Cimetiere St-Joseph: Sec. O - Fab & Francois

Interred in lot 387 are my grandfather's sister, Fabiola Fournier nee Robillard; her husband, Francois; and their daughter, Dolores.

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Section FG - Pauline Maille

The burial record for Pauline Maille document her as being 2 years old at the age of death. A resident of 33 Tucker St. in Lowell, Pauline was interred in the free ground, Section FG, on 27 Aug, 1941.

Published in the Lowell Sun on Aug. 27, 1941

PAULINE MAILLE
The funeral of Pauline Maille, infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Arthur (Neault) Maille of 33 Tucker street, took place this afternoon
at 1 o'clock from the M. R. Laurin Funeral home, 295 Pawtucket
street. Burial was in St. Joseph's cemetery.

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Section VB - Pauline Gail Robillard nee Maille

Interred in Sec. VB, lot 574 with her father, Paul E. Maille; her mother, Rita G. Maille nee Moran; and her grandmother, Yvonne Moran nee Ferron.

PAUL E. MAILLE

1917 - 1994

RITA G. WIFE

1922 - 1987

DAUGHTER

GAIL M. ROBILLARD

1944 - 1982

MOTHER

YVONNE M. MORAN

1902 - 1983

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Sec. O - Ernest E. Thibault

ROBINSON
ERNEST E. THIBAULT
HERO
BORN SEPT. 15, 1928
DROWNED
SEPT. 21, 1940

Ernest drowned in the Merrimack River in Lowell, Massachusetts on the afternoon of Saturday, September 21st. He and two other boys died when the rowboat they were playing in off shore snapped it's mooring, drifted out into the river and then overturned. Ernest's grave is in Lot 318. I have yet to find the other boys, but I will.

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Sec. W. - Antonio Robillard

A son of Joseph-Arthur Robillard and Philomene Foucher, Antonio Robillard was my father's uncle. Buried in in Lot 569 all alone, Uncle Tony had three wives.

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Sec. L - Rev. J. Narcisse Cotnoir, O. M. I.

Recently,  I was in Section L looking for Rev. Cotnoir per a request from a distant Robillard cousin of mine. Rev. Cotnoir is buried in Lot 36, which is to the the left of the cross if you are standing on Notre Dame Avenue. It is to be noted that Rev. Cotnoir was one of the officiating priests at my paternal great-grandfather's funeral. He also officiated at the funeral of one of my maternal great-great grandfathers.. To find out more about Rev. Cotnoir, please see the website entitled LES FAMILLES COTTENOIR/COTNOIR/PRÉVILLE FAMILIES. There you can read an "ORATION TO FATHER NARCISSE COTNOIR OMI (1887-1961)"

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Section O - Adam Maille & Eva Wagner

This photograph was taken on April 14th of this year. It is located in section O. Found by pure accident, I was there at the cemetery that day looking for the grave of my grandaunt, Fabiola Fournier nee Robillard and her husband Francois.

Adam Maille (Joseph A., Maria Prud'homme), who was a Dracut police officer, is a great-granduncle of mine. He married Eva Wagner (Alexis, Octavie Beauparlant) on 23 April, 1903 at St. Joseph's Church in Lowell, MA. While not expecting to find this stone that day, I was a bit taken a back at the size of it when I did. Compared to all of the other Maille stones I have come across, this one is the smallest.

While I don't have the plot record for this grave, I do know that Edgar Martin, a husband of Adam & Eva's daughter Therese, is buried here. As well as Edgar & Therese's son Dennis. Hopefully, on my next visit to St-Joe's, I will pick up a copy of the plot record and will add the lot number to this post. For more information on the family of Adam Maille please contact me at callmeshell at gmail.com.

Cimetiere St-Joseph - Sec. FG: Ovila Desnomme

Ovila Denomme, husband of Marie Martin, died on August 1st 1903 in Lowell, Massachusetts. He is buried  in section FG. Section. FG is the free ground section, there are no markers. The cemetery has his name recorded as Ovila Dieunomme in their database.

I did some research on Ovila some time ago and found a funeral notice.

Published in the Lowell Sun, Lowell Massachusetts, Tuesday, 4 Aug 1903, pg. 1.

DESNOMME--The funeral of Mr. Ovila Desnomme took place yesterday at St. Joseph's church, Rev. Fr. Dubriel, O. M. I. officiating. The bearers were Messrs. Ludger Hubert, Joseph Leboeuf, Andre Aresenault and Octave Ouellette. Burial was in St. Joseph's cemetery and the Rev. Fr. Diss, O. M. I., committed the body to the grave. Undertaker Albert in charge.

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Sec. A - Charles Lirette & Elizabeth Moisan

LIRETTE

CHARLES LIRETTE

1845 - 1923

SON EPOUSE

ELIZABETH MOISAN

1857 - 1938

THEOPHILE LIRETTE

1882 - 1950

MALVINA LIRETTE

1876 - 1953

Lot 49. According to cemetery records Charles was buried on 1 Dec., 1923 at the age of  78. His wife, Elizabeth, was buried 5 Dec., 1938 and she was 81 years of age.

