In 1867, Father J.M. Joerger, Pastor in Waterford, organized 30 or 40 families from Dover to form St. Mary’s.  This parish of primarily Irish decent and modest means made many sacrifices to build a simple frame church on land deeded to Bishop Hennei by Mary Powers.   A parish cemetery was also developed, and which became the resting place of the parish’s founders.  The present church and rectory were constructed by Fr. Schiefen in 1907.  Fr. Schiefen served St. Mary’s for 34 years. 

In September of 1913, St. Mary’s proudly opened a parochial grade school.  Though the one room school house only lasted for two years, Catholic education was never far from the minds of parishioners.  In 1960, Father McCormick announced plans to build the present school, which was dedicated in 1963.  The school continued to education the children of Kansasville until 1980.

As the Village of Union Grove grew, so did the desire of its residents to have a parish of their own.  In 1965, St. Robert Bellarmine Congregation was incorporated and Union Grove parishioners of St. Mary’s began to work on the formation of that new parish.

In 2005, St. Robert’s and St. Mary’s, under the leadership of Rev. Howard Haase, began collaborating and sharing programs.  July 2007 the parish councils merged to form one joint council.

St. Mary’s is now celebrating its 140^th anniversary and continues to serve the communities of Dover and Kansasville.