ST. JOSEPH'S PIONEER CEMETERY
by Ross W. Irwin

The Attorneys of the Canada Company gave a deed for a glebe to Right Reverend Alexander McDonell, Bishop of Regiopolis; Right Reverend Kenedgius Gaulin; Rev. John Cassady of Guelph Missionary, Rev. Angus McDonell of Sandwich, and the Trustees of the RC Church of Guelph. The purpose of a glebe was to produce revenue through rents to farmers for the support of the local church and clergy.

The glebe, in Division A, consisted of township lots 9 to 22 on Range I and lots 1 to 11 in Ranges II, III and IV. The glebe consisted of 116 acres, and was granted May 7, 1834 upon payment of £112-0-0. The ownership plan was not registered until August 25, 1855. The glebe was bounded by Woolwich St. and Edinburgh Rd. from Speedvale Ave. to Division St.

By 1858 only one of the original trustees remained alive so the land was transferred to the Roman Catholic Episcopal Congregation of the Diocese of Toronto - later to Hamilton.

The original cemetery for Roman Catholics was beside the church on Catholic hill. A frame church had been built in 1835 but burned in 1844. It was replaced by the St. Bartholomew stone church in 1846. By 1857 the town cemetery (Woodlawn) had been established away from the town centre and since Father John Holtzer found the hill cemetery to be almost full he decided to open a new cemetery on the church glebe. This cemetery was large enough to serve the Catholic population until 1927 when Marymount Cemetery was opened on the Elora road.

In 1861 Rev. Holzer bought 15 acres of land for the Sisters of St.Joseph in Range IV, lot 15, for the Sisters to established a catholic hospital for the sick and aged. Some 25 acres adjacent to the cemetery was set aside for the use of the new hospital on Hospital street. Three sisters arrived in 1861. They were the original caretakers of the cemetery.

The old burying ground on the hill was closed in June 1853 but those graves were not removed to the new St. Joseph's cemetery until 1862.

In 1927 William J. Sheady suggested the Knights of Columbus take over the care of the Pioneer cemetery as it had become neglected with the opening of Marymount. A cemetery committee was established. Grass was cut with a scythe. A clean up campaign launched. A permanent caretaker was hired after it was cleared of brush and weeds and headstones straightened. The old crucifix was replaced. There were 800 stones in the cemetary. Old wooden crosses were removed.

Marymount Cemetery was opened in 1927. Originally it had only flat headstones.

Plots were sold in the old St. Joseph's Cemetery to 1948. There are also a small number of WWI veterans buried here. A meditation chapel was built. A time capsule was buried 10 September 1986.