Carlinville Catholics have been fortunate to have consecrated burial grounds available almost as long as they have had churches.

   The land which comprises old Calvary Cemetery is located on the east side of South Plum Street in Carlinville.  It was conveyed to St. Mary and St. Joseph parishes by Bishop Peter Joseph Baltes, Bishop of the Diocese of Alton (later Springfield) on January 13, 1871.  Old Calvary Cemetery was therefore the first Catholic cemetery in the Carlinville community, and for fifty-seven years, the only Catholic Cemetery available to serve the needs of the people of the two parishes.

   Old Calvary Cemetery was the primary burial ground for local Catholics until New Calvary Cemetery was organized and established in 1927.  The first burial in New Calvary Cemetery occurred in September of 1928.  By 1931 there had been only five burials in New Calvary Cemetery, but by the late 1930s and especially in the early 1940s, there were fewer burials in Old Calvary Cemetery and more in New Calvary.  Since the late 1940s, the transition from Old Calvary to New Calvary had been nearly, if not entirely, complete.

   When land for New Calvary Cemetery was purchased in 1927, a not-for-profit corporation known as Calvary Association of Carlinville was organized to manage the affairs of the new cemetery.  All of the records of New Calvary Cemetery from its organization up to the present time have been kept by the various secretaries of the association.  These records accurately show the sales of all cemetery lots, as well as all burials which have taken place at New Calvary Cemetery throughout its existence.  During this period, many priests and lay volunteers have served faithfully as members of the board of directors and officers of Calvary Association of Carlinville.  They have expended a great deal of time in guiding and managing its affairs in a prudent and conservative manner.

   Annually, a Memorial Day Mass is held at New Calvary Cemetery, weather permitting.  The first Memorial Day Mass was held May 31, 1943, with Father Thomas Masterson as celebrant and Father Edward Walsh as assistant.  In place for that first Mass were the granite altar and cross which were donated by the Knights of Columbus.

   The altar and cross still stand in the cemetery today, unchanged except for necessary repairs and maintenance.  The sign marking the name of the cemetery was added in recent years.  The severe storm that struck Carlinville in 1989 caused a tree to fall on the crucifix standing in Old Calvary Cemetery.  The resulting damage was repair and the crucifix and the familiar entrance to the cemetery still dot the landscape of South Plum Street in Carlinville.

  There are four early priests who served our community buried in Old Calvary Cemetery.  They are Fathers Francis Ostrop (†1892), Henry Ader (†1909), Adolph Schneider (†1914), and Henry Hoven (†1914). Six well-known and respected priests are buried in New Calvary Cemetery.  They include Msgr. Casimir Toliusis (†2002), Fathers William Michael (†1956), William Klasner (†1950), Victor Goyke (†1962), Leo McDonald (†1975), and Edwin Bloomfield (†1976).

... adapted from A History of Ss. Mary and Joseph Church (1996)

Current Officers of the Calvary Association of Carlinville:

   Fr. Tom Donovan serves on the committee ex officio.

   For more information about the cemetery or purchasing lots, please contact Julie Griffin, the secretary-treasurer, at (217) 854-2767.

   Rules and Regulations for the Cemetery can be found here.