St. Mary's Catholic Church

Most of my adult life I have heard my mother talk about St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shirrell, AR.  It is the oldest Catholic Church west of the Mississippi River and was founded by Mom's side of the family.  I've heard bits and pieces like..."It is where Popoo (Granny Bobbye's grandfather) is buried."  Or, "It is in a tiny town north of Pine Bluff."  Or, "Some of our family  members left money in their will for it's upkeep, and I don't think the Diocese has been doing a very good job."  We even talked about my wedding being held there.  Think JFK, Jr. and Carolyn Bessett Kennedy.  Come on...you remember the beautiful tiny chapel in the middle of the country--simple, lit by candles, intimate, and perfect!  I probably would have considered having my wedding there even more except I would have had to have had an outdoor reception...which meant no winter wedding...which  meant no white mink from my mother.  Yes, we had a deal!  Winter wedding=white mink & Non-Winter wedding=grumpy mother of the bride.  I'm smarter than I look.

Fast forward to 2010 and Dad is selling the house.  Mom was an organized hoarder (I think they call that "collecting") and kept everything!  I mean, everything!!  So, in the middle of campaign season I find myself sorting through not only my entire life, but my mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers etc.  You get the idea.  We have dishes, vases, photos, letters, glasses, art from generations past.  The list goes on, but I'm saving you the headache.  Time is limited and we sort, box, move, sell, and give away more stuff than I'd like to admit. What doesn't get sold or given away or unpacked goes to a closet or storage unit for the next 6 months.

Fast forward to March 2011 and John is insisting that Kerry and I start to go through some of the boxes in our garage.  I reluctantly give in and Kerry comes over.  We start one huge trash bag at a time...moving to boxes of prayer cards, rosaries and Bibles and then to letters and notes and Mom's report cards.  Yep, REPORT CARDS...from Holy Souls circa 1950s...good stuff.  Our quick trash bag toss turns into a very slow and memory lane type of afternoon.  John decides to accept that the garage will not be clean by dinner time and settles in to look at some old photo albums.  He loves old stuff--it is the history lover in him.  He is pouring over photos and thoroughly enjoying himself.  As a side note, I have often said that I was born in the wrong era.  Although I realize times were much tougher in the early 1900's, the women were so beautiful and the men were too.  I will write more on that later.  John sees a picture of Popoo and since he has had conversations about Popoo with my grandmother, he takes some extra time on this page of photos.  He calls me over and asks if I can read some of the writing under his photo and the other photos on the page.  I squint and read..."My grandmother's grave at St. Mary's in Shirrell, AR."  The following conversation went a little like this...

Me:  Oh yeah, that is our cemetery and church in Shirrell, AR. 
John:  You have a cemetery and church in AR?
Me:  Yes...Mom's family founded and built it...it is the oldest...blah, blah, blah...You and I were almost married there!
John:  WHAT???  Well, let's find it.
Me:  Um, ok...sure.

Fast forward to today, and I have a meeting in Texarkana, AR for work.  John offers to drive me there, so he can get out of the house and enjoy the pretty weather (and because he knows I get so turned around in Texarkana).  Later in the day, on our return, he randomly asked if I would like to find St. Mary's Church in Shirrell.  So, with nothing but the GPS in his IPhone, off we went.  I will admit, being in the car that long made me a bit grumpy, but when we pulled up to the very JFK, Jr esque church, it was VERY COOL.

Below are some photos of the graves that we saw--all family names, of course and all family members that I have heard much about all of my life (and I now own their dishes, art, vases, reading glasses...and so on).  I also have the photos that triggered the conversation and curiosity from John and a photo of a family tree that Mom created years ago.  I look forward to posting some more in the coming days about my family and our deep roots to Arkansas.  Enjoy!

St. Mary's Catholic Church-view from road

Plaque that details time-line

Me in front of St. Mary's

Francis Vaugine, died January 7, 1900

All I gathered was Vaugine, so I snapped a photo!

Annie Vaugine, died 1898--this is my great grandmother's mother.

Nathan POPOO Jenkins-It was completely buried, and John stepped on it, realized something was under his foot, and he pulled the grass up!  This is Annie's husband.  Annie died from child birth complications, and Popoo lived to a ripe old age.

A better shot of Popoo's grave.

How cool?

John was all over this one--a Revolutionary War grave--Francis Vaugine.

John wanted to recreate the photo he saw in the album (we are a smidge off)-see below.

This is from Popoo's funeral.  The people are standing right where I was and his grave is the one John "uncovered."

Popoo!

This is the photo that John first saw and had to "know more"...It is Annie's grave.

This is our family tree.  At the top is Don Joseph Valliere (more on him and the family later).  It is a very detailed family tree and a very interesting one as well!