Smith Chapel Cemetery is a historic African American Cemetery located in Foristell, in St. Charles County, Missouri. It was established in 1871, by several freedom seekers who had returned to the community after serving in the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War. The trustees would establish a black school, a chapel, and a cemetery for their families. Those freedom seekers were Benjamin Oglesby, Martin Boyd and Smith Ball.
In January 2025, the historic Smith Chapel Cemetery was awarded a grant from the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. The Project Director is Dorris Keeven-Franke, working with Barbara Love from the Wesley-Smith Church in Wright City, Grace Moser from the St. Charles Community College, and Jerry Prouhet, a professional cemetery restorer. The grant of $16,000 is for the work of Prouhet to restore and clean headstones in the cemetery and signs to be placed at the cemetery. This Grant includes the research by the students at St. Charles Community College’s Service-Learning American History Class.
The students involved are in Moser’s class, and meet regularly with Keeven-Franke, and work with Prouhet in the cemetery, receiving hours of credit for this project. The research involving the students, including Oral History interviews with the families of Smith Chapel Cemetery, will provide the information that will be shared on four signs that are funded in this Grant, placed at the site. One sign will be at the front entrance and share the property’s history, one sign will be at the original site of the Douglass Schoolhouse (which has been moved to Oglesby Park) one sign will be placed where the Chapel once stood, and a sign will also be placed at the cemetery. The costs of the signs are covered in the balance of that grant.
Students are working on research of the families buried in the cemetery and have added to the history already! The sign that will be placed at the cemetery will include ALL of the names of those buried there, so that they may now be recognized. Not all burials have headstones. The students are also working to have military headstones placed at the graves of the many veterans buried in the cemetery. All of this is happening because of the Grant AND because Smith Chapel Cemetery is listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, April 26, 2025 9am-12 noon, students will be working at the cemetery under the direction of Jerry Prouhet. The public is welcome.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025, Project Director Dorris Keeven-Franke will be at the Warrenton Scenic Regional Library in Warrenton on Hwy 47, at 6pm to share the history of the Cemetery and the project. The public is welcome.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, The students will be presenting their research and sharing with their families, and have invited members of the Church as well.
Any questions about this project can be addressed to Dorris Keeven-Franke at 636-221-1524 or by emailing her at dorris.keevenfranke@gmail.com or by going to the website https://smithchapelcemetery.com/ for more information about Smith Chapel Cemetery. For more information about the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom can be found at the https://www.nps.gov/subjects/undergroundrailroad/network-to-freedom.htm website.
Smith Chapel Cemetery 