From "Centennial History 1885-1985: Our Lady of Lourdes - Jordan, Oregon", 1985:

"The early pioneers told this story of Father Albrecht: Before Father died, he gave his followers instructions for his burial place. He said he would be buried on a little knoll that slopes to the north and to the west, with a little stream running by on the north side. Although it was approximately 15 years from the time of death until the burial of his ashes, Father was indeed buried in the described setting. Possibly it was this given description that prompted the early settlers to choose the site for the pioneer cemetery.

"Sisters Afra and Lydia were two of the first recorded deaths, and they were buried in this cemetery. It is told that Joseph M. Riesterer started the tradition of the white crosses. He placed crosses on the Riesterer graves and soon the other families did the same. This tradition has been carried down until recent years when tombstones have replaced many of the crosses.

"…Here rests Father Albrecht, several Precious Blood Sisters, and numerous Benders, Fotlzs, Riesterers and Silbernagels. This cemetery had been deeded to the Archdiocese so anyone can be buried there. The trend was started that Pioneer families were buried in the Pioneer Cemetery and the remainder of the families in the Jordan Catholic cemetery."

Online Transcriptions:

   Surveyed by Cathy Morgan in 1999, and available on Jan Phillips' website.

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References used to prepare these cemetery pages are provided.
Lisa L. Jones prepared and is solely responsible for the content of these pages. 
Copyright 2001.