Waldensian Presbyterian Church Cemetery – Monett, Missouri - Churchyard Cemeteries on Waymarking.com

"Waldensian Church and Cemetery of Stone Prairie (The Waldensian Presbyterian Church and Cemetery) is a historic Waldensian church in Monett, Missouri.

In 1875 the Monett congregation was among the first Waldensian congregations to be established in the United States by some 40 settlers, including a few who had formed the first Waldensian settlement in South America in Uruguay in the 1850s. Led by the Waldensian minister Jean Pierre Michelin Salomon, a native of the Pellice Valley of northwestern Italy, this contingent left South America in early 1875, fleeing civil war in the Uruguayan countryside, traveling first back to Europe then across the Northern Atlantic to New York and by train to southern Missouri. The original congregation was composed mainly of patois-speaking Piedmontese immigrants. Waldensians living in the Cottian Alps region of Northern Italy continued to migrate to Monett until the early 1900s. The original colony was augmented by French-speaking Protestants who arrived from France and Switzerland. Both the Monett congregation and a more recent, larger settlement located in Valdese, North Carolina, use the name Waldensian Presbyterian Church. The original frame meeting house in Monett was constructed in 1875 and was replaced in 1908 by the current church building. There is an adjacent Waldensian cemetery. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985." – Wikipedia

"Adjoining the church on the northwest side, is the cemetery which is also included within the nomination. It's 141 lots are arranged in precise rows. Tombstones are generally simple, with the earlier ones being carved out of limestone, while the more recent markers are of granite. Nowhere is the ethnic character more apparent than in this cemetery, where fully 90% of the names are French." – National Register Nomination

The cemetery is well-maintained by the active congregation

Name of church or churchyard: Waldensian Presbyterian Church Cemetery Approximate Size: Large (100+)

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/19/2013 MountainWoods visited it