Thank you to everyone who has been working to try to save the cemetery
stones that were buried in the mass grave at St. Agnes/St. Philomena
cemetery in Bloomsdale, MO. I wish they could be dug up, cleaned off,
and reset, but at least a large plaque with their names and dates would
be a good alternative.
When I first heard of this situation a few weeks ago, I called the
church rectory and I believed I spoke with Father Oge (573) 483-2555 ).
He said that the movement of the several hundred stones and graves was
supposed to have been handled by the Archdiocese, and that there really
wasn't much he could do know. He said it was the responsibility of the
Archdiocese. Therefore I contacted Msgr. McCarthy in St. Louis. I
believe I posted his reply to my email to the Ste. Genevieve list; he
basically said that such a thing could not have happened because the
people never would have tolerated it. He also stated that in the 1940's,
several grave stones were demolished in a church in St. Louis and that
it created a huge uproar by the families. Apparently, the implication
was that therefore it could not have happened again.
He then told me that the local church was in charge of cemeteries in the
rural communities, and referred me back to Father Oge. I have emailed
Msgr McCarthy a couple of times since, trying to appeal to his sense of
responsibility to have the situation corrected in some manner, but he
has not replied.
One can only hope that Father Oge's trip to St. Louis is to try to find
a solution to the problem. In the interim, Msgr. McCarthy's phone number
is 314-381-1313 if anyone wishes to contact him directly.
In a previous posting, someone mentioned that a Larry Drury was an
attorney in Ste. Genevieve. Does anyone on the list have a telephone
number or email address for him? Perhaps he would be willing to make a
phone call for us.
Included in the destroyed section were my great-grandparents Cyrus and
Caroline (Hermann) Drury; gg-grandparents Clement and Marie Cornelia
(Carron) Drury; and ggg-grandparents John Baptiste Clement Drury
(1794-1849) and Marie Olympe Placet (1804-1878), on whose farm the town
of Bloomsdale was founded.
There are photos of many of these historic tombstones, taken two years
ago, at:
http://www.genealogysource.com/bloom_cem_index.htm
Ironically, the stone engraving under the statue of Our Lord which was
moved to the new mass burial site is the inscription, "In grateful
remembrance of the pioneers of St. Philomena Parish 1835-1904 - To
these, O Lord, and to all who sleep in Christ, we pray, grant a place of
comfort, light, and peace, through Christ Our Lord, Amen."
Tom Stevenson
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http://www.GenealogySource.com