Canary Islander Cemetery

The Canary Islander Cemetery is extremely old. Some of the tombstones in the cemetery have been removed so we can't be sure of the exact age of the cemetery, but the last person buried there was buried in the early 80s.

Ms. Read told me, "In 1730, the King of Spain offered Spanish Canary Islanders passage, food, clothing, land, money, and livestock if they moved their families to San Antonio de Bexar to establish the first civil government of Nueva España (New Spain). These people were in the seventh year of a drought so they were willing to endure the move and hardship to help settle the new territory."

On the historical marker outside of the cemetery it says that a woman named Doña Maria del Calvillo is buried there but she isn't. Her death records, which may be found on file in the archives of San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio say that she is buried in "Compos Santos" (sacred ground) in San Antonio de Bexar.

Even though the cemetery is called the Canary Islander Cemetery, there are no Canary Islanders buried there. Although the cemetery is old, some families still tend to the graves. The Tejedas and the Browns are some of these families. Some people adopt a grave and take care of it. A nun is also buried in the cemetery.

One of the strangest things about the cemetery to me is that there is a wooden cross which is Celtic (kel-tik). Celtic religion came from the medieval ages, so someone was buried there who was Celtic or who had Celtic ancestors.

The old cemetery has gotten smaller over the years because of people plowing their land and accidentally running over stones, but the cemetery has been kept in good shape because of community service.

Most of my information was from: Read, Tambria. Personal interview.29 Feb. 2000.