Maryland Catholics on the Frontier

The Migration into Monroe Co., Mo 

  St.Stephen's Cemetery                  A Brief History                 A Correction      

St.Stephen's Cemetery

Indian Creek, Missouri

If you would like the tombstone information on any of these names, please e-mail me with your request.

There are others buried here, but the tombstones have become unreadable or destroyed by time and nature.

 

Some Names in Church Register but not Currently Found in Cemetery
Adam	Albright	Anderson	Blackwell	Branham	Burdett	Catlett	Cornwall
Hertel	Hightower	Hogan	Hurd	Jones	Kelly	Kendrick	Koskilly
McCutchen	McLeod	Mitchell	Morris	Mulcahy	Power	Rice	Richardson
Riley	Sandifer	Scobee	Shoemaker	Utterback	Walker	Zeiger

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A Very Brief  History

The first English Catholics who sought the freedom to practice their religion, sailed to America on the "Ark and the Dove"  making land in Maryland in 1634.  

In 1649, the Toleration Act was passed by the Maryland Assembly, providing for Religious Toleration for every Christian. This was the official beginning of religious freedom in America. However, by 1654, Catholics were outlawed  in Maryland, as well as in Virginia and Massachusetts Bay.  

After the Revolutionary War, the ban on westward expansion was lifted.  In order to escape religious persecution, and  the increasingly poor Maryland farming soil,  they eagerly migrated into Kentucky.  Five colonies of Maryland Catholics moved between the years 1785 and 1792, to primarily the Nelson County area.

Some of  the families that settled this area during that time were: Abel, Hayden, Elliott, Jarboe, Pike Hagan, Mudd, Shircliff, Lancaster, Green, Spalding, Miles, Whelan, Mills, Pierceall, and Clement.

With the availability of land in Missouri, many of these families moved west once again, many into Monroe County, in the vicinity of  Indian Creek in 1832.  This is where they built the first St. Stephen's Catholic Church in 1838, although previous to this date services had been held in members homes.    

The first church was of logs, and was said to have burned to the ground. A frame building was erected in its place.  It too was destroyed by fire.  The next building was of brick and was the finest of its day in the county, built sometime between 1852-1856. This structure was leveled by a tornado on March 10, 1876.  This brick church was rebuilt once more, and still stands to this day.

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A Correction to Reported History

Many local news reporters through the years have reported mistakenly that the original settlers of Indian Creek were Irish.  Research has shown that there were about 109 original settlers.  The majority were of English descent and some were Welsh. However, of these original settlers, only 5 families were Irish.  These families were--- Whelan, Hagan, Murphy, Donnally,  and  O'Brian.