St. Anthony Catholic Church

Many small towns in Clinton County owe their growth to the railroad and to coal mines. The same can be said for Beckemeyer, Illinois. As the town grew the need for a Catholic church became apparent. St. Anthony Church was built to fill this need in 1905. Before 1905 Catholics in Beckemeyer, formerly known as Buxton, had to attend church in the surrounding communities of Germantown, Carlyle, Breese and Bartelso. St. Anthony Church and school were built on land formerly owned by John Taphorn, Sr. and his wife Louisa. The church was dedicated in December 1905 and nuns from the Sisters of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ were the first teachers. Some of the first nuns were Sisters M. Leonora, Kineburga and M. Isabella. Sister Barbara Bruns who became the principal was active in the school until it closed in 1994. The building was demolished in 1997.

Archived school records can be obtained from the Diocese of Belleville (external link).

The cemetery began in 1906 after 2 acres of land and a road 16.5 feet wide and 10 acres long were purchased from Henry Holthaus, Sr. The cemetery is located about ½ mile southwest of the church. Most people were buried chronologically. That is, as each person died they were buried next to the person who had died just before them. For this reason it is relatively easy to guess where someone is buried even if they do not have a marker. See the 1913 Commercial History of Clinton County-Beckemeyer for further information and a photo of the church. 

Beckemeyer - Village History (external link) gives more specific information concerning the history of the village with photos and also provides current information about its government.  

These transcriptions of St. Anthony’s sacramental records were performed using the LDS online microfilmed records (external link) provided by the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois.  It is obvious that some of these records were typed from the original handwritten records. Because of this there are inconsistencies, out of sequence records and most likely mistakes. This transcription made every effort to be true to the online version except that all Latin names were put into English where possible. Also, the online titles of the various sacramental records give date ranges which are not always accurate. These transcriptions include all that are available online.

Introduction by Gloria Dettleff - thank you!