Stone Street Cemetery, Mobile Alabama

Date added: October 22, 2024

Categories:
Alabama
Cemetery

Circular portion, Meaher monument (1990)

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Stone Street-Old Catholic Cemetery was established in 1848. The earliest section of the cemetery features an unusual circular plan, unique in the state and highly unusual along the Gulf Coast.

Historically Roman Catholics have been buried in their own graveyards, consecrated by the church. While this was not always possible in areas with small Catholic populations, Mobile's Latin heritage and large Catholic population made such an exclusive cemetery an inevitability.

Mobile's first Catholic graveyard was located under and around the present Cathedral downtown (built c. 1845). Many of the dead were fever victims, and most of the graves were unmarked. With the City's growth the old burial ground was built over, though some few of the dead were relocated to the Church Street Cemetery in the 1820s. By 1836 the City had opened Magnolia Cemetery and some Catholics were buried there.

Nevertheless, by the 1840s Mobile's Catholic population was over 5,000 and an exclusive cemetery was once again desired. In 1848 Bishop Michael Portier purchased several acres of land on the North side of Stone Street (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.) and west of Three Mile Creek for a Catholic Cemetery. The land was then leased to a caretaker who was responsible for general upkeep and grounds duties. The caretaker was given permission to sell liquor from the site, "though in quantities of not less than a demijohn." This precluded a retail establishment.

The salient feature of this cemetery is the circular plan. Three concentric rings (and portions of a fourth) of graves are oriented feet the center, where a small square plot contains the graves of the Daughters of Charity, a prominent order of nuns. Most Christian burials, since the early Middle Ages at least, are oriented feet to the east and the rising sun. Historically this eastward orientation has not been universal in the Catholic Church and indeed, most burials that deviate from it (excepting folk burials) are usually Catholics.

The circular plan may have been Portier's idea, inspired from examples in his native France. He had a very capable architect in his entourage, Claude Beroujon, who had designed the Mobile Cathedral. Whether or not Beroujon laid out the plan is unknown, but it is highly unusual, if not rare. Some of the first to be buried in the new cemetery were members of the Daughters of Charity, who had come to Mobile in 1841 and by 1851 were managing the City Hospital. Several of them died of Yellow Fever while administering during epidemics in the port city. Canon Law requires that priests and nuns be buried apart from the laity. The early deaths of these Daughters of Charity while selflessly serving the community no doubt led to their placement at the center of the circle. To date some sixty members of the order lie in the plot.

One of the most prominent citizens to be buried here is Timothy Meaher. Meaher was a local man of affairs who smuggled in the last shipload of African slaves in 1859 aboard the Clotilde. The navy discovered the slave ship and gave chase up the Mobile River, where the Clotilde's crew scuttled the ship and escaped. The slaves were settled in an area that became known as Africatown. Meaher's grave is suitably impressive and located in the inner ring. Other stones reflect the cosmopolitan nature of Mobile's Catholic population. Spanish and Italian inscriptions are not uncommon and many of the dead were native Irish. Some of these stones were carved by prominent local and out of town artisans including Jarvis Turner and Thomas McDonald of Mobile and J. Stroud of New Orleans.

Most of the burials in the circular cemetery are antebellum, though a few are post Civil War. As this section filled up more grave sites were drawn off adjacent the circular plan. These plots were drawn off in a common grid pattern, like Magnolia Cemetery, with intersecting lanes. In 1866 more land was purchased for expansion to the east. The most famous grave in this grid section is that or Raphael Semmes, the Confederate naval hero whose exploits aboard the "Alabama" terrorized the North. Semmes died in 1877 (his stone is a modern one). Also buried in this section is Father Abram Ryan, the famous poet-priest of the Confederacy who died in 1886. As in the circular burial ground, stones in the grid section were craved by a variety of craftsmen and high Victorian fashion is evident in the cherubs, furniture and inscriptions. This section also includes the graves of members of several religious orders including the Sisters of Mercy and the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.

In 1948 a new Catholic Cemetery was opened on the remainder of the 1866 purchase (and later purchases in 1903, 1910 and 1921). Referred to as New Catholic Cemetery, this burial ground could only be reached by passing through the grid portion of the Old Catholic Cemetery. As the circular portion was off to the south, and there was no provision for perpetual care at the time, this area became overgrown. More aggressive cemetery management and maintenance in the 1970s and 80s reclaimed the overgrown portions and the entire area is now well maintained.

Site Description

Catholic Cemetery consists of two adjacent cemeteries, one historic and one non-historic, in Mobile's Toulminville community. The historic burial ground, commonly referred to as the Old Catholic Cemetery, consists of two sections. The oldest section is a circular cemetery while adjacent to this is a more typical grid pattern burial ground, with mostly late 19^th century graves. To the east of these lies the New Catholic Cemetery, opened in 1948.

Old Catholic Cemetery lies on the northeastern side of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. It is bordered to the southeast by the Roger Williams Housing Project and Three Mile Creek, to the north by Cemetery Lane and to the east by the New Cemetery. Old Catholic Cemetery lies on land purchased in 1848 by Bishop Michael Portier and in 1866 by Bishop John Quinlan.

