Title: Plight of the Departed Jesuits
Tags: st. louis missouri jesuit cemetery ghost paranormal
Blog Entry: St. Stanislaus Seminary Cemetery Mystery "Plight of the Departed Jesuits?" Everyone loves a good mystery, especially when it involves the paranormal and an old cemetery. This mystery all started when a photograph and information was received by Paranormal Task Force late last year (2007). The photograph was taken at the location of an old Jesuit Cemetery four years after burials were supposedly exhumed and relocated to another nearby cemetery. With the photograph also came a story which leads one to question if the actual bodies were indeed removed or just left there to be forgotten while six foot under and just stripped of their stone placards. (The above is the photograph we received from an anomalous source which we thank very much.) This property was once part of the 999 acre historical St. Stanislaus Seminary which was originally started in 1823 in the then Louisiana Territory by 8 Belgian Jesuit missionaries, including Father De Smet, under the encouragement of Bishop DuBourg and President James Monroe. This mission first started as just a log cabin residence and an Indian School near the present intersection of Howdershell and Charbonier Roads in historic Florissant, Missouri. In 1840 the log cabins were replaced with a four level stone building which became the longest running Jesuit novitiate in the United States until 1971. In 1971 most of the property was sold to United Pentecostal Church International and the historic stone building became the Museum of Western Jesuit Missions. Part of the property sold contained 351 Jesuit burials which were supposedly exhumed and moved to nearby Calvary Cemetery. This left 121 burials remaining at this historic Jesuit location including the oldest grave sites, some of which were located upon an old Native American burial mound. In 2003 the museum closed its doors and its contents were relocated to the St. Louis University Campus where a newer museum was dedicated. The remaining burials of the "pioneer" Jesuits were then supposedly removed and reentered into Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. The deemed 11 historic Jesuit burials were reported to be placed in individual graves within Section 33 with the remaining 110 non-historic burials being placed in one mass grave. However, per the information and eye accounts we received, observers only witnessed the backhoes moving dirt around to level the ground after the tombstones and monuments were removed. After the workers finished leveling the ground witnesses asked them about the burials due to not seeing any remains or caskets being exhumed from the earthen floor below. They were told that the remains were going to be hand removed using shovels. However, the attentive witnesses came back day after day for a long period of time and never saw a shovel on the site or further excavation. Instead they only watched new grass grow. During the same period these concerned and watchful individuals also kept their eyes upon the Calvary Cemetery location where the remains were to be relocated. They never witnessed ground breaking or any other indication the any bodies were entered. However, a stone wall monument was erected containing the Jesuit's names. Is the above photograph a paranormal reminder and message sent by those earthen residents possibly left behind to let us know that they still inhabit the ground at the old Jesuit Cemetery location? Is the famed Father De Smet one of the forgotten ones left behind? Are Jesuits today that make the annual pilgrimage in May to Father De Smet's grave actually visiting the site of Father De Smet or just a name engraved on a wall at the wrong location? Maybe in the near future science with its ground exploring ultrasound equipment could tell us the true story concerning the plight of the possibly forgotten Jesuits. (The below pictures are of the same location the ghost tombstones were captured, but during the daylight hours and of a picture of the same area from an old news article concerning the closure and relocation of the cemetery and museum.) © 2008 - Gregory Myers, President - Paranormal Task Force, Inc. www.catchmyghost.com
VIEW FULL VERSION: Link