St. Valbert Cemetery

The Catholic population moving into the State of Ohio was heavily concentrated in certain areas, one of which was in the area now known as Darke, Mercer, Shelby, Miami, Auglaize, and Allen counties. There were few priests to serve this area. Eventually, in 1821, the Cincinnati diocese was created to serve the state of Ohio under Bishop Edward Fenwick until the appointment of Bishop John B. Purcell in 1833.With such a huge area to minister to, Bishop Purcell recruited priests in 1838 in Europe. He divided his diocese into five districts, the fifth serving the populous Catholic area in Ohio. The settlers of Darke, Shelby, and Miami counties chose a central site for the location of a small log chapel, built in 1839 under the guidance of Father Louis Navarron. St. Valbert's was dedicated on December 4, 1840.

Then in 1850, the diocese set up the boundary line to divide St. Valbert's parish into the two parishes of Holy Family in Frenchtown and St. Remy in Russia. Legend has it, that there was a race to see which of the two areas, Holy Family or St. Remy, could construct a church first. The winner was to receive a keg of whiskey. Frenchtown had a log church dedicated to the Holy Family on October 15, 1846, while Russia had their chapel on the DeBrosse farm also in 1846, but had no verification for a dedication date.