I thought the list might be interested in this legislation, in the works
in West Virginia. It follows up on Don Huffman's message of about a
month ago.
Dale Drake
Morgan County
-------- Original Message --------
>
>Dear friends of WV genealogy and local history,
>
>My name is Ruth Bush-Highland. I am a member of Hacker's Creek Pioneer
>Descendants Library in Weston, WV, Lewis County. Currently we genealogists
>are trying to fight a problem that could hinder each & every genealogist &
>family member who has a relative buried in WV.
>
>Please send me your comments!!!! I would like to hear how you feel & any
>experiences you or anyone you know has had when trying to visit a cemetery
on
>private land.
>
>Please read on about Senate Bill 90. This bill, if we can all pull
together
>to get it passed in the House, would allow each & every person
trying to
>visit a grave on private land to do so. If you or anyone you know has a
>family member buried on private land, there could possibly be a time very
>soon when you'll never be allowed to visit those graves & it would be
upheld
>by law!!!!!
>
>Consider that the land currently held as a public cemetery one day be sold
as
>private land. The person obtaining the land would no longer allow you
access
>to visit the grave or graves of your family members. When our ancestors
>buried their dead on their own land, they did not forsee the land
belonging
>to anyone other than family. That could possibly be the case with
any
>cemetery. Even those in church yards. Churches are always being sold for
one
>reason or another.
>
>Two years ago I had a call from a man in Webster County asking me how he
>could get permission to visit his wife's grave. She was buried in a
family
>cemetery on land that had formerly belonged to the family. Now
the land
was
>sold and the landowners were denying him access to the cemetery. I had to
>tell him that there was no law permitting him access, that the landowner
was
>within his rights in denying access.
>
>Last year a family here in Lewis County ran afoul of the landowner when
they
>tried to bury their mother in what was once a church cemetery. The land
>around the cemetery had been sold, the new property owner had built a new
>house across the access road and would not permit the hearse to carry the
>mother to her final resting place. The case did go to court, a ruling was
>made for the establishment of a new road (which has not yet been done),
and
>the landowner claims that he doesn't have to permit the family
access to
>visit their mother's grave. Recently, a son of the family, after giving
the
>property owner two weeks notice, was met by a man with a gun when he tried
>to visit his mother's grave.
>
>A quote from another concerned genealogist.....
>" XXXXX died in Harrison Co. in 1939. He was living in Anmoore, Harrison
>Co., WV
>at the "poor farm". It is my mother's recollection that he was also
buried
>in the pauper's cemetery on the property. For the past two
years while we
>have been visiting WV, I have tried to find information so I could bring
my
>mother to her father's grave. She will be 75 her next
birthday.
>
>We finally learned that the old poor farm is now the 4-H Camp and that
>everything on the property had been bulldozed - including part of the
>cemetery. The part of the cemetery that wasn't ripped up was the landing
>place for all the debris that was.
>
>While we knew there would most likely not have been a stone fro his grave,
we
>still wanted to visit his final resting place. So sad that we can not."
>
>I know of other similar cases as these scattered around the state.
>
>Last year a bill was introduced in the WV Senate that would have addressed
>these problems. The House did not pass the bill.
>
>A couple of weeks ago, the WV Senate passed SB 90 which, if adopted by the
>House or if combined with a bill from the House would be a step forward in
>permitting access to family or private cemeteries by cemetery plot owners,
>heirs of deceased persons, family members of deceased persons and persons
>interested in engaging in genealogy research for the purposes of
visitation
>of the grave sites, maintenance of the grave site or cemetery or
research.
>It would also create a cause of action for injunctive relief if a person
is
>not permitted access to the cemetery, requires visitors to
conduct
>themselves in a responsible manner and limits the use of motor vehicles
when
>accessing the cemetery. Now the House has HB 4370 in committee. If it
does
>not get out of committee and if it is not acted upon in the next couple of
>weeks, the bill will die and there will be no relief.
>
>You can read HB4370 in its entirety at:
>http://129.71.161.247/scripts/as_web.exe?hbills2000+D+7832961
>
>The genealogical and historical communities in West Virginia began acting
in
>concert four years ago when we established History Day at the Legislature.
>Now is the time for us to get our act even more together and contact our
>delegates about the importance of this bill!!!
>
>The property rights activists are sending negative comments to the
sponsors
>of this bill and others.
>
>Let us, West Virginia's genealogists, family researchers and historians,
>work together to preserve an important part of our history and gain access
>to our sacred grounds.
>
>If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
>
>Ruth Bush Highland, Harrison County WV
>
>
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