The National Eagle press is a rarity. Of the known examples this has the best paint and clean trim showing metallic colors. This example is from a 1867 New York cemetery. Since this cemetery was founded in 1867, the seal needed to stamp grave deeds or on cemetery documents to prove authenticity "under seal" in 1867. Or perhaps connected with the the 1876 Philadelphia national centennial. An actual ticket for the Exposition found in my father's old papers. This author thinks it was more likely 1867 as while the civil war was over, however the fierce states rights debate remained. Federal sympathies in the North, states rights deemed more important, over "Nationalism" in the South. Of the known examples of these two seals stem from Maine and New York, both "Nationalist" strong holds. The below 1867 Illinois state seal show this tension in its 1867 state seal wherein Nationalism overreaches States rights. I dont think the significance of this seals strong nationalist statement was lost on the 1867 German American founders and original users of this seal when on display or put in use.
Today St. Patrick’s Cemetery has very little room for new burials and no new land nearby to purchase.
At about the same time that St. Patrick’s was purchasing land for a cemetery for Irish Catholics, St. Mary’s Church was establishing a resting place for German Catholics. Located atop the Niagara escarpment on the west end of Niagara Street, St. Mary’s Cemetery was founded in 1867 to serve the needs of Lockport’s German population. Right next to St. Mary’s Cemetery is St. Peter’s Lutheran Cemetery, another primarily German resting place |