Catholic Cemetery 1848 Mobile, Alabama

1850's Alabama white marble tomb that has been expertly cleaned and restored

Catholic Cemetery, formerly known as the Stone Street Cemetery, is a historic 150-acre (61 ha) 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. The cemetery contains roughly 18,000 burials and has plots dedicated to various religious orders, including the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Daughters of Charity, Little Sisters of the Poor, and Sisters of Mercy. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 3, 1991 as a part of the Historic Roman Catholic Properties in Mobile Multiple Property Submission.

Catholic Cemetery was established by the Archdiocese of Mobile on December 18, 1848 when the first acreage was purchased north of Three Mile Creek by Bishop Michael Portier. It was founded to serve the needs of Mobile's Roman Catholic citizens after the Catholic section of Church Street Graveyard was filled to capacity after various yellow fever epidemics struck the city in the 1830s. The 1848 section covers 5 acres (2.0 ha) and features an unusual design consisting of three large concentric rings, instead of the more typical east-west configuration. The circular design surrounds a square plot dedicated to the Daughters of Charity, with a large marble monument in the center commemorating their sacrifices during a yellow fever outbreak in 1853. It was platted in this manner under the direction of Portier and was possibly executed by Claude Beroujon, who designed Mobile's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception a decade earlier. The vast majority of burials predate the American Civil War.

 

By January 1866 the older section of the cemetery was full, prompting Bishop John Quinlan to purchase an additional 15 acres (6.1 ha) adjacent to the existing area. The new section was planned with a grid configuration, with the grave plots oriented to a new central drive. This section contains the plots for the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Little Sisters of the Poor, and Sisters of Mercy. It also contains the graves of Father Ryan and Admiral Semmes, which made it an important Confederate pilgrimage site during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This area of the cemetery was expanded numerous times by land purchases in 1903, 1910, and 1921. In keeping with its main purpose as a religious burial ground, a permanent altar with a tall bronze Crucifixion scene was added by 1929 for the All Soul's Day Mass and Rosary.

 

The New Catholic Cemetery was opened to the rear of the older burials in 1948, greatly expanding the total acreage of the cemetery as a whole. This newest section offered perpetual care, something lacking within the older sections. The oldest areas of the cemetery became neglected, vandalized, and overgrown after this period, as family members died or moved away. Efforts to tame this area began in 1984, but it had become overgrown again within a decade. The archdiocese hired a crew to keep the cemetery clear of overgrowth in 1998 and 2006 saw the formation of the Friends of Catholic Cemetery, an organization dedicated to restoring the cemetery to its former state. The group is currently making efforts to erect a new fence along Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, repave the streets, and computerize the old burial records

 

The Arata-Moore Mausoleum.

 

Angel from the The Arata-Moore Mausoleum.

 

Wrought-iron cross

A Greek Revival family Tomb

A Tomb in the shape of a French Prie Dieu or Prayer chair

Abram Joseph Ryan (February 5, 1838 - April 22, 1886), OSFS, was an American poet, an active proponent of the Confederate States of America, and a Roman Catholic priest. He has been called the "Poet-Priest of the South," and less frequently, the "Poet Laureate of the Confederacy."

 

Raphael Semmes (September 27, 1809 – August 30, 1877) was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 to 1865. During the American Civil War he was captain of the famous commerce raider CSS Alabama, taking a record sixty-nine prizes. Late in the war he was promoted to rear admiral and also served briefly as a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. Admiral/General Semmes is the only North American to have the distinction of holding both ranks simultaneously.

 

Today's Purchases

A pair of ca, 1850 silver plate Rococo Revival goblets engraved Sarah F. Terry of Alabama

Because I have been out of the loop for few months my "Today's Purchases have been piling up. The items I'm blogging about today was purchase about 2 months ago. Both have connections with Antebellum Alabama. First up is a pair of ca, 1850 silver plate Rococo Revival silver plate goblets engraved on each is "Sarah F. Terry" of Talladega Alabama




The goblets are engraved with grape leafs and vine a popular motif used on mid 19th century Rococo Revival silver. I placed the goblets on my Federal Huntboard in my dinning room and have made ice cold mint juleps in them. They have worked out perfectly!

