St Joseph Catholic Cemetery, est. 1874

About the Cemetery

This cemetery is the southernmost of three adjoining cemeteries located on Quivira Rd in Shawnee, and originally served the St. Joseph parish. The Catholic Cemeteries of Wyandotte and Johnson County, Inc. took over the care and maintenance of this cemetery in the 1960s.

The oldest marked interment is for Henry Frederick, d. 29 Jun 1865, aged 65 years, and there is a total of four marked interments from the 1860s.

Based on its location next to Shawnee Cemetery and its appearance, it appears that these two cemeteries started about the same time, separated simply by a line or space as the division of Catholic versus non-Catholic interments.

The land where these cemeteries are situated was originally patented to M. P Randall, a Shawnee Indian. M P Randall sold a portion of his land to the Shawnee Town Company, however the land where Shawnee and St. Joseph's cemeteries are located was not part of the original Shawnee Town.

The Heirs of Randall, consisting of Eliza, wife of the deceased M P Randall, and their children William, Mary Jane, and Julia Ann, sold the portion of land where the two cemeteries are located to Thomas Douglas. On 14 Feb 1874, Thomas Douglas sold this land in part to L. M Frink, Catholic Bishop of Leavenworth, for St. Joseph Cemetery, and to the Trustees for Shawnee Cemetery Association. At the time of this sale, both cemeteries were already in existence.

Based on the index of gravestone inscriptions, this cemetery shows a steady growth from its beginnings in the 1860s through its peak in the 1960s. Since 1976, interments in this cemetery have shown a steady decline.