Montague Catholic Cemetery
Montague, Montague County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the early 1880s, families from the mountain provinces of northern Italy—Raimondi, Fenoglio, Perona, Corado—began settling in Montague, and by the early 1900s as many as fifty Italian families lived there. Most were Catholic, and in 1901 they founded St. John Catholic Church; the year before, the bishop of Dallas had bought three acres for this cemetery, where Giroloma Vitali was the first buried in 1901. Its stones record Italian, German, Polish, and Hispanic families among more than 250 marked and unmarked graves.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the story of an Italian immigrant colony on the North Texas frontier, a reminder of how varied the peopling of the state truly was.
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Related people
- · Giroloma Vitali
Themes & tags
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