Fr. Alig, a native of Germany, was pastor of St. Mary's when he founded the parish cemetery in 1870. He is buried there along with Fathers Glaab (who built the present church in 1890) and Roth, who oversaw the parish after the turn of the twentieth century. With them are most of our founding families and their descendants. Many of the inscriptions on their headstones are in German. Here is an article from the "Washington Evening Star" on the consecration of the burial ground on the feast of the Annunciation in 1870 and the glorious ceremonies thereto.