Memorial Cemetery - Ste. Genevieve Historic District - Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
Posted by: BruceS
N 37° 58.747 W 090° 02.962
15S E 759159 N 4207606
Historic cemetery in the Ste. Genevieve Historic District in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.
Waymark Code: WM45DN
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 07/09/2008
Views: 9
"Memorial Cemetery. North Fifth Street between Market and
Jefferson streets. Early to late nineteenth century. Property type:
cemetery. The Memorial Cemetery, Ste. Genevieve's community cemetery beginning
in the early nineteenth century, covers an area of approximately two square
blocks bounded on the east by Fifth Street, on the north by Jefferson Street and
the south by Market Street. A tall ashlar limestone retaining wall with stone
slab capstones extends along much of the east boundary of the cemetery while the
remaining sides are enclosed with wire fences. Wrought iron gates are hung from
limestone gateposts on the east side of the cemetery property. The site of the
cemetery is a sloping, tree-shaded hillside. A gully extends across the central
portion of the cemetery property.
Graves are marked by a variety of types of monuments including box tombs,
obelisks, truncated columns, flat stones, headstones, and small numbers of
wrought iron crosses. Some of the headstones are surmounted by granite crosses.
The most prominent obelisks include those erected for the Thomure family and for
Senator Lewis Linn. The Linn monument is situated in one of three fenced plots
in the eastern portion of the cemetery. The other fenced plots contain graves of
the Rozier and Gregoire families. The cemetery is divided into three distinct
sections: one for Catholic burials, one for Lutherans and a third for other
Protestants. Over 50 Native Americans are buried in the cemetery as are an
unknown number of slave and free African Americans. Some of the three dozen
victims who died in the explosion of the steamboat Doctor Franklin II are buried
in the cemetery, as well.
Among more recent markers is a stone crucifix near the center of the
cemetery. The older graves are generally located in the eastern portion of the
cemetery. Many of these graves are marked by granite obelisks mounted on granite
plinths.
An incomplete list and map of those interred in the cemetery has been
prepared. Review of the names and viewing of the grave markers indicates that
members of the French, German and Anglo-American communities of Ste. Genevieve
are all interred in the cemetery. Most of the older French graves are located
along the Fifth Street side, while a small group of German graves, some lettered
in German, are placed in the northwest comer of the property.
According to local records, one of the first burials at the cemetery was that
of Antonio D'Oro. a captain in the Regiment of Louisiana and Military Commandant
of Ste. Genevieve. Until the cemetery's official closure in 1881, the cemetery
became the burial site of about 5,000 individuals. Almost half were children
under six years of age. Among adult burials, about one-quarter were women under
thirty. By the late 1870s, the cemetery had become seriously overcrowded with
new burials often disturbing earlier graves. As a result, all new burials were
prohibited after May 1882. One last burial occurred in 1894 when Odile Pratt
Valle was interred in the Valle family plot." ~
Historic District National Register Nomination Form