What is a "Congregate Setting" at a Cemetery?

Congregate setting of headstones at St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Chatsworth. (Photo by Marilyn Hamilton Irish. Used with permission.)

Have you ever heard of a "congregate" burial setting? I hadn't until this week. The term is giving me some needed context and a possible answer to the question of whether I will ever find a burial record for either Joanna Elliot or Dorah Darragh, my recent research subjects. I've been trying to establish whether Dorah was Joanna's daughter, as well as the women's connection to the Dillane family, whose members are also named on that headstone.

Joanna Elliot and Dorah Darragh's headstone with the surname Dillane at the base. (Photo by Marilyn Hamilton Irish, used with permission.)

 

Joanna and Dorah (a third great-grandmother) were buried at St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Chatsworth, Grey Co., Ontario, in August and October 1856, respectively. Though local Catholic church burial registers began in 1856, neither Joanna nor Dorah's burials were recorded.¹ Other sources to document their possible relationship are needed.

Cemetery records were a next step to see if a relationship, if any, was documented there. I contacted the staff of St. Stanislaus Cemetery recently and they've helpfully looked through cemetery records for me.

They explained, "This particular stone that you're referring to is part of what's called a congregate setting. This means there are no existing cemetery plans or records from the time those people were buried. In fact, they are buried in a different section of the property. The headstones were discovered and moved to the congregate setting after the cemetery was officially established, their exact burial location is unknown.

They're often also referred to as pioneer cemeteries because families informally established them in rural areas when no existing cemeteries were nearby. The Dillane family was likely instrumental in establishing the pioneer cemetery as their name appears prominently on headstones before any records exist."²

 

This explanation helped me understand a photograph on the St. Stanislaus Find a Grave page (above) that I wondered about. It shows a row of closely spaced headstones immediately in front of the cemetery's entrance arch. Some headstones are lying down, and some are standing. But I didn't understand why they were arranged this way. I recognized that the obelisk headstone which bears Joanna and Dorah's name in the center of this group; all the other names on the sides of the stone are Dillane family members.

 

A fellow researcher gave me more context for these stones all being together. In the volume, The Paths that Led to Holland: A History of Holland Township, the section on St. Stanislaus Cemetery notes:  

 

"In the early 1900's the cemetery land next to the highway was rough and in need of attention. The members of the congregation brought them teams and plows and harrows, and after removing the monuments, levelled the ground making it look more attractive. However, this resulted in it being impossible to tell accurately where the different plots were located."³

 

The Paths that Led to Holland Township notes that Stephen H. Breese donated the land for the cemetery on 10 June 1853, which conflicts with the theory that Charles Dillane perhaps owned the land and used it for a family cemetery.⁴ Tracing the land ownership backwards in time might clear that up. 

 

And so, my search continues to find a record which will reveal whether Joanna Elliot and Dorah Darragh were mother and daughter, or their connection to the Dillane family.

 

I have a couple of other ideas to pursue. If they pan out, you'll read about it here. 

 

Until next time... 

 

 © Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2026. All rights reserved. 

NOTES 

¹ Brenda Lee, St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Owen Sound, Ontario, [e-address for private use,], to Nancy Casey, e-mail, 28 January 2026, "Historical Record Lookup"; Darragh Research Folder, Gmail; privately held by Casey, ([e-address] and street address for private use,] Tioga, Texas, 2026.

² Adam Helmers, St. Stanislaus Cemetery, Chatsworth, Ontario, [e-address for private use,], to Nancy Casey, e-mail, 20 February 2026, "Inquiry"; Darragh Research Folder, Gmail; privately held by Casey, ([e-address] and street address for private use,] Tioga, Texas, 2026.

 

³ The Historical Society of Holland Township, compilers, and Mildred Young Hubbert, editor, The Paths that Led to Holland: A History of Holland Township (Owen Sound, Ontario: Stan Brown Printers, Ltd., 1983), 89. Chatsworth lies in Holland Township, which was historically east of Sullivan Township, where Edward and Joanna Elliot, as well as the Dillane family lived.

 

⁴ Ibid.