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Genealogy

Among the least celebrated to the contemporary visitor but certainly among the most important persons in the history of the archdiocese is Mrs. Sarah Peter, who died in 1877.  The eldest daughter of Thomas Worthington, first governor of Ohio and one-time United States Senator, Mrs. Peter converted to Catholicism following the death of her second husband.  Her life is a series of good works benefiting civic, cultural and religious institutions in Cincinnati where she finally settled.

The church remembers most, her being responsible for bringing five orders of religious women to the area - the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Sacred Heart nuns.  She is also responsible for the presence of the Passionist Priests in Cincinnati.  Her unique mausoleum is located in Section 3.  No other family member is buried there. As a result of her good works, Mrs. Peter has been called the mother of the church in Cincinnati.  Some even consider her a candidate for canonization.  In addition to her religious contributions, she began the Cincinnati Art Academy and was a patroness of the Cincinnati Art Museum.

Another unknown benefactress is Mary Shanahan whose lot is located in the Southeast Plat.  She made a practice of opening her home to the poor and the orphaned.  Her charitable works were a constant part of her life, and in 1910 she founded St. Theresa Home.  A native of County Waterford, Ireland, her legacy continues and indeed expands with the recent opening of the Mercy St. Theresa Center on the site of the former Mercy Hospital in Mariemont.  Mrs. Shanahan's family predeceased her, and the memorial inscription on her monument was just recently completed through the kindness of an anonymous donor 64 years after her death.

Unique among a variety of monument styles is the doll house in Section 2.  Built by stone mason John Keating to commemorate the deaths of his two children and a niece who died between the years of 1868 and 1878.  The doll house is precise in every detail including the individually carved shingles on the roof.  Reputedly when it was built, the doll house included furniture scaled to size. The sad inscription reads, "One by one the leaves are falling, fading day by day.  And in silence heaven is calling, One by one our lambs away."

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