The rich history in my parish cemetery

Perhaps it's fitting in some way that I share this little story on the eve of the Fourth of July.

About a week ago, on Monday night, I took a ride to my church, St. Mary's in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, for Eucharistic Adoration. When I arrived, which was shortly after 8pm, I was told that Eucharistic Adoration ended early (it usually goes until 9pm) because of an unidentifiable burning smell throughout the church. Not wanting to go back home right away because I had already ventured this far, I decided to take a stroll through the parish cemetery, which I had not yet visited up to this point since joining the parish this past December. I'm so glad I did this.

St. Mary's, which is located in Hales Corners, Wisconsin and a part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, was founded in 1842. Its cemetery, which is still open to new burials, has at least one burial in it that dates back to that year. As I walked through this beautiful, peaceful space, the only living person in it, I noticed many burials dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. Now, many of these stones, which are naturally worn from 150+ years of exposure to the elements, don't list the person's birth year, only the year of his or her death. But the age of the person at the time of death is listed. Doing the simple math in my head, I quickly realize that some of the people laying before me were born at the end of the 1700s. How genuinely fascinating, that fact alone, was to me.

I also noticed that many of these people laid to rest in the mid-1800s were from Ireland, a testament to the parish's strong Irish roots. The parish's first priest, not surprisingly then, was Irish, as well. Many of these stones list the county in Ireland from which each person or family had come.

I was just in awe by all of this. As I continued to slowly make my way through the cemetery on this warm evening, the bright sun slowly fading with each passing minute, I couldn't help but reflect on both the individual lives laying before me here, and the collective history and heritage truly shared by all of us - a continuity that brings us all together, that unites all the ages, right on down to the present day. Who were these people, I wondered? What were their struggles and hopes? Their fears and dreams? What did they do for a living? What got them through that long and difficult journey across the Atlantic to settle here, starting completely over with nothing? How did they make it? What life lessons did they pass down to their children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews? If they could talk with us today, what life lessons would they share with us? Have any of their descendants or other relatives ever come into my life? If so, did they have an impact on my life, hopefully positive?

The plant life in this sacred place is as lush and beautiful as these original stones that each share a life's story with us in just a few simple words, a reminder that they were here. They existed. They lived. They hoped. They struggled. They worked. They succeeded. They sacrificed. They experienced immense joy and sorrow. They mattered. They are a part of us and our own stories. The trees are as old and as strong as the souls at rest here, towering over us like the individual and collective legacies they left behind.

And the words I saw written many years ago on a display devoted to the eternal realm and to all of those who have gone before us at a gallery night art show in downtown Milwaukee came to mind: "What you are, we used to be. What we are, you will be."

A safe, blessed, and Happy Fourth with friends, family, and neighbors!

If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy my previous post on Myles Keogh, an Irish warrior that fought for the Pope in Italy and then came to the United States to fight for the Union in the Civil War (1861-65), including at Gettysburg. He met his death at just 36 years old in 1876 while fighting Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in Montana at what became famously known as Custer's Last Stand, and then had his remains shipped to New York for burial.

PBS video clip on George Custer

Per my recent post on Captain Myles Keogh and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, here's a PBS video clip on General George Custer I recently came across on YouTube. It focuses on Custer's time in the Civil War (1861-65) and on his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth. Very interesting. Enjoy!

Myles Keogh

Myles Keogh and the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876

An Irish warrior that fought for the Pope in Italy and then came to the United States to fight for the Union in the Civil War (1861-65), including at Gettysburg. Met his death at just 36 years old fighting Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in Montana at what became famously known as Custer's Last Stand, and then had his remains shipped to New York for burial. Here's his incredible story.

Growing up as a kid, I was quite the history buff. Even though I was on my way to eventually becoming a total slacker in high school, something I don't recommend, I loved to learn as much as I could about a variety of historical eras and events. I loved to play baseball in the street or at the park with my friends, and I played little league for several years (I didn't play high school sports because, again, I was a slacker). But just as much as I loved to play the game, I loved to learn all I could about the history of the game. I was particularly fascinated by the 1900s-1910s era. I loved the designs and artwork of the baseball cards and advertisements from that period. I knew all about the lives and careers of legends like Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Eddie Plank, and my personal favorite because of his wild and unpredictable behavior - Rube Waddell.

