priests must have passed through the area frequently, but none reported visiting any Catholics in Clay County.

The Reverend Simon Petit Lalumiere was the first native priest in Indiana.  He was ordained in 1830 and was sent to be the first resident pastor of St. Joseph Church in Terre Haute in 1842.  Here he remained until his death in 1857.  His duties took him as far north as Lafayette.  The records of St. Paul's Church in Greencastle mention Father Lalumiere as the first priest to visit that city, probably not later than 1850.

Father Lalumiere's records indicate that in 1855 the first Catholics to move to Clay County were Joseph Watts and his wife Mary Ann, with their family, who moved from Butler County, Ohio into Indiana and settled near what is now Hoosierville in Clay County.  Mrs. Watts was Catholic.  Mrs. Watts however didn’t get to attend Mass very often because the nearest church was in Greencastle.  Her husband did take her there occasionally.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated in Clay County for the first time in 1860.  Henry and Ann Boucher having emigrated from County Clare, Ireland in 1847, located in Lafayette, Indiana.  They moved down the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1859 as far as Terre Haute then into Clay County.  They purchased a tract of land four miles southwest of what is now Brazil.  After building a home for his family he asked the officiating priest from St. Joseph’s Church in Terre Haute to offer Mass in his home.  It was said that this tradition continued for the next 5 years.  The priest that said the first Mass was probably Reverend Meinrad McCarty, O.S.B. from the Benedictine Monastery at St. Meinrad in Spencer County.

Brazil has been the county seat since 1877, when the courthouse records were secretly removed from Bowling Green, the first county seat, and transported to the newly built courthouse at Brazil.  Platted in 1844, the town is supposed to have received its name from a local citizen who happened to be reading news about Brazil, South America.  The town developed into a coal-shipping center in the 1850s.  Among Brazil's coal drillers was John Clevland Hoffa, whose son, James R. Hoffa, born in Brazil in 1913, rose through the union ranks to lead the Teamsters from 1957 to 1971.  The Hoffa family lived in Brazil until 1922.

In the 1850s the Benedictines were in full charge of St. Joseph's Church.  Then upon the death of Father Lalumiere in 1857, the Jesuits from St. Louis were in charge for the next two years.  The Benedictines then came back and among them was Father Meinrad McCarty.  Not only did Father Meinrad celebrate the first Mass in Clay County; nearly every Catholic activity for the next fifteen years, in this part of Indiana, was planned, directed and carried to completion by him.  Industrial development brought hundreds of Catholics into this part of Indiana.  As early as 1863, the number of Catholics was sufficient to make a real demand for Catholic service.  Three years after Mass had been first offered in Clay County, Father Meinrad celebrated the Sacred Mysteries in Brazil.  This was in the house of John McQuaide, which was located a little east of Old Hill Cemetary and on the south side of what is now West National Avenue.  Many early Catholics are buried in that cemetary because there was at that time no proper Catholic cemetary.  One of the Sisters of St. Francis of the early days is buried there.

Mass was said somewhat regularly from 1864.  It was also offered in the Donnelly house, located on Jackson, as well as in the home of John MQuaide, after he moved from Brazil to the Otter Creek area.

The first Catholic church was probably built in 1865 and was located in the neighborhood of Jackson and Franklin.  Just how long it was used for a Catholic Church is uncertain.  But after a year or so ground was purchased and the humble church was moved to the present propety and stood midway between Alabama and Harrison Streets, facing Church Street.  In later years it gave way to the present church and was used as a part of the Sisters' house.  In 1923 this venerable building was moved to the corner of Alabama and Church Streets and was incorporated in the new rectory complete that year.

Three more years passed before there were sufficient Catholics in the area to assure a resident pastor for Brazil.

Although we do not know exactly when the official title of this church was bestowed upon it, it was assumed that from the very beginning the parish was placed under the direct protection of the mother of God, under the title, "Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary."  As early as 1867 this title was official, for it is found on the title page of the earliest parish register. 

Brazil probably didn't have a resident pastor before 1868.  Records indicate that a resident pastor became a reality before the end of February, for on the 29th it was recorded that Sarah Moran was godmother for Mary Ellen Evans, after that date the records continue uninterruptedly to the present day.  The fall of 1868 is also when the parochial school started in Brazil.  Father Meinrad was assigned as the resident pastor of Annunciation.

