Immaculate Conception Cemetery

Immaculate Conception Cemetery. . In November 1885, eight years after the dedication of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rev. Bishop N.A. Gallagher received five acres of land for a new church and cemetery in the Moral community. The church was built and Sister Josephine Potard (1822- 1893), a French Nun with the Sisters of Holy Cross, moved into a room in the rear of the church. The parish, located in southwest Nacogdoches County, grew and became an important center for the Catholic community., In the winter of 1911, the men of the church cleared a section of land on the north side of the property for a cemetery, today known as Section I. Prior to this date, Catholic burials were made in the nearby Lazarine Cemetery, which was almost at capacity, or in the Catholic section of the Oak Grove Cemetery in Nacogdoches., The first burial in section was Margarita Luna Peña (1869-1912), wife of Juan Pedro Peña. Two early priests from the Sacred Heart Church Yard in downtown Nacogdoches were reinterred here in 1937: Reverend Father William Sweeney (1844-1874) of Scotland and Reverend John Peter Bottet (1830-1857) of France., Section II was dedicated in May 1966 under the name of Our Lady of Lasalette. Section III was dedicated in April 2014 to the Dominican Sisters of Moral., The cemetery is the final resting place for many descendants of the early Spanish pioneers who established the Catholic missions in East Texas. Their headstones, including Acosta, Arriola, Cordova, Cortines, Luna, Montes, Peña, Solise, Y'Barbo, and others, help interpret the ancestry of the early settlers and their descendants. Also buried here are dozens of veterans dating to World War I who are remembered with special annual ceremonies. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2016.