For a period of time, I was fascinated with World War II history, and I had a strong interest in the aircraft used in the war - the various bombers and fighters. I wrote on this blog that I recently rediscovered a documentary from 1944 about the amazing accomplishments of the crew of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 bomber that flew bombing missions over Germany from its base in England. I included the full documentary and several clips from a 1990 Hollywood movie about the crew in that post, which you can check out here.

And then there was the period in 2nd-3rd grade where I learned all I could about both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, prompted by seeing my dad's 1976 high school yearbook, the year he graduated. To commemorate the 200th anniversary of American independence, the yearbook featured a section showcasing all the major flags flown in or by the country - flags of individual colonies prior to and during the Revolution; the Confederate flag and its major variants; various battle flags used over the centuries; state flags; and a series of official U.S. flags that showed its evolution leading up to what we now know as its current design. 
 
Finally, getting to the main topic of this post, there was also a period growing up where I learned all I could about what's generally and collectively referred to as the Indian Wars - the various battles and skirmishes that took place out West between the U.S. Army's Cavalry and various Native American tribes after the Civil War. This interest all began when my parents, sister, and myself headed out West on a road trip one summer. I forget how old I was at the time, but I would have been in middle school. We visited Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota; stopped at multiple roadside markers pointing out U.S. - Indian battle sites; ventured into Wyoming for a couple of days; and went into Yellowstone National Park, albeit very briefly due to lack of time. But the highlight of the trip for me was our visit to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana, site of the June 25-26, 1876 battle and home to a national cemetery for veterans of all wars.

I remember the site being very quiet. It was very peaceful and solemn. It was the perfect place for thinking; for reflecting and just letting your mind wander. Had it not been for all the markers and fences indicating where soldiers and Native warriors had fallen, you wouldn't know that a bloody massacre had taken place there some 120 years (at the time I went there) prior. It was that quiet. I'd love to visit there again someday.

Myles Keogh

Recently, I rekindled my interest in the battle and in that historical period in general. But I came across a "new" character - Myles Keogh, a captain in the battle. Keogh led the men of the U.S. 7th Cavalry's Company I. Now, if I heard of Keogh's name so many years ago, it didn't stick with me. See, as a kid, I remember learning all about the roles of Captain Frederick Benteen (who led companies H, D, and K); Major Marcus Reno (who led companies A, G, and M); and of course, Lt. Col. George Custer, the famed "boy general" of the Civil War, so named because he was made a general at the age of 23. They were certainly the bigger names in the battle on the U.S. side, and a lot has been written about them. Benteen and Reno survived the battle, and Reno went on to face accusations of being a coward for many years after, including by Custer's wife, Elizabeth. Custer, of course, along with all the men he directly commanded in the battle, fell to their deaths. Well, Keogh, it turns out, met the same fate.

As I recently started to learn about Myles Keogh and his brief yet extraordinary military career, I thought to myself simply, "Wow..." Here's a man that met his death at the young age of 36 - my age as I write this - and had, in his short career, left Ireland to fight for Pope Pius IX in defense of the Papal States during the [re]unification of Italy; came to the United States to fight for the Union during the Civil War, surviving major battles like Gettysburg, to name just one; headed out West afterward to participate in the Indian Wars; fights and dies bravely in perhaps the most fabled battle in U.S. history; and then has his remains shipped back to New York for burial.

Myles Keogh in 1872.

It's said that Keogh's body was found stripped of its clothing, but not mutilated, as many fallen soldiers were. There are a couple of theories surrounding this. A devout Roman Catholic, Keogh wore an Agnus Dei (that's Latin for "Lamb of God") on a chain around his neck, and the Indian warriors may have viewed this as powerful "medicine." Another theory, tying into this one, holds that many of the Indian fighters were simply Catholic themselves.

Keogh's horse, Comanche, though badly wounded in the battle, survived and would go on to live another 15 years, dying in 1891. He became a mascot of sorts for the 7th Cavalry after the battle, and he is currently housed at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum. He is stuffed and in a humidity-controlled glass case.

Read all about Keogh's extraordinary life and career in this Wikipedia article, and check out the two videos immediately below pulled from YouTube. The third video, also from YouTube, is a news clip from 2015 talking about the battle in general and visiting the site.