I have spent this week looking over old maps of St. Louis
city and speaking to people native to this area. I also drove around to the
various cemeteries in the south area of St. Louis city. What seems to be the
bottom line is that people with money have more power that people that do not.
This appears to be the case whether or not the person is living or dead. On one
of my drives I saw a billboard that was adverting tours at a cemetery. This
cemetery is considered to be an outdoor museum. I am guessing that this place
will never be in danger of relocating any of its residence. The money exudes of
off the monuments in the grounds. It can be viewed here on their inactive map. http://bellefontainecemetery.org/history/map/
One story that had been passed down for generations in one
family I spoke with is that they have relatives buried under a boulevard in St.
Louis city. As the story goes…the relatives had been using a plot of land as a
family burial ground. When the city bought the land from them to build a new
boulevard they were asked to have the bodies relocated. The family did not have
money to do so, therefore the bodies stayed put. A few generations later, it
has become a routine for any descendant in that family to say a little prayer
as the pass by a particular intersection of that boulevard to pay respects to
the ancestors buried there. The big difference between the Bellefontaine
Cemetery and the small family plot are the markers used for the deceased. The
Bellefontaine Cemetery has beautifully sculpted monuments. The small family
plot that was paved over to become a boulevard has modest large stones for
grave markers written in German, not English. I cannot help but feel this
family was disrespected because they were poor immigrants that barely spoke
English. In complete contrast to some of the very influential people that are
buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery.
This week my research will involve a trip to the library in
the genealogy department. A lot of St. Louis history regarding cemeteries and
their fate is there. I will dig up as much as I possibly can. No pun was
intended there. So far this is what I have found out regarding relocated
cemeteries in the area.
Potter’s
Field (Municipal Cemetery, on the city and county farm, Hampton & Fyler,
now apartment complex, see
also City Cemetery/Sublette. Established pre 1899, bodies moved about 1950 to Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, 11101 St.
Charles Rock Rd.)[1]
City
Cemetery/Sublette (Potter’s Field) (3200 59th St., Macklin, Sublette
and Fyler) Established pre 1899, most of
the graves were moved to Mt. Lebanon Cemetery about 1950 ) (Now site of Hampton Gardens Apartments)[1]
Holy
Trinity Catholic Cemetery ([aka Poor Man’s Catholic Cemetery; New Breman
Cemetery] N. Broadway and
Taylor, adjoining O’Fallon Park, mostly poor, burials moved to Calvary; 1864- 1908) (aka Mt. Holy Trinity)[1]
Old Old
Picker’s Cemetery (Kansas-Wyoming-Louisiana-Arsenal area of South St. Louis;
area now home to Roosevelt
High School.; Cholera Victims, 1845-1889; removed July 1916. Established 1845 by the Holy Ghost Evangelical &
Reformed Church. Continued by New Picker’s Cemetery.[1]
Information provided by St. Louis Public Library retrieved from:
http://www.slpl.lib.mo.us/libsrc/stlcem.htm
Census clock update: As off 03:45:23 on Sept 30, 2013 the population is 316,787, 876. That is an increase of 101, 260 since Sept. 16th.
Dawn, I can't remember if I already posted on your blog and said this but I'm really glad that you chose this topic because I've often thought about it before when passing cemeteries-eventually we'll run out of space. I also really like that you are actually going out and talking to people in the area about it. The story you posted about the family plot getting paved over is truly sad and I agree with you that they were disrespected and probably taken advantage of.
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