The Mormon Plot In Concordia Cemetery - 529 - D.U.P. Historic Markers on Waymarking.com

The leaders of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were looking to Mexico as a possible colonization site. By the spring of 1875, nearly 100 pages of selected passages from the Book Of Mormon had been translated into Spanish for the dual purpose of preaching the gospel and locating possible colonization sites. In the fall of 1879, Moses Thatcher was sent to Mexico to further colonization.

In early 1885, Mormon President John Taylor designated a gathering place for the Arizona members who felt in danger of persecution under the Edmonds-Tucker act. Hasty preparations were made for the departure of plural married families bound for Mexico in February of 1885. Thus in a little more than a decade, some 400 saints had settled in Mexico, eight major colonies had been founded in Chihuahua and Sonora. The settlers found the land very fertile and raised crops of hay, cotton and all types of vegetables, and many fruit and pecan trees. The Mormon colonies were prospering when their peace was disrupted by the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Due to the plundering and killing rampages of Pancho Villa, the church leadership found cause to worry about the families, and the women and children were relocated at the base of the Franklin Mountain. Shortly thereafter the men followed, establishing temporary tent cities in El Paso. Most would never again see the lands and homes they had come to love in Mexico.

The small plot in Concordia Cemetery is the final resting place of some of these early, valiant settlers of Mexico who escaped the revolution and sought refuge in Texas. Sixty-four graves are located in two tiers of the plot. in tier one lie adults, in tier two, lie still borns and children; the graves of four women are also located in tier two. An epidemic took the lives of many women and children. Five members of one family - a mother, her son and two daughters - are buried in the cemetery. Leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and of the Colonies are buried in the plots. A male member who was born on the Grand Banks of New Foundland and lived to be 107 years old rests in tier one, his sister, born in Mt Pisgah on the trek, has a final resting place in the Mormon Plot at Concordia.

Marker Name: The Mormon Plot In Concordia Cemetery Marker Number: 529 Marker Text: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/08/2011 Geojeepsters visited it