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The newstory is not on their website, but on my local news they just stated that a cemetery in Butler county, Missouri was almost destroyed. A hospital wants to build on the site of the old cemetery, which is small, grown up, and hasn't had a fresh burial in years. The owners of the land (accidentally, according to them) had crews go through and they really tore it up, knocking over stones and moving stones. The owners of the land say the purpose was clear trees, not move stones. Some people whose relatives were buried there were obviously livid. Anyway, the whole story made me sad. I don't know whether it was an accident or not, but it's still awful.
The cemetery where my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents are buried is also small and not used any more (meaning there are no more fresh graves). The people who were maintaining it have stopped, so my relatives are trying to contact some of the relatives of those buried there to get money to maintain it. It is really overgrown right now.
Of course, some cemeteries are just not maintained because of lack of interest and/or lack of funds. I've read cases of others being completely destroyed.
Is there no respect for the dead?
I'm glad findagrave and some other smaller sites record cemetery info, because many of these small cemeteries are in danger, or are already gone.
Years ago, while driving into D.C. on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, I saw one of those old white marble tombstones (prob. 1700s) that had been dug up by the construction people rebuilding the access ramps from the Beltway. The construction workers had leaned the stone against a tree and had written "Bob" in black letters on it. After I got to my office, I called the local historical society and told them about it. The stone eventually disappeared but I wonder to where.
I have added information to findagrave. Good site for pics of tombstones and sometimes ancestors.
The newstory is not on their website, but on my local news they just stated that a cemetery in Butler county, Missouri was almost destroyed. A hospital wants to build on the site of the old cemetery, which is small, grown up, and hasn't had a fresh burial in years. .
Do you know the name of it? Some of my ggg and gggg grandparents are buried in that county.
Years ago I read about some young people, I believe in Kentucky, being caught destroying the graves of Civil War veterans. I wondered then what sort of heartless monster would go into a cemetery and do such a thing.
I think that many, if not most, older cemeteries have unmarked graves whose inhabitants either could not afford a headstone or were segregated to the edges of the graveyard property where only field stones were used. However, it is odd where one sometimes finds burial records that normally would be in danger of disappearing. While studying my mother's family in the genealogy reading room of the Library of Congress years ago, I discovered a woman (1855-1917) who married into my family and would have been a 1st cousin (several times removed), who was buried at a small cemetery in the tiny town of Taiban, New Mexico. As fate would have it, I later took a job at Albuquerque and a weekend trip to Taiban revealed a very small wind-swept cemetery behind a barbed wire fence at the end of a dirt road. The grounds were covered only in dirt, rocks and Yucca plants and it appeared that the only grounds keeper was the spring winds. Near the back of this graveyard was the gravesite of this woman whose family history goes back to early Texas and an infamous feud in deep east Texas.
This information I found in an old book stuck away in the dusty stacks of a library some 1700 miles away. The short of this story is that, if you write down the location of a family member's burial site, maybe its location will survive souless monsters who respect nothing and hate everything.
When there is no longer respect for human life how can their be respect for the dead?
There had been some land in my family that had 3 different cemetaries on it. A church group came one year to fence around one of them, fix the headstones, and update the church records as to whom was buried there. Another cemetary was without maintence but was fenced (from middle-late 1800's) and the person who bought the land said it was just taking up grazing space (it was all of 100 square feet at the most). The third was heavily damaged but we tried to keep it up somewhat.
Vandalism in my town of the graveyard most of my family is buried in is not uncommon as it sits in what has become a less than desireable part of town. It is supposed to be "perpetual care" but I always have to go to the office to report overturned gravestones two or three times each year.
Children learn respect when it is taught to them. If they are never taught to respect life or the dead there is no reason to expect them to respect cemetaries either.
My ancestors have a family cemetery in a nearby county. Last I checked, it was still being maintained. Let's hope it stays that way. It's only got about 20 or so graves in it.
If the hospital wants to build there, and the cemetery is so small, couldn't they approximate where the graves are, lineout that area and build around it, rather than on it?
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 06-16-2011 at 11:07 PM..
Here is the cemetery on findagrave, but only one grave is listed. It's not William Shadle. Find A Grave: Shadle Cemetery
Findagrave also has Cedar Valley Cemetery, with 7 graves Find A Grave: Cedar Valley
I'm not sure if it's the same place or not.
My ancestors have a family cemetery in a nearby county. Last I checked, it was still being maintained. Let's hope it stays that way. It's only got about 20 or so graves in it.
Apparently I've driven by the road that goes to this cemetery a few times and not known it. Here's the look on Google Maps Google Maps
If the hospital wants to build there, and the cemetery is so small, couldn't they approximate where the graves are, lineout that area and build around it, rather than on it?
It is not unusual for cemetaries to be moved. I don't think it is right that eminent domain be used to raise the tax base by turning the property over to another private entity; but, the SCOTUS disagrees.
Cemeteries are private property. Unless there's something written into the deed, the owner can do with the property whatever they wish. Unfortunately.
Some states are passing laws to protect "historic" cemeteries, and many states have organizations to oversee the protection.
One problem I've heard of, concerning vandalism in cemeteries, is that each tombstone is considered to be individually owned. So though destruction can total in the tens of thousands, the criminals are usually only charged with misdemeanors. Sad.
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