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Norman J. Meinert
O'Hara Township, Allegheny County, PA and is presented here freely as a courtesy to family
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cemetery listed below.
The following listing is from contributed family
files, and/or Tombstone Recordings.
This is NOT official
cemetery
information, NOR is it complete.
PLEASE CONTACT THIS CEMETERY FOR OFFICIAL RECORDS.
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St. Agnes Cemetery, Est. 1867
(a/k/a St. Cecilia Cemetery; Bull Run Cemetery;
& Thompson Run Cemetery)
622 Saint Agnes Lane
West Mifflin, PA 15122-2925
(Allegheny County)
(412) 466-2655
(Unless otherwise indicated -- Contributed by Mary Martin Fey, mlmf2@adel-nospam-phia.net, Plum Borough)
(Reproduced with permission, Fr. Polak, November, 2001)
Contributed by Mary Martin Fey
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The cemetery next to the St.
Agnes R.C. Church, in the Bull Run area of West Mifflin, is
referred to as the 'St. Agnes Cemetery' and also the 'Bull Run Cemetery'. However - in the old Church records of burial (1873
- 1877) this same cemetery is named St. Cecilia. Extracts from the St. Agnes Church
125th Anniversary Booklet (reproduced with permission), 1867-1992:
At First, A Mission
-------------------
In 1867 there were a sizeable number of German Catholic Families living
in
an area called Mifflin Township which came into being in 1787. This
township covered a large geographic area and included a number of small
communities such as Hays, West Homestead, Munhall, Whitaker, Duquesne,
Dravosburg, and Lincoln Place. As these communities grew, they began in
1880 to cecede from the township, each annexing and claiming a certain
territory, and each becoming a Borough, a City or a part of the City of
Pittsburgh. What remained of Mifflin Township, now geographically shaped
like an hour-glass, was incorporat4ed and became the Borough of West
Mifflin
on January 3rd, 1944.
But getting back to 1867. The Catholic families living in Mifflin
Township
in an area known as Thompson Run and/or Bull Run, from the names of two
creeks that drained the area, had no parish of their own. They belonged
to
the Diocese of Pittsburgh, which was established in 1843, and were
ministered to spiritually by the priests of St. Peter Parish in
McKeesport,
which had been established in 1846. The first permanent pastor of St.
Peter's was Father Nicholas Haeres who was appointed on November 5,
1848.
In addition to ministering to his little flock of German Catholics in
McKeesport, he also traveled to several Missions along the Monongahela
River, such as Elizabeth, PA, and here in Thompson Run.
Acquisition of Land
-------------------
In the same year that the Church was dedicated the rectory was also
built.
The property for the church and the rectory had been purchased from
William Stone and his wife on August 12, 1863, when the parish was just
a
vision. It was the first of many parcels of land acquired over the years
which are now the unified property of St. Agnes parish. A second parcel
of land was bought from Mary Stein on March 7, 1870.
St. Agnes Cemetery
------------------
The land for St. Agnes Cemetery was included in the purchase of the
original
property. [The first death of the new parish and burial in its cemetery
is
recorded by Fr. Schmitt as follows: "In the year of Our Lord 1867 Maria
Bost died on the 13th day of October having received the sacraments of
the
Church and was buried in the cemetery of St. Cecelia." For reasons not
recorded anywhere, the parish cemetery went under the name of "St.
Cecelia"
from 1867 until 1889, and from then on it is referred to in parish
records
as "St. Agnes Cemetery". All available lots in the cemetery were sold
when
this parish celebrated its 100th anniversary. Burials continue here for
those who have lots, but parishioners now go to neighboring cemeteries
to
purchase new lots. The parish continues to maintain the cemetery
through a
perpetual care fund for which an annual appeal is made.
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Directions from
McKeesport/Glassport area:
=========================================
Cross the Dravosburg Bridge - continue straight to the first traffic
light - (top of the hill near the old Bettis Airport/Westinghouse Bettis
plant). At this traffic light - turn right - (Yahoo say's this is
Bettis Rd.
which becomes Homestead/Duquesne Rd). Turn right onto St. Agnes Lane.
Directions from Pittsburgh:
==========================
Please use your favorite mapping site to obtain these directions. (i.e.
http://maps.yahoo.com/)
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contribute
information to this website, please send Email to the address listed on my "HOME
PAGE" (link) below. In your "Subject"
line please indicate the full name of this
cemetery. Thank you!