"The French Cemetery occupied the present site of the Out-door Mass Ground of St. Christopher's Church on the west side of the present Niagara Falls Boulevard, just north of Ellicott Creek. It was abandoned until Monsignor William P. Solleder of that pastorate erected a shrine in 1947 to commemorate the early french settlers".
Source: The Chapel, A Comprehensive History of the Chapel and Pilgrimage of Our Lady Help of Christians, Cheektowaga, New York and of the Alsatian Immigrant Community at Williamsville, New York.. authors - Glenn R. Atwell and Ronald Elmer Batt 1979

"On the south side of Niagara Fall Boulevard and immediately adjoining, is an old burial ground, probably the oldest in the Town of Tonawanda.This plot is unenclosed and covered with vines and weeds, with here and there a scrubby tree. Not a headstone is left standing. Some are embedded in the accumulated turf of decades past. Here lie the remains brought thither from Niagara Falls, Lockport and Tonawanda.One broken and half - buried marker bears the inscription "Germaine Vincent, Born 1784". Forgotten graves.None are left to tell from whence they came or were rich or poor.Tradition says that one or more Indians lie buried here; for there were many straggling Iroquois families living around Tonawanda Creek when the town of Tonawanda was organized. Some of them were converted to the Christian faith by itinerant missionaries, in what was then Niagara County, and may have gone to the happy hunting ground from the town of Tonawanda. Many bodies have been removed. Now that the improved roads, the erection of St. Christopher's Shrine and the sub - division of land has taken place, it is conjectural as to what will be done with this old cemetery. Either it should be enclosed, and appropriately marked--for the graves can only be discovered by search--or the remaining bodies should be removed to a distinct location. no burials have been made in recent years in this cemetery. One stone embedded deep in the turf
reads--"Rosine Barbara Mischler, Jan. '75"".

 

SOURCE:

Reinstein Special Reference Collection

School Houses ..and.. Cemeteries

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