Church Street Graveyard
Encyclopedia
Church Street Graveyard is a historic city cemetery
located in Mobile, Alabama
. The cemetery is situated on 4 acres (1.6 ha) and is surrounded by a brick wall that dates to 1830. At the time that the cemetery was established it lay about a half mile away from most development, but it is now considered to be in downtown.
s, the southeastern third for Protestants, and the remaining western portion a "graveyard for strangers". Masons
, Odd Fellows
, veterans, and the indigent incidentally came to be interred in this western section. The cemetery was closed to burial in 1898, though a few modern burials have taken place by special city resolution.
and the Gulf Coast in the early 19th century. The cemetery also contains early examples of wrought and cast iron work.
The more notable interments include:
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
located in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
. The cemetery is situated on 4 acres (1.6 ha) and is surrounded by a brick wall that dates to 1830. At the time that the cemetery was established it lay about a half mile away from most development, but it is now considered to be in downtown.
History
Church Street Graveyard was begun in 1819, replacing the Campo Santo that was located at the site of the present Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception as the city's main place of burial. The new cemetery was not officially acquired from local landowner William E. Kennedy by the city of Mobile until a year later, in 1820. Mobile's city officials divided the cemetery into three sections. The northeastern third was designated for CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
s, the southeastern third for Protestants, and the remaining western portion a "graveyard for strangers". Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, Odd Fellows
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows , also known as the Three Link Fraternity, is an altruistic and benevolent fraternal organization derived from the similar British Oddfellows service organizations which came into being during the 18th century, at a time when altruistic and charitable acts were...
, veterans, and the indigent incidentally came to be interred in this western section. The cemetery was closed to burial in 1898, though a few modern burials have taken place by special city resolution.
Notable monuments and interments
Many of the gravestones at Church Street Graveyard are significant examples of stone carving work done in New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and the Gulf Coast in the early 19th century. The cemetery also contains early examples of wrought and cast iron work.
The more notable interments include:
- Joe CainJoe Cain]Joseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. is largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, stopped due to the Civil War....
, important figure in the history of Mardi GrasMardi GrasThe terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
in the city. - Colonel Jean-Jerome Cluis, a Napoleonic refugee and member of the ill-fated Vine and Olive ColonyVine and Olive ColonyThe Vine and Olive Colony was an ill-fated effort by a group of French Bonapartists who, fearing for their lives after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Bourbon Restoration, attempted to establish an agricultural settlement growing wine grapes and olive trees in the Alabama wilderness...
. - Dominique Louis Dolive, an early FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
settler. - Don Miguel Eslava, an early SpanishSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
official. - Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines, a hero of the War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. - Mary Josephine Hollinger, a native of BritishGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
colonial Mobile. - James Roper, builder of OakleighOakleigh Historic Complex (Mobile, Alabama)Oakleigh is a historic house museum in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It is the centerpiece of the Oakleigh Historic Complex, a grouping of buildings that contain a working-class raised cottage, a former slave quarters, and a modern archives building. The name for the estate comes from a...
. - Eugene WalterEugene WalterEugene Ferdinand Walter, Jr. was an American screenwriter, poet, short-story author, actor, puppeteer, gourmet chef, cryptographer, translator, editor, costume designer and well-known raconteur. During his years in Paris, he was nicknamed Tum-te-tum...
, actor and author. - Julian Lee Rayford, author and folklorist.
See also
- Ahavas Chesed CemeteryAhavas Chesed CemeteryAhavas Chesed Cemetery, is a historic Jewish cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama. It was established by the Ahavas Chesed congregation in 1898...
- Magnolia CemeteryMagnolia Cemetery (Mobile, Alabama)Magnolia Cemetery is a city cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The cemetery is situated on and was established in 1836. From that time onward it served as Mobile's primary burial site during the 19th century. It is the final resting place for many of Mobile's 19th and early 20th...
- Old Catholic CemeteryOld Catholic Cemetery (Mobile, Alabama)Catholic Cemetery, formerly known as the Stone Street Cemetery, is a historic cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was established in 1848 by Michael Portier, a native of Montbrison, France and the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Mobile...
- Sha'arai Shomayim CemeterySha'arai Shomayim CemeterySha'arai Shomayim Cemetery is a historic Jewish cemetery located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was established by Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in 1876 after their previous cemetery, Jewish Rest in the adjacent Magnolia Cemetery, was filled to capacity. The cemetery is situated on and is...