Not much is known about the original school building.  It was said to have been a small frame building that was located just south of our present school building and faced Harrison Street.  The first teacher was Mrs. Elizabeth Barnett and she was sometimes assisted by her step-daughter Miss Lydia Barnett, a non-Catholic.  Father Meinrad also taught from time to time.  Another who taught was Mrs. Winifred Sheridan.  Mrs. Sheridan along with her husband, Charles, constituted the first choir at Annunciation and probably sang the first High Mass in Brazil.  What happened to the school is not clear because there is later reference to it being made into a residence and that it was then located across from the entrance to the church on Alabama Street.

Father Meinrad was indeed busy.  He also said Mass in the house of Thomas Smith of Knightsville before 1872.  Mr Smith married Father Meinrad's sister.  Mr. Smith then wanted to build a home on the site occupied by the house that was then being used as a church.  The necessitated the building of St. Patrick's church in Knightsville in about 1872.  To raise money to build the church Father Meinrad held a popularity contest between three mine bosses, the prize being a gold headed cane.  Local pride produced, at least part of the money, that made the church in Knightsville a possibility.  It must also be said that at about this same time a church was built in Carbon. Father Meinrad also said Mass in the basement of the house of Felix Haefle, one mile north of Cardonia.

Father Meinrad, first resident priest of Brazil and missions, continued his labors until November of 1875, when he was seceeded by another Benedictine, Father Benedict Brunet, who had from time to time during the past years, assisted Father Meinrad in his ever increasing labors.  Father Benedict remained only until August of 1877, when he was followed by the first secular priest in Brazil, Reverend Frances M. Mousset.  Father Mousset had the reputation of a "born politician".  It was said that he campaigned around the county for John McQuaide, who was seeking the nomination for sheriff.  Unfortunately Mr. McQuaide was defeated by three or four votes.

The wheels of industry, powered by the mine fields, were now revolving rapidly.  Catholics were continuing to come to Brazil in increasing numbers and it was not long before the old church was found to be too small.  Under the direction of Father Mousset a new church was planned.  The foundation and the corner stone upon which the present church stands were laid early in 1880.  But Father Mousset was not destined to complete the work he started and was removed in August of 1880.  Reverend Hippolyte Pierrard was sent by the bishop to become the fourth pastor of Brazil, and he remained at his post of duty until failing health forced him to lay down the burden twenty-six years later.  Arriving in Brazil Father Pierrard found a somewhat chaotic condition, but with a business acumen that marked his entire pastorate he soon established order and in 1881 completed the church, which at that time, was one of the most imposing difices in the Diocese of Vincennes.  The fact that it stands alone of all the landmarks of its day is a testimony to Father Pierrard.

Grown old in the service of God, it may no longer rank with the more beautiful churches in the diocese, but the dignity of age, that indefinable thing of beauty, still clings close about the old parish church that has beheld the sorrows and joys of generations of its children.  It has welcomed them in Baptism into the bosom of Christ's mystical body, it has rejoiced with them as in holy wedlock it bid them God's blessing on life's uncertain voyage and it has mourned as they were carried over its worn threshold to the place of final rest.  In the majestic splendor of service well done, its lofty spire bearing aloft, that all may see, man's single hope, the cross of Jesus Christ, the old church still stands, a monument to the heroic sacrifice and untiring devotion of Father Pierrard and his people.

It was not long after the completion of the church that the school was reorganized and placed under the care of the Sisters of St. Francis.  The last lay teacher of whom there is any record was Miss O'Donnell.  The Sisters came in September of 1882 to take charge.  With the exception of a few months in 1905, one order or another of Sisters were in charge of the school until around 1982. 

A story told by Sister Agnes relates the conditions surrounding the early teachers in Brazil.  It seems that one night the Sisters were terrified by threatening noises coming from the other room-there were two-of their home.  As dawn brought renewed hope after the night of terror one of the Sisters ventured to attempt an investigation.  Imagine their relief to learn that their unwelcome nocturnal visitor was a cow that had passed a blissful night in the Sisters' kitchen.  It is not difficult to imagine that not all of their unpleasant experiences ended so pleasantly.

