Old House With 1820s Gravestones Need Help!!

[JGUIS]

We have one here from the 1830s that was destroyed and somehow turned into regular land, resold, and now has a modular home on top of it. I wrote several Catholic authorities, to no avail. Over 28 cemeteries have been destroyed in this county in the last 60 years, mostly because of mining or farming.

 

[capsoda]

Good going Jason, you did the right thing in my book.[]

 

[barbieheid]

The cemetery is in disrepair and it has been rumored by a neighbor that the current landowner is threatening to remove the headstones and farm the land. I live in MO and do not know to whom I can report this.

I realize this is an older thread, but this forum is just so busy, LOL! In most states, it is illegal to desecrate (ie, remove any part of) a grave *unless* you have the expres permission of a relative of the deceased [i.e., somebody wants to build houses but there's plots there; they would need to contact a living relative to do so].

I would contact the state's archeological society about it.

 

[swizzle]

I talked to a woman frrom the historical society just today. She told me to contact the local sherriff's. I use to live in KY but now I live in NY. She said before I contact the sherriff's dept. make sure I can prove there was a cemetary there in the first place. I would have to check for old maps and deeds and maybe even old records from the head stone makers themselves. They need some type of proof that the cemetary actually existed. In your case the cemetary still exist. It will be easier to preserve a plot that still exist now then if the evidence is just plowed over. Contact the closest historical society to the cemetary and they can give you a direction to go in next. Some states have cemetary preservation societies. Get the intent of the farmer or whom ever is talking about plowing it over and then the sherriffs can let him know that its against the law. In KY its a case D felony. Act now or live with regret. If it was a cemetary behind my house or in my town then the local paper would be contacted as well as the local sherriff's and it would have been stopped before it was even started. I only heard about the cemetary in KY recently. The new owner plowed it over a while ago. I'm P*$$#@ off at my aunt and uncle who live there and sat back and did nothing about it. Its not right at all. Just to let you know this isn't an old thread. This thread has generated a lot of interest really fast. I'm actually surprized by it. Hope this helps. Jason

 

[Willman669]

have you found the tip yet?

 

[madman]

yea wheres the goods!! mike

 

[VirginiaDigger]

hey guys I haven't found the privys yet....I don't know what im doing with a probe :-( But trying to learn!! Sorrry