Since there was no next of kin, the French sailors had to remain in this country and were buried by Father Hartwell. french-memorialThey were Pierre Chetodel and Louis Gouger of the French Sailing ship Thiers, and Louis Brazzard of the French Sailing ship Almandral. The other three French Reservists died of the flu in October 1918. The first French Reservist was Joseph Melvel of the French Ship Amarel Cicile, who drowned while swimming at Port Covington in August 1918. The bodies of four French Sailors are buried at the Cemetery.
The Annual French Sailors Memorial Ceremony Many of the first bodies were orphans who died of pestilence and poverty. These victims were buried in unmarked graves covering approximately one quarter of an acre in the northeast section of the cemetery and marked by a single monument. Legend has it that the cemetery may have been used as early as 1700 when a flu epidemic swept through Baltimore. The oldest grave marker is dated 1846, however the first recorded burial was Daniel Taylor who died at the age of 55 in 1851. As Father Paul Meyer says, it is ".where His blessed departed ones sleep the sleep of peace until the Angel of God calls their bodies from the grave to assume the cloak of immortality."
In old parish records the cemetery is termed "God's Acre", which was an old Catholic term for a cemetery. All burials are with the foot of the grave toward the east and most gravestones face east. The cemetery faces east, as is the custom of many cemeteries. Saint Mary’s Cemetery is located at 233 Homeland Avenue, on the grounds of the original Saint Mary’s Church.
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