Calvary Cemetery - St. Louis, Missouri - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

From   Missouri - A Guide to the "Show Me" State - St. Louis section:

CALVARY CEMETERY, 5239 W. Florissant Ave., containing 476 acres, is the larges in St. Louis.  A Catholic cemetery, it was founded in 1864.  North of the entrance is the grave of  General William Tecumseh Sherman, and in the east section is that of Alexander McNair, Missouri's first Governor.  The cemetery also contains the grave of Auguste Chouteu, one of the founders of St. Louis, and the beautiful tomb of Thomas Biddle, Philadelphia army officer who was killed in a duel with Congressman Spencer Pettis of St. Louis, in 1831.

Calvary Cemetery was built following the 1849 cholera outbreak in St. Louis and it was ordered that all cemeteries be located outside the city limits.  Most of the Catholic cemeteries in the city were filled to capacity due to the outbreak. In 1853, Archbishop Kenrick purchased the 323-acre Old Orchard frame from Kentucky politician Henry Clay.  The Archbishop established his own farm on the western portion and the cemetery was created on the eastern portion.  Over the years the cemetery acquired more land including the farm and now totals 477 acres.  The cemetery contains over 315,000 graves including many which were moved to this cemetery  from others in the city including several from around the Old Cathedral near the Arch which were moved in 1950.  The cemetery like its neighboring Bellefontaine Cemetery is the final resting place of many notable people in the history of St. Louis, along with those listed in the Guide among the notables are Dred Scott, author Kate Chopin, and playwright Tennessee Williams.