Montague Catholic Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Montague Catholic Cemetery, out there in Montague County. Now, picture this. It's the early 1880s, and families are making their way to Montague, Texas, from the mountain provinces of northern Italy.

Not just one or two adventurous souls, but whole families. The Raimondis, the Fenoglios, the Peronas, the Corados. Barretto Raimondi, Jack Fenoglio, Antonio Perona, Charlie Corado.

Names that carry the sound of the old country, planted now in North Texas soil. And they kept coming. By the early 1900s, as many as fifty Italian families had made Montague their home.

Fifty families. Most of them Catholic, and folks who are Catholic know what that means. You need a church.

So in 1901, they established St. John Catholic Church right there in Montague. But before the church even opened its doors, someone was already thinking ahead about the other end of things.

On April 28, 1900, the Most Reverend E. J. Dunne, bishop of Dallas, bought three acres for a cemetery.

Three acres, laid out in four sections, surveyed into blocks. Somebody had a plan. And in 1901, Giroloma Vitali became the first burial in that ground.

Over the years, the stones that rose up out of that earth told a bigger story than just one community. Yes, Italian heritage is written across many of them. But German families are there.

Polish families. Hispanic families. All of them, neighbors in the end.

Today, more than 250 marked and unmarked graves are recorded in that cemetery. Two hundred and fifty people who came from mountain provinces and plains, from across an ocean and across a county line, all finding the same piece of Montague ground. Three acres, bought on an April morning in 1900.

Turns out, it held a lot of living.

What the marker says

Settlers from mountain provinces of northern Italy began arriving in Montague in the early 1880s. The families of Barretto Raimondi, Jack Fenoglio, Antonio Perona and Charlie Corado were among the earliest here. By the early 1900s, there were as many as fifty Italian families. Most of these Italian immigrants were Catholic, and in 1901 they established St. John Catholic Church in Montague. The Most Rev. E. J. Dunne, bishop of Dallas, bought three acres for a cemetery on April 28, 1900. The land was laid out in four sections surveyed into blocks, and Giroloma Vitali was the first burial in 1901. Gravestones exhibit Italian heritage as well as families of German, Polish and Hispanic descent. More than 250 marked and unmarked graves are now recorded here. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2016