The lands to the east were added in 1903, 1910 and 1921.

The circular plan is platted in three concentric rings (with parts of a fourth to the southwest and northwest) surrounding a square plot.

Overall this plan is traversed by four lanes, dividing the whole into eight pie shaped pieces. The original entrance gates are oriented to this plan, and stand on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. They consist of four stone pylons with iron gates. They are no longer used for main access.

The area is lightly planted with live oaks, cedar and magnolias, mostly between the second and third rings. The ground here is very uneven. Though the entrance, center and west half are fairly level, the ground falls off sharply to the east and southeast. Here the markers give way to a weeded "free land" bordering the housing project. There are many unmarked burials here, most of them fever victims. The eastern border is overgrown and there is a brick wall between the cemetery and the project. A chain link fence runs along the length of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

This circular cemetery consists of mostly family plots, many with coping and several with iron fences. Most of the burials are antebellum. The center is dominated by the Sisters of Charity plot which features a brick wall border and marble step with "Sisters of Charity" engraved. A marble monument in the center is to the memory of two sisters who perished during yellow fever epidemics while administering to the sick, in 1853. There are about sixty sisters buried here, marked by flat grey marble slabs.

The form and variety of funerary sculpture is impressive. Many plots feature elaborate stone coping with curved entrances and decorated corner markers. Individual monuments worthy of mention include: Don Jose Y. Cruzat (1847) which features a marble slab with a Spanish inscription and an iron cross at the head, the Rapier Mausoleum (earliest 1837, latest 1914) a stuccoed brick tomb with engaged square columns at each corner, entablature and stepped roof, Anna Cullen (1856) an obelisk with winged head carving, Ellen O'Conner (1854) a round top headstone with bas-relief of an angel and woman surrounded by a wreath. There are several above ground marble false tombs, many crosses, obelisks, urns, flat stones and round top stones. Some of these are signed by noted local marble cutters, including Jarvis Turner, Thomas McDonald and William March. The stones to the south and east tend to be more modest, and because the land falls away are not visible from the Blvd. There is a little cluster on a small grid in the southwest corner, consisting of mostly turn of the century graves. Though adjacent to the circular burials, these graves are not part of the ring.

All these stones reflect the cosmopolitan nature of Mobile's Catholic population. Many inscriptions are in Spanish or Italian and many of the graves note the particular county in Ireland where the deceased was from. There are some veterans markers and Woodmen of the World stones, but all of them are in various family plots. Other than the Sisters of Charity, there are no veterans or association plots as in Magnolia Cemetery. The most important distinction of the people in this cemetery is that they were Catholic. Though secular cemeteries often provided special plots for the members of various associations (indeed this was often a membership benefit), Catholics were provided sacred ground free of the trappings of secular life.

Immediately adjacent on the north side of the circular cemetery lies the remainder of Old Catholic Cemetery. The ground here is gently rolling and treeless, and the mausoleums, tombs and various grave markers present the appearance of a large Necropolis. The cemetery is bordered on the west by Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., south by the circular cemetery and east by the New Cemetery (1948). Cemetery Lane forms the north border. A one story frame maintenance building stands roughly between the two sections of the old graveyard.

In contrast to the circular plan to the south, most of Old Catholic Cemetery is laid out on a classic grid pattern. There is a central main road off of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and intersecting cross streets. The area is large, somewhat over fifteen acres. As in the oldest section, most graves are in family plots, which are bordered by brick or stone coping. There are group plots for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Little Sisters of the Poor, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of St. Joseph and the Josephite Fathers. Individual graves in these plots are unexceptional, most of them marked by plain white crosses.

Though there are a scattering of antebellum burials, most are late Victorian and early 20^th century . The variety of markers include flat stones, crosses, obelisks, round and flat top standing stones. Irish symbols abound including harps, clover and Celtic crosses. Notable examples of funerary sculpture include: Hazel Scott stone (1904), a child's grave featuring a small angel with folded hands, the Mary Pepper monument (1872), a statue of a robed woman leaning on an anchor, Constantine Lauretta, Jr. grave (1904), a small angel at the foot of a cross and the Dominick Oliver Grady marker (1871), a large carved cross and anchor. Two mausoleums are of note; the Arata Family tomb (c. 1900) and the McDonnell Family tomb (c. 1915), both being stone with gable roofs and classical details. The latter features a stained glass window at the rear. Some stones are signed by their craftsmen including Jarvis Turner, William March and Thomas McDonald. Some stones bear Philadelphia and New Orleans stamps.

The most famous persons buried in this cemetery are Raphael Semmes (d. 1877) and Father Abram Ryan (d. 1886). Semmes achieved fame as the commander of the Confederate privateer "Alabama" and Ryan was the poet-priest of the Confederacy.

This cemetery was in active use until the 1940s, and though the new section was opened in 1948, some few burials still take place here. Overall integrity is excellent and the grounds are well maintained. A perpetual care program has recently been instigated. Before this each family was responsible for its own plot and there was much neglect. As in the oldest section, there has been some minor vandalism, but the cemetery gates are shut and locked at dusk.