Withington Cemetery Gate and Stone Posts. Pauline Masson Photo. Circa 2007.
By Pauline Masson –
Two historic cemeteries on the Bill and Linda McLaren farm, where a proposed data center is under consideration, has some residents worried.
The two cemeteries were discussed last Thursday during a public meeting at the Tri-County Senior Center on the controversial data park.
Both burial grounds have huge historic significance to the area. But their future safety is built into the data park plan, Mr. McLaren said. They will not be harmed, he assured Hometown Matters. They are shown on the data park plan but are away from the construction area. If the data park is approved and built, roads will be built to the two burial grounds so they can still be visited.
I have visited both cemeteries on more than one occasion.
The two burial grounds are the Whitworth Cemetery and the Withington Cemetery (known locally as the Old St. Patrick’s log church cemetery).
The late Bobby Kommer and Janet Daniel discussed his family’s military background at Civil War in Pacific presentation in 2015. ________________________
The late Bobby Kommer, a Catawissa resident and fellow history aficionado, took me to see the Whitworth Cemetery. Mr. Kommer was a great-grandson of the Musick and Whitworth families, Confederate and Union soldiers in the Civil War who are buried in the fenced cemetery – and a history buff who had collected the military records of his relatives. He shared the huge volume with me that covered the entire surface of his dining room table.
Mr. Kommer was an eager raconteur. He told the story of the Whitworth and Musick families move to North St. Louis County in the early 1800s. They built a plantation with a grand manor house that, like ‘Tara’ in Gone with the Wind, they gave their mansion a name. When they decided to move farther west, the County bought the plantation and platted a small town. They used the plantation mansion as a city hall and named their new town after the mansion Hazelwood.
Mr. Kommer estimated there were 200 graves in the fenced cemetery on the McLaren property.. Mr. McLaren said in his youth, someone wanted to be buried there and there were no unused grave sites. He also said his family erected a new fence around the cemetery in recent years to prevent his cows from wandering among the graves.
The Withington Cemetery was located adjacent to the St. Patrick’s log church on the bank of the Meramec, deeded in June 1844 as recorded in local author Joseph McNamee’s book Pioneer Priests. The adjoining land was set aside for a cemetery and eventually enclosed with a steel fence. The only trace that remains of the fence is two impressive stone gate posts, pictured above.
St.Patrick’s Of Armagh log church remains. Joseph McNamee Photo. Circa 1930
Mr. McLaren allowed me to trek through this long abandoned cemetery and spray shaving cream on the soft eroded stones to enable me to read them. One of the graves I recall is that of Long John McNamee, one of the first permanent residents of the LaBarque community, known as Little Ireland.
One story involving the log church that stood beside this cemetery lingers in local lore.
The late Ed Phelan, Catawissa _______________________
On a 2007 visit to the cemetery the late Ed Phelan was on a tractor pulling a trailer with benches for members of the local history group, that Mr. McLaren provided. As he pulled away from the cemetery, Mr. Phelan stopped the tractor and turned to tell the visitors the story that I had already heard from his granddaughter Lynne Tobey.
During the Civil War Union soldiers were posted in Pacific to guard the railroad bridge over the Meramec River. The Phelan family hired off-duty soldiers to help with farm work. The soldiers made friends with girls who lived in Catawissa on the south side of the river. The girls invited the soldiers to a wedding at St. Patrick’s of Armagh Church when the parish was still holding Mass in the little log church on the banks of the Meramec next to the Phelan property.
As was the tradition, a special medal was baked into the wedding cake. According to legend, the individual who got the piece of cake with the medal would enjoy good luck.
Later in the war, two Union soldiers were captured by a Confederate unit and were to be executed. A young Confederate lieutenant was ordered to take the men into the woods and shoot them. The young officer asked the names of the Yankees and offered to write to their families so they would know what had happened to them.
One soldier reached into his pocket and handed the southern officer a medal and asked him to send it to his parents.
“Where did you get this?” the Confederate officer asked.
The condemned soldier said he had attended a wedding up in Catawissa and the medal was in his piece of the wedding cake.
“I was at that wedding,” the would be executioner said. He fired a couple of shots in the air and allowed the two Union soldiers to escape. The two soldiers survived the war and returned home to tell the story.
This story – believed as Gospel in Catawissa – may be too sweet to be true, but it has the feel of truth to it and illustrates the community culture that persists in the area to this day.
The two historic cemetries are shown on the proposed Beltline Energy data park plan, but they are outside the construction area, Mr. McLaren said. If the data park is built a road to the cemeteries will be constructed so they can still be visited.
Estimating 200 graves yet they are only doing 50 ft setback? You do the math….
Does anyone have info for Maria (the previous owner of Little Ireland Coffee Shop in Pacific) ??? She might be related to Long John McNamee, one of the first permanent residents of the LaBarque community, known as Little Ireland. I remember she had a book in the coffee shop which I think was about her relatives…
The fact remains is that these 2 cemeteries are undeeded, and undocumented as historic cemeteries should be. Can we visit them now and take pictures and care for the headstones and the graves? Probably not. But I’d be happy to do it myself if given permission.