A pair of ca, 1850 silver plate Rococo Revival goblets possibly made in Alabama and belonging to  Sarah F. Austin Terry born in 1808 or 9 marred to Josiah Terry on 12 Sep 1825 and lived in Talladega, Co Alabama the pair of goblets descended thru the family  

A pair of ca, 1850 silver plate Rococo Revival goblets engraved Sarah F. Terry of Alabama

 

A pair of ca, 1850 silver plate Rococo Revival goblets engraved Sarah F. Terry of Alabama

A pair of ca, 1850 silver plate Rococo Revival goblets possibly made in Alabama and belonging to  Sarah F. Austin Terry born in 1808 or 9 marred to Josiah Terry on 12 Sep 1825 and lived in Talladega, Co Alabama the pair of goblets descended thru the family

Meek, A. B. Songs and Poems of the South. Mobile: S. H. Goetzel & Co., 1857.

Meek, A. B. Songs and Poems of the South. Mobile: S. H. Goetzel & Co., 1857.

Alexander Beaufort Meek

Alexander Beaufort Meek (1814-1865) was a journalist, poet, and historian, as well as an attorney and politician. Meek represented Mobile in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855 and was Speaker of the House from 1859 to 1861.


A. B. Meek was born in Columbia, S.C., the oldest of ten children. His family moved to Tuscaloosa, Ala., when he was about five. As a boy, he was a voracious reader of newspapers, especially literary ones, smuggling them into his classes folded up to a size that would fit inside a schoolbook. He began writing poetry in his teens. Meek attended the University of Georgia but transferred to the University of Alabama when it opened in 1831, graduating with an AB in 1833 and earning an MA in 1836. Meek was admitted to the bar at Tuscaloosa in 1835. In early 1836, he volunteered for military service in the Seminole War in Florida. Meek was a Jacksonian Democrat and was involved in politics. He was appointed several times to state legal offices, mostly to fill out unexpired terms. He also served as law clerk for former Tuscaloosan Seth Barton, who was solicitor of the United States Treasury under President James K. Polk. In 1846, Meek was appointed Federal Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile, which became his residence for nearly twenty years. Meek was elected twice to the state legislature from Mobile. In his first term, he sponsored the bill to establish free public schools in Alabama. In his second term, he was elected Speaker of the House.



In 1835, Meek began editing and publishing the Tuscaloosa-based Democratic newspaper, the Flag of the Union. In 1839, Meek became the founder and editor of The Southron, a short-lived literary monthly in which he laid out his theories for Southern literature. During this period, he also published poems in several Southern literary newspapers. From 1851 to 1853, Meek was an associate of Thaddeus Sanford, editor of the Mobile Register, which published many of his poems. He was also a popular orator, speaking on topics related to Southwestern history. In 1855, Meek published his book-length poem, The Red Eagle, about William Weatherford, Andrew Jackson, and the Creek War of 1813. In 1857, he published two more books, a collection of poems and lyrics about the South and a prose work on Southwestern history, which included several of his orations on the subject. In 1863, Meek moved to Columbus, Miss., to live with the family of his younger brother who was serving in the military. In September 1864 he married Eliza Jane Cannon, his brother's mother-in-law. He died there two years later of heart failure. His lifelong project, a history of Alabama, was never published.

 A pair of circa 1820-1830 English Regency Mahogany side chairs.

To give you a peek into some of my up and coming "Today's Purchases" Last weekend has to be one of the best estate sales I have attended when it comes to prices. I got a lot of period bargains for pennies on the dollar.

This was not my best deal of the sale but I bought a pair of circa 1820-1830 English Regency Mahogany side chairs. Can you believe I paid $10. for each chair! That's right 10 bucks each.


The chair are a beautiful aged Mahogany. On delicate turned Sheridan legs. The backs of the chairs have a graceful carved and pierced Neoclassical Greek Revival Anthemion also known as a Palmette or Honeysuckle. I placed them in my bedroom on each side of a American Federal wish stand. They look great! I'm not crazy about the upholstery as I refer to this kind of fabric and Grandmaws bargain basement special but you can't be picky when you are getting a pair of 1820's Mahogany chairs for $20. One day I would like to upholster them in a French powder blue silk. I think the contrast of the deep Mahogany and dusty blue would look great on the chairs.

The backs of the chairs have a graceful carved and pierced Neoclassical Greek Revival Anthemion also known as a Palmette or Honeysuckle.

I placed them in my bedroom on each side of a American Federal wish stand

A pair of circa 1820-1830 English Regency Mahogany side chairs.