Cimetiere St-Joseph: Sec. SPG - My Favorite Corner

On the cemetery map from the 1994 100 year anniversary booklet, it is marked with the word JESUS. But on the map that office currently has, and distributes, it is marked as being section SG, and within the cemetery's computer database it sometimes is referred to as SPG. It sits in the far right corner on the back right side of section Z and although this section of the cemetery has no "street sign" to mark it's physical location you'll know you are there once you see the statue of Christ...

There are no markers here. But it is the final resting place of many. I believe this section to be the unconsecrated ground, as some of those who lay at peace here do so by the force of their own hand.

Last September while I was walking by section SPG, I found a fresh deer carcass hung up in the back corner, behind Christ, on the iron fencing. The deer was most likely gutted by one of the fence post spikes as all of it's organs were visible and protruding through the posts. There was no blood, not even on the ground. I don't know why and it seemed as though all of it's organs were in tact. I took a few pictures that day with my old camera, but I have decided not to post them here, not yet anyway. So today you'll have to settle for some sort of animal tracks in the snow and a view looking out from my favorite corner...

Cimetiere St-Joseph - Cemetery Map

In addition to the original 57 acres purchased by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1892, the cemetery had acquired another 44 acres by 1994. I'm not sure how much acreage the cemetery owns now. That's a question that will be answered at another time. However, on one of my last visits to the cemetery, I was told by one of the caretakers that the fence that runs along the right side of section Y and along the back sides of sections FG and Z is going to be coming down soon in order to enlarge the cemetery. This section that is going to be opened up was where Mr. Pierre Tremblay's house once sat. Mr. Tremblay was the first caretaker of the cemetery and I'm told that the house burnt to the ground sometime last year.

Map Source: [Breault, Father Charles A., O.M.I., St. Joseph Cemetery Centennial Celebration 1894 -1994. Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate]

Cimetiere St-Joseph - Section C: Joseph Robillard & Family

Here in lot 12 is where my Pepere, Joe Robillard is buried. He is buried with his wife, Louise Esther Wright; his mother, Philomene Foucher; his father, Joseph-Arthur Robillard; as well as a brother, Rosario Robillard; a sister-in-law, Noella Robillard Bernier nee Thurber; and an uncle, Louis-Joseph-Zenon Robillard. For more information on the Robillard family please contact me or see my other blog Call Me-Shell

Cimetiere St-Joseph, Chelmsford, MA - A Brief History

Located at 96 Riverneck Road, in East Chelmsford, MA, according to a booklet authored by Father Charles A. Breault, O.M.I., which celebrates the 100 year anniversary of Cimetiere St-Joseph in 1994, the cemetery was established by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate from France who originally purched 57 acres of land in 1892, from the McKennedy family, in East Chelmsford, MA. The land was to be used by the Oblates as a summer residence . Two years after that purchase, however, Rev. Andre-Marie Garin, O. M. I., pastor of St. Joseph Parish [estab. 1868] in Lowell, was given permission to transform part of what was the summer residence into a cemetery. Filling the needs of the many Franco-American immigrants who came to Lowell from small French-Canadian villages in Quebec, Cimetiere St-Joseph became the second Catholic Cemetery in area.

Opened in March of 1894, the first burial was that of Mr. Alphonse Desormeau. According to cemetery records, Mr. Desmoreau is buried in Section FG, Lot 92. Section FG is the free ground, otherwise known as the paupers plot. Unfortunately, there are not too many markers in Section FG. In fact , I have only seen one small illegible monument with a lamb resting on top of it, and a few small flat markers which appear to have been "homemade". Sadly, the majority of the graves are only marked with a number plate, if anything at all. I will have to wait until the spring to see if Mr. Desormeau has a marker.

I believe the statue below, which is in section FG, to be the Angel of Death. This statue and another, the Angel of Resurrection, once sat a top the granite columns at the entrance of the cemetery gate, known as Gate 2.

In 1895, the first Oblate was buried, Rev Fr. Andre-Marie Garin.  Rev. Garin died 16 Feb., 1895. Founder of the now defunct St-Jean-Baptiste Parish on Merrimack St, a bronze statue memorializes him in the churchyard. Dedicated on 22 October, 1896, 20,000 people crowded the street in front of the church to witness it's unveiling.

REV. A.M. GARIN O. M. I.

BORN IN FRANCE MAY 7 1822

DIED IN LOWELL FEB. 16 1895

HE WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD

ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF LOWELL

Father Garin is buried in Section L, Lot P1. Father Garin's stone leans forward and appears to be sinking quite a bit. I apologize for my poor photo. I will try to get a better one soon.

A. M. GARIN

1822 - 1895

O

CRUX

SPES

UNICA

Source: [Breault, Father Charles A., O.M.I. St. Joseph Cemetery Centennial Celebration 1894 -1994. Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate]