Even before Dakota Territory was organized in 1861, the vicinity of Jefferson was a French-Canadian community where Catholic services were held sporadically before Father Pierre Boucher arrived in 1867. In 1862, a small log building north of the present church served as both schoolhouse and church for services. Father Boucher's pastorate extended over a vast area of southeastern Dakota, and about twenty-five French-Canadian families formed the nucleus of his congregation here. Soon after his arrival, a large wooden church was built and served until 1890, when the present church was erected during the pastorate of Father Cyrille St. Pierre. Father Boucher died in 1900 at Quebec. The Reverend Charles F. Robinson served as pastor from 1894 until 1924 and is buried in the adjacent churchyard, whose gravestones bear the names of parishioners. In 1889, a school and convent were built, and these were replaced by the present parochial school building in 1951. The large wooden cross in the cemetery replaced the rude cross placed there in May 1876, when Father Boucher led an eleven-mile pilgrimage ending in the churchyard at Jefferson, invoking divine aid against the grasshopper plague.