For a while now, I have been wanting to go through "the old Catholic cemetery"--or more properly, St. Joseph's Cemetery. I knew I had some relatives from my father's side buried there, so off I went in search of any Horne headstones.
I was intrigued by so many markers that listed birthplaces of "Cefalu, Italy". Here is one written entirely in Italian.
Many victims of the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1873 are buried here, including the five Catholic priests who died ministering to fever victims.
I spent almost an hour walking and reading names, wondering about lives long ago and taking the occasional photo. No luck finding any Hornes, though.
I hopped in the car, and, on a whim, drove through the center of the cemetery one last time. I noticed this beautiful statue.
And the name caught my eye. De Filiquier.
Bingo!
My great-grandmother's last name was de Filiquier before she married my great-grandfather Horne.
And so I found my paternal great-grandmother's family plot.
Lucien Blank de Filiquier and his wife, Mina Beyais de Filiquier came from France and owned a market. He died in 1895.
The next to join him was his little grandson, William, who died in 1901 aged 9 months.
I never knew about him!
My great-grandmother Emilie died when she was 45.
And then her mother followed 2 years later.
Here's my great-grandfather's marker.
Not nearly as elaborate as his wife's. He outlived my great-grandmother by 15 years.
The last to be buried in the deFiliquier plot is my great-aunt Lucille.
I remember Aunt Ciel- a tiny spinster, with white-grey hair and those '60 style eyeglasses who lived in the house next to my grandparents. Her house smelled like mothballs and was crammed to the rafters with the stuff of a lifetime. She was a ceramic artist- I remember her kiln and her molds and remember her greenware works-in-progress and how the glaze colors were never the same before the final firing as they were afterward. I still have one of her china Easter eggs.
Charles' and Emilie's eldest child, my grandfather Charles jr., is not buried with his parents and brother and sister. I'll take you there next.
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