As the years passed Father Pierrard labored on.  Father Pierrard ventured through the black, sticky mud of the impossible roads of the 1880s to carry the Eucharist to the sick or to offer the Sacred Mysteries in some of the outlying missions with but a single thought, to give glory to God and unselfish service in the cause of those whose spiritual father he was.  The parish more than doubled in the twenty six years since Father had come to Brazil.  The growing demands that accompanied this rapid growth, the primitive condition of the country roads and the almost constant exposure to every kind of weather finally exacted the inevitable tribute.  Father Pierrard was breaking.  Early in 1906 he was replaced by a youner and more vigorous man.  Even though he did not want to be replaced he was dreadfully ill and passed away a few months later.

The first chapter in the history of this parish was closed when Father Meinrad McCarty died in 1914.  The old pioneers were all dead. 

Father Pierrard had long realized the need of a new school to care for the increasing number of children, and before declining health had forced him to abandon his work he had made full preparations.  When the fifth pastor, Rev. Joseph T. Bauer, came in 1906, the basement and foundation of the present school were already completed.  The new school building was soon completed and within a short time nearly three hundred children were enrolled.  This was the peak of the Catholic population in Brazil and with the fading of the industrial revolution the population soon started to decline. 

In 1910 Father Bauer was removed to St. Mary's Church, Madison.  Reverend Augustine J. Rawlinson, who had been Assistant at the Church of the Assumption, Evansville, now became the sixth pastor of Brazil.  He came to steer the parish through a disheartening period.  Industrial decline set in and families moved away leaving the church deeply in debt for the new building.  The failure of the Building and Loan Association wiped out a large sum that had been invested there earmarked for this debt.  So the congregation was deeply discouraged.  Nevertheless by the time Father Rawlinson left “the parish was in the best condition it had known for nearly 15 years.”  Father Rawlinson also served as a mediator in labor-management disputes during his pastorate.  As Fr. Wicke, who succeeded him, writes:

“War could hardly be expected to have any terrors for one who had gone through the experiences of this parish since 1910; in September, 1917, Father Rawlinson volunteered for service in the U. S. Army.”

During Fr. Rawlinson’s absence the parish was administered by the Rev. D. F. Fitzgerald, who also entered the army, and the Rev. Frederick Burget, who later died in Terre Haute, April 17, 1948  Fr. Rawlinson returned in 1919.

Two parishioners died in France during WWI.  They are Thomas L. Bussing and Robert Barnett Harris.

In 1921 Father A. G. Wicke became pastor—in time to share the worries of the Klan Period.  Fr. Wicke made the rounds every day picking up oil-soaked rags that had been placed by the church walls between the buttresses.  In spite of such strain, he encouraged the building of a new rectory and other needed improvements, amounting to nearly $25,000.  He also, fortunately for posterity, compiled a History of the Catholic Church in Clay County when Annunciation Church celebrated the completion of its first 50 years in 1929.  This was a period of staff reorganization:  The school was placed under the direction of the Sisters of Providence.  From then on the parish had a full-time assistant pastor.  Young men and women who had been reared in Annunciation Parish began entering religious vocations.  The church took over the administration of several Missions.  Father Wicke was remembered with great affection by members of the parish, some of whom would visit him at his home in Huntington, Indiana, after he retired.

In 1938, after 17 years of productive service, Father Wicke was succeeded by the Rev. J. F. Patterson.  Father Patterson died in 1951 and few records are available.  Some said he was busy with war work and was known as a good person to talk to.

In 1943 Father Patterson was succeeded by the Rev. Charles Wagner.  Father Wagner recalled this as a rather tranquil period.  A Holy Name Society and an Alter Society were active and a Boy Scout Troop was organized during this time.  Each of the organization averaged about 20 members.

In 1954 the Rev. Charles McSween was appointed pastor.  Like Father Rawlinson, Father McSween had served in Europe “from Normandy until Czecho-Slovakia” and, like most of Annunciation’s pastors, he had been ordained at the St. Meinrad Seminary.  Prior to coming to Brazil he spent 2 months at St. Catherine’s in Indianapolis as assistant;  6 years at St. Ambrose in Seymour; and was assistant at St. Anne’s in Terre Haute when called to Annunciation as pastor.  At this time industry was beginning to slow down—in fact the mines were mostly idle; but there were about 600 Catholics in Clay County, out of a population of 24,000.  It was during this period that the assistant at Annunciation (the Father Dooley) was appointed Director of Guidance at Schulte High School in Terre Haute.

