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Archiver > MOSTFRAN > 2004-07 > 1091131102


From: Researcher <>
Subject: Re: [MOSTFRAN-L] Adams Street Cemetery
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 12:58:24 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <4704.172.174.196.236.1089638172.squirrel@webmail.i1.net>


I once lived next to the cemetery in question (mid
1960's) and cleaned the northern half of the cemetery.
It was overgrown and stones were pushed over even
then. I actually got most of the northern part of the
area where I could mow it. We lived in what was then
the flat roofed house to the north of the graveyard.

Dr. Joe Huck of Potosi, Mo. did extensive research on
this graveyard, probably in the 1950's. I think it
was primarily a smallpox grave yard and many of the
stones were for children. Dr. Huck could give in
depth information I would think.

H

--- "B. Warner" <> wrote:
> Jackie,
> The tombstones (or some of them) are still piled up
> under the trees by the
> alley. This cemetery is also called the old Desloge
> Cemetery and/or the
> Ortenville Cemetery since there are members of the
> Orten family buried
> there. I think I know exactly what irritated
> homeowner you're referring
> to. I had the "pleasure" of visiting that cemetery
> back in 2002 with a
> descendant of some of those buried there and we were
> immediately "greeted"
> by homeowners on both sides of the cemetery. They
> claimed that they
> cleaned up the cemetery which had fallen into
> disreprair over the years
> and, in my opinion, I got the impression that they
> more or less considered
> the cemetery part of their yards now. They
> indicated that a lot of the
> stones had fallen over and (rather than leave them
> where they had fallen),
> they simply piled them in the back until they could
> figure out where to
> put them, but I don't think there are any records
> available to indicate
> who was buried where. The descendant who was with me
> when we visited was
> told by one homeowner that he remembered seeing the
> exact stone she was
> looking for (that of her great-great grandfather),
> but we couldn't find
> it. We did manage to dig up the stone of her
> great-great uncle which had
> become buried over the years. This caused a
> momentary flurry of
> excitement because we thought we'd found her
> great-great-grandfather until
> we got the full name uncovered. Her great-great
> grandmother's stone is
> also located nearby and partially buried. She knows
> her great-great
> grandfather was buried there by his wife and there
> are 3 concrete bases
> nearby on which these stones were probably
> originally erected, but his
> stone is yet to be found. The lady on the other
> side of the cemetery (who
> was the most hostile towards us) indicated that one
> time she saw a man
> pull up in the alley and load some of the tombstones
> in the back of his
> stationwagon and leave with them. I thought it
> interesting that she did
> nothing to stop this man from loading up and leaving
> with the stones, but
> came flying out of her house almost the second we
> stepped foot on the
> cemetery grounds and greeted us like we were the
> enemy invading her
> territory. There was a Letter to the Editor written
> by this particular
> descendant concering the state of the cemetery which
> resulted in this
> homeowner being all "fired up". If you want to
> write me via private
> e-mail, I'll be happy to give you the names of the
> homeowners on either
> side of this cemetery if you want to contact them.
> I can also send you a
> scan of the letter which was written to the
> newspaper. After our initial
> encounter, however, things calmed down and, in fact,
> her son came over and
> helped us sort through the stones so we could
> photograph them. The
> grounds of the cemetery are very well cared for and
> mowed now and a few of
> the stones still remain in place or are leaned up
> against trees, but the
> majority are in pile in the back or have been
> removed completely. There is
> a partial listing for this cemetery in Volume One of
> the St. Francois
> County, Missouri Cemeteries books. It's listed as
> "Desloge Cemetery".
> Adams Street in Desloge is now known as Carter
> Street. Back in 2002, the
> cemetery property was in the name of the Doe Run
> Company and they were
> contemplating gifting the property over to the City
> of Desloge, but the
> City of Desloge had not decided whether they wanted
> to accept the gift. I
> assume their hesitation was probably due to the fact
> that it would then
> require them to then be responsible for the upkeep.
> That's the last I
> heard.
> Bettye
>
>
> > Hello All -
> >
> > I have pictures I took in 1973 and 1990 of a
> cemetery in Desloge. I'm
> > wondering if the St. Francois Cemetery Books have
> information re those
> > buried
> > there. I've heard it called the Adams Street
> Cemetery, also, the old
> > Smart
> > Cemetery. In 1990 the grave stones had been
> removed and some piled up in
> > a heap uner
> > a tree. I found my ancestors marker there and
> could have cried when I saw
> > it
> > and the other stones. There is supposed to be
> public access to the
> > cemetery
> > but an irritated homeowner wouldn't tell where it
> is as he doesn't want
> > people
> > there! I remember seeing some very old markers
> there when I visited in
> > 1973.
> > Has any of this history been preserved?
> >
> > Jackie Stuart
> >
> >
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