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Saint Francis Regis Mission Cemetery
Chewelah, Stevens County, Washington

Lat: 48° 16' 48"N, Lon: 117° 43' 41"W
T32N R40E Section 14

Transcribed by Maggie Rail © Apr 17, 2010, last edited Oct 29, 2011 [mrail@asisna.com]. Total records = 8.

This cemetery no longer exists but was situated south of the Saint Francis Regis Mission, near the old brick yard, on both sides of the old highway on the west edge of town, in Chewelah, Washington.

Saint Francis Regis Mission was established in Chewelah in the late 1800s. I have not been able to establish an exact year or anything definite on this. It is the same group of Jesuits that ran a mission east of Kettle Falls. This mission was only here for about 10 years as far as I can find out.

At some time previous to the building of the new Inland Empire Highway, all of the bodies from this cemetery had been removed to the Chewelah Cemetery, which is now called Pioneer Cemetery. In 1922 while the new highway was being built, at least one body was discovered, which had not been removed previously. At that time all that was discovered was the coffin handles and part of the skeleton, which were removed to the Pioneer Cemetery, for reburial **. In 1925 another coffin and remains were discovered on the south side of the highway, near the brickyard, and removed to the Pioneer Cemetery, for reburial ***. Most information found in the Chewelah Independent.

I am still searching for more information on this old burial ground. If anyone has info, please let me know. I heard one story that the cemetery was marked at the top of the hill, but this does not fit with the locations south of the highway and near the brickyard. I suspect that was where the mission was. There would have been no need to remove the cemetery for the highway if it was at the top of the hill.

- Maggie Rail

??, ??, bur. Dec 28, 1925, (1353 Chewelah Independent, Thur, Dec 31, 1925) ***
??, ??, no dates, found remains in 1922, removed to Pioneer Cemetery **
Bucannon, Samuel, d. before Dec 25, 1880. Last name also spelled Bucanon in 1880 Census *
Fenwick, James, d. before Dec 25, 1880, shot by Bucannon, He had a daughter, Mrs. T.B. Hughes living in Spokane in 1910 *
Maddock, David A., d. Feb 17, 1910, age: 53yr
McCrea, George H., d. Jun 06, 1910, senior partner in hardware firm of McCrea and Davies
Phipps, Joe H., d. Mar 06, 1910, age: 40yr
Spence, James P, d. May 17, 1910, age: 66yr, resident of Chewelah 14yr

Misc:
* believed to be buried here, under the highway.
Note: there are 2 separate instances of finding bodies that they had failed to move, one in 1922 and the other in 1925. **
*** Tuesday Dec 28, 1925, Coroner G.M. Stapish, removed a skeleton in a crumbling coffin from a spot on the highway near the brickyard, to a new resting place in the Chewelah cemetery. (Pioneer Cemetery) Boys had discovered the box, following the recent rains and the matter was reported to the corner, who investigated. The spot where the remains were found are said to be the site of an old cemetery, used in the early days, but it has been a source of some wonder that the box was not unearthed when the highway north was constructed a few years ago. There was practically nothing to identify the remains except the handles on the coffin. (1353 is a filing number) per Ruby Bartelds