The Old Lorimier Cemetery in

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, Cape Girardeau and Scott County, Missouri, Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

was established between 1806 and 1808 by

Louis Lorimier Pierre-Louis de Lorimier, usually anglicized to Peter Loramie (March 1748June26, 1812), was a colonial French-Canadian fur trader, British Indian agent, and Shawnee agitator. In later years, he founded what became Cape Girardeau and Bollinger Co ...

. The cemetery is located at 500 North Fountain Street overlooking the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. There are believed to be more than 6,500 graves in the cemetery, most of them unmarked. A sidewalk serves as a north – south dividing line in the cemetery. It is said that Catholics are buried on the south and Protestants are buried on the north. The east slope is believed to be the burial grounds of African-American persons. It has been recorded that as many as 1,200 soldiers from the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

were buried there. The grave marker for the wife of

says "The Noblest Matron of the

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

race." It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2005.

References

External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Buildings and structures in Cape Girardeau, Missouri Protected areas of Cape Girardeau County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri