The Mormon Plot in Concordia Cemetery
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 for further colonization.
In early 1885, Mormon President John Taylor designated a gathering place for Arizona members who felt in danger of persecution under the Edmunds-Tucker Act. Hasty preparations were made for the departure of plural-marriage families bound for Mexico in February of 1885. Thus, in a little more than a decade, some 4,000 saints had settled in Mexico, and eight major colonies had been founded in Chihuahua and Sonora. The settlers found the land very fertile and raised crops of hay, cotton, 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 located at the base of the Franklin Mountains. Shortly thereafter, the men followed, establishing temporary tent cities in El Paso, Texas. Most would never again see the land 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 in Mexico who escaped the revolution and sought refuge in Texas. Sixty-four graves are located in two tiers in the plot. In tier one, lie adults: and in tier two, lie stillborns 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 plot. A male member, who was born on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland 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 Cemetery.
Marker can be reached from the intersection of East Yandell Drive and North Stevens Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
