American Cemetery
John Gideon Lewis
The oldest cemetery in Natchitoches, the American Cemetery sits on the site of the second French colonial fort and Catholic church. The church and cemetery were multicultural, with colonial citizens and their dependents buried there regardless of ethnicity, as long as they had been baptized Catholic.
The only mausoleum in the American Cemetery belongs to John Gideon Lewis, founder of the Natchitoches Prince Hall order of the Freemasons.
Also found in the American Cemetery is at least one memorial displaying the motif of the Mosaic Templars of America (MTA). This group, formed in 1883 under the leadership of John Bush and Chester Keatts, was one of a few fraternal organizations in the country created by and for African Americans. Providing burial assistance was the primary goal of the group; however it also served as a social and economic network. By the early 1920s, MTA had a membership base that extended into South America and Africa.
John Gideon Lewis Mausoleum: Michael Fontenot
Mosaic Templars headstone: Melissa Hagen Dezendorf