Although members recall Father Wagner was always making repairs with his own hands the buildings were beginning to need major replacements.  A gas furnace was installed in the rectory, and stokers installed in both church and school.  Members of the church not only furnished money and materials, but many worked with their own hands painting, paneling the rectory, and laying a tile floor in the school.

During this period both the City of Brazil and Annunciation Church participated in international exchanges with Brazil, the South American country.  On Oct. 16, 1958, the Brazilian Consul, Joao Tiereira, brought a craved wooden statue of Brazil’s patron saint, “Nossa Senhora” (Our Lady of Aparacedia) as a gift from Cardinal Mottal, Cardinal Archbishop of Sao Paulo, to Annunciation Church.  This statue now resides in Mary’s side altar.  In a picture in the centennial anniversary book the statue was accepted by Father McSween and Father Mooney with alter boy Robert Knierim looking on.

In 1961 Father McSween was transferred to St Francis de Sales Church in Indianapolis.  That was when Father Anthony Spicuzza arrived.  The decline in local industries had become acute.  New families continued to move in, but not to work locally—most earned their living in Terre Haute, Greencastle, or Indianapolis.  In Oct. 1965, an Indianapolis paper noted that Brazil had “lost almost half of its retail shops: and applied for Federal Urban Renewal.  The Depression, World War II, the cessation of immigration from Europe, and now, the Age of Mechanization and Automation have revolutionized the town’s way of live—hence necessitated adjustments in Who performs Which duties When at Annunciation Church.  Although the three Masses were packed almost every Sunday, many of those who attended were persons vacationing at nearby resorts.  The actual membership of the parish was between 400 and 500 souls.

Rev. Anthony Spicuzza, like most of his predecessors, was a native Hoosier.  He was born in Indianapolis, graduated from Cathedral High.  He attended Notre Dame University and St. Mary College, St. Mary, Ky.  His theological work was at St. Meinrad Seminary where he was ordained on June 11, 1946.  He served as assistant pastor at St. Andrew Church in Richmond, IN, for 15 years before coming to Brazil.

Father Bernard Schmitz, then Assistant Pastor, was born June 11, 1931, just over the Ohio-Indiana State line, in Cincinnati.  He received his high school, college and seminary training at St. Meinrad, being ordained on May 3, 1957.

To worship in safety as well as comfort, it was necessary to replace the church roof in 1961 when slates from the original roof began sliding off.  In 1963 a new boiler system was put in for both the church and the school.  This abolished the coal furnace in the school which allowed room for the cafeteria and recreation room in the basement.

Electrified bells were also installed in 1963 and new pews were installed in 1966 which replaced the ones that had served since 1880.

There is no record, however, of when the organ was installed or who gave it.  The white plaster-of-paris Stations of the Cross are mentioned in the manual of 1929.  The Stations of the Cross are said to have been imported from Europe.

The 1963 remodeling of the school basement included a new ventilating system for the classrooms, remodeling of the former coal-bin in the basement with yellow ceramic tile, a Clay County product, and light cherry wood paneling.  The basement at that configuration could seat 250 at tables.  We added offices and storage rooms and have cut down dramatically on the available seating.

The altar was rearranged in Nov. 1965 to be in conformity with Vatican Council II. 

Since the early 1900’s Annunciation Church was a foster parent to small, struggling parishes, helping in various ways according to the need.

Holy Rosary Church in Seelyville was the first mission to be thus served.  Prior to 1908 residents of Seelyville had to attend churches in neighboring towns, but in July Rev. John A. Walsh, then assistant to Rev. Joseph Bauer of Brazil, was appointed the First Curate of the Seelyville Mission.  Other parishes have received the benefit of assistance by religious assigned to Annunciation.  The Sisters of Annunciation School furnished religious instruction to children of Diamond and Carbon. 

Annunciation Priests have administered to other area churches:  St. Augustine Church, Fontanet, Indiana 1932-1941; St. Mary’s Church, Diamond Indiana, and St. Joseph’s Church, Carbon, Indiana.  It is sad to note that all of these churches are now closed.