THE STORY OF THE TWO OLDEST BURIALS AT THIS CEMETERY DOESN'T
BEGIN HERE, BUT DOWN THE ROAD
FROM THE FORT WHERE ONCE WAS
LOCATED A VILLAGE AND A CHURCH.
>> THAT WAS THE CHURCH OF SAINT
ANN WHICH WAS THE ORIGINAL
PARISH HERE FOUNDED IN 1721.
WHEN THE BRITISH CAPE INTO THE
FORT, THE PEOPLE IN THE VILLAGE
DID NOT LIKE BEING AROUND THE
BRITISH.
BRITISH. THE MOMENT THE ENTIRE VILLAGE OF
CHARTES WAS ABANDONED.
THE CHURCH THEN SORT OF FELL
INTO RUIN, AND FATHER MUERENE
WHO WAS HERE THEN CAME, TOOK
CHURCH VESSELS TO ST. JOSEPH'S
WHICH WAS THE ONLY THING
SURVIVING CHURCH IN THE AREA.
AND, ALSO, THEY MOVED THE BODIES
OF FATHER GANNELE, AND FATHER
CHOLE AT THE CHURCH OF SAINT ANN
AND MOVED THEM TO THE CEMETERY
AT PRAIRIE DE ROCHE.
FARE JOSEPH GENNELLE WAS A
MEMBER OF THE SEMINARY OF
FOREIGN MISSIONINGS.
FOREIGN MISSIONINGS. HE WAS STATIONED AT THE SEMINARY
MISSIONS IN CAHOKIA, THAT THEY
HAD THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY
FAMILY UP THERE.
IN 1731, WHEN THE CHURCH OF
SAINT ANN WAS BUILT, THEY
REQUESTED FROM THE JESUITS A
PRIEST TO COME BE THEIR PRIEST
AT THE CHURCH.
JESUITS DIDN'T HAVE A PRIEST AT
THE TIME.
THE TIME. VILLAGERS ASKED THE SEMINARY
MISSIONS TO SEND A PRIEST. THIS
WAS QUITE CONTRARY TO
ECCLEASCIAL LAW.
ECCLEASCIAL LAW. THE SEMINARY SENT FATHER JOSEPH
GANALLE, AND HE REMAINED THERE
UNTIL HIS DEATH.
AFTER THAT, FATHER LUKE CHOLE,
WHO WAS A RECOLLETTE MISSIONARY
WAS SENT DOWN FROM CAHOKIA.
HE STAYED THERE AGAIN UNTIL 1765
WHEN HE DIED.
AFTER THAT, THEY WERE WITHOUT A
REC FULL TIME PRIEST.
>>ALSO ETCHED IN THE STONES ARE
FAMILY NAMES THAT ARE COMMON TO
THE AREA, AND WHOSE ROOTS REACH
BACK TO THE FORT IN THE COMMERCE
IT PRO TECTED.
>>THE DE RUSE'S TRACE THEIR'S
BACK TO A MAN WHO WAS A VOYAGER
AND WORKED UP TO BE A MERCHANT
VOYAGER, WHICH MEANS HE WAS
HIRING PEOPLE TO WORK FOR HIM.
THAT'S HOW PEOPLE CAME WAS THAT
THEY WOULD SIGN UP WITH
ORIGINALLY IN THE 17 20'S WITH A
COMPANY OF THE INDES.
THEY WOULD SIGN UP FOR THREE
YEARS TO COME OVER HERE AND THEN
THEY COULD GO BACK TO FRANCE IF
THEY WANTED TO.
BUT MANY OF THEM FOUND THE FACT
THEY HAD THE FREELAND HERE, AND
IT WAS GOOD LIVING.
THEY DECIDED TO STAY ON, AND
THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED WITH THESE
PEOPLE'S ANCESTORS.
PEOPLE'S ANCESTORS. R BARBOSE ARE STILL IN HERE,
JEAN BAPTIST AND HIS BROTHER
CAME HERE IN THE 18TH CENTURY,
AND THEN JEAN BAPTIST WAS THE
COMMANDANTE OF THE VILLAGE OF
PRAIRIE DUE ROUCHE UNDER THE
BRITISH AND THEN AGAIN IN THE
AMERICAN. THE IRON CROSSES YOU
SEE IN THE CEMETERY AND SOME
WOODEN ONES WITH WHICH ARE A FEW
IN EXISTENCE ARE VERY OLD
TRADITION.
TRADITION. A LOST CEMETARIES IN CANADA AND
QUEBEC AND ROYALE AND PLACES
LIKE THAT, IS AN OLD TRADITION
AND APPARENTLY HAS CONTINUED
HERE UP UNTIL ABOUT THE 1870'S.
AMONG THE HEADSTONES IS THIS
PLAQUE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHOSE
GRAVES ARE NO LONGER MARKED, AND
WHOSE REMAINS RESIDE HERE AND IN
OTHER FRENCH CEMETARIES.
THEY INCLUDE NOT ONLY THE
VOYAGERS AND TRAPPERS, BUT ALSO
SLAVES AND NATIVE AMERICANS.
ALTHOUGH HE WAS NOT A COLONIST,
IT MARKS THE PLACE OF A PRIEST
WHO HAS AN INTERESTING STORY.
>>HE WAS SAID TO HAVE HAD A
COUPLE OF APPARITIONS OF THE
VIRGIN MARY, WHICH IS WHY SHE IS
ON THE TOMBSTONE.
ONE IN THE CEMETERY AND ONE UP
IN THE BLUFFS THERE.
ALSO, HE WAS SAID TO BE SO
SAINTLY THAT HE WOULD COME IN TO
A PARISH HOME OUT OF THE RAIN
AND HE WOULD BE PERFECTLY DRY.
THE RAIN WOULD NOT HAVE FALLEN
ON HIM.
ON HIM. TODAY THE VILLAGES AND CHURCHES
ARE I DON'T KNOW, BUT THESE
MARKERS, ALONG WITH THE FORT,
REMAIN.
REMAIN. THEY ARE REMNANTS OF AN EMPIRE
THAT STRETCHED AROUND THE GLOBE
AT A TIME IN THE BIRTH OF OUR
COUNTRY.