I tend to agree with you Kyle, and this may be a way having this
cemetery cared for, at least while his family remains in the
area. I contacted a friend familiar with the situation and you are
correct that he will be cremated. That will lessen the severity of
the problem.
But I am still having a problem with the 125 year thing. What about
the people that are buried there from the 75 years before the family
owned it? I had a farmer tell me once that he thought after a
cemetery had been abandoned for 100 years, he could remove the
stones. Is this a similar situation, where anything that was there
before the 125 year family ownership does not count? How do we
determine which of our cemetery laws apply, and in what different situations?
This is a situation that really may not be a problem at all and can
be overlooked. But we have had other recent burials in old
cemeteries in Gibson County, and sooner or later one will occur that
will be more of a problem and will need to be prevented. How do we
selectively apply the laws?
Ernie
At 08:24 PM 03/31/2006, you wrote:
While I fully understand the ramifications and problems a burial of
this
type poses, I must admit that if my family had owned this land for
125 years and
my ancestors were buried on this land, I too would want to be buried with
them.
There is one thing that the obit refers to that may answer some of the
concerns. First of all, burial is at a later date. This could
mean Mr.Wolfe is
going to be cremated, which does not pose as much as a threat as being
interred. The only concern here would be the foundation for
his grave stone.
Secondly, this could mean that the family intends to thoroughly research the
burials or take their time in choosing a burial location so as to
not disturb
anything. Who knows...maybe his parents or grandparents showed him
where it was
OK to be buried when they were still living or the family may have
had better
records than the township.
Again, I understand the concern this scenario poses, but I also know that if
I had the chance, that is where I would choose to be buried... To me this
would be a tough call...
Kyle D. Conrad