Deeding the cemeteries to the county makes a permanent plot on the map and the exact gps coordinates are recorded. It does not change the ownership of the land, only that it’s being properly protected.
This article does not address everything I said at the meeting. If Bill is really interested in preserving these historic cemeteries, then let us document and care for them. Promises can be broken. We need to protect the graves of our forefathers at all costs.
Feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Long John McNamee was Maria Brennan’s great uncle, her grandfather George’s brother. The book she had was Sage of Little Ireland, which I wrote about Joseph McNamee, her father’s youngest brother. Joseph was a teacher and author. He wrote a series of essays on the LaBarque community. I got the mention of the fence around the cemetery from his book Pioneer Priests that mentions an 1844 deed. I’m going to contact the St. Louis Archdiocese tomorrow to see if it is possible to get a copy of that 1844 deed and if it shows the cemetery next to the church. Of course there would not have been any graves in it at the time. I don’t know how the cemetery came to be named Withington, but they were the first family to settle in Pacific. Bil said the cemetery shows up on his property deed. Bill and Linda McLaren have been generous caretakers of that long abandoned burial ground. They allowed local history groups to visit there and often provided transportation through some pretty rough terrain. Who is the “us” you refer to in your message and how do you work with cemeteries/? I’m very interested in the future of both cemeterie es.
Pauline, I apologize for the tenor of my reply. I shouldn’t call in question Mr McLaren’s care of the cemeteries without any evidence and you provided ample evidence to the contrary.
I and others would like to see the cemeteries deeded to the county like Mr Eckelcamp has done on the Diamond Farms Tyler/Reed cemetary and the unknown cemetary that is on Mr Eckelcamp’s land that is just north of the Schatz Underground (abutting the Old 100) and just south of where the Schatz Underground sign is. They both are on the plat map. Deeding the cemeteries to the county provide a more sure way to protect the cemeteries going forward, no matter who owns the land.
Will the old church site be preserved as well? I have no idea if any of the foundation of the church or any part of the building are still there.
I say “us” since no one else is asking about the preservation of these cemetaries and there are many in Franklin county, Robertsville, Catawissa & Pacific that have expressed despair that these cemetaries will be desecrated by the developer. I’ve been contacted by relatives of the Withington families that are buried there, they are afraid of speaking out and requesting access. I’m not afraid to speak for them or myself or the dead. Someone has to.
There are several Findagrave entries, one is for the Whitworth cemetery, there are no gps coordinates. The listing says that only 67% of the cemetery is documented. None of the photos of the cemetery or headstones are within the last 5 years.
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/1989960/whitworth-cemetery
Is this the one for the Withington cemetery? I have no way of knowing and there are no gps coordinates. Someone needs to document everything there. We/you/us/Bill could contact an official cemetery https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2367188/old-saint-parick's-of-armagh-cemetery
I’m calling in question the fact that the developer (whoever that is, we have no idea since Beltline is just an unfunded entity that flips land) will honor the deed and maintain the cemeteries and provide access freely to the public, archeologists and families that are buried there. Personally I think it’s desecration to build these monstrosities around the pioneer cemeteries like is proposed, but that’s just my opinion.
Thank you Pauline for your work on this site and your desire to preserve the rich history of Pacific and Franklin county. I apologize again for anything that came across as accusations against Bill.
If you have any of this history mentioned in any of your books, please let me know, I’d like to buy them and learn more from your research.
Free free to contact me at: [email protected] or https://dcriq.com
Sherman, When someone is drowning is not the time to teach them to swim. There is so much anger over the possible data center that I’m unsure how to even approach deeding the two cemeteries to the county now. I think, but am by no means certain, that Beltline is the owner of the property where the cemeteries are located by contract. I would not want to start a war with them over re-deeding part of the property.
I would love to see the cemeteries preserved. The St. Louis Archdiocese assured me they would search for the 1844 deed for the church, which might include the cemetery, and give me a copy.
The late Marc Houseman and the Franklin County Cemetery Association did a lot of work on old cemeteries and completely restored several, clearing the grounds, resetting fallen stones and documenting the deceased there.
I so appreciate your interest and would want to help any group that would gain access to the cemeteries. I can’t do physical labor but can help with research and documentation.
Thanks for your nice comments about Bill McLaren. He and Linda have always treated me and the local history community with great respect and helped us in many ways. I could never overstate their generosity. They are true history aficionados..
I’m working with the Franklin County Cemetery Society to photograph, restore, and preserve the Tyler Cemetery in Gray Summit where another data center is preserved. We also want to restore these two cemeteries but I have no way to contact the McClarens.
Thank you Pauline, Sherman and Kyle for all your help and information in regards to the cemeteries! I appreciate it!! Joy
GOOD TO KNOW, BUT I’M MORE WORRIED ABOUT THE EFFECT ON THE LIVING WITH DATA CENTERS.