I need some help, and I need it right away. (Isn't that always the case?)
Over the course of the past week, we have just confirmed by a first-hand
account that some years ago a local developer BULLDOZED grave stones and
blacktopped a portion (probably the bulk) of a very old pioneer cemetery
here in Clark County, Indiana. Today there are 9-10 stones remaining in the
corner of a strip shopping center parking lot.
We are advised that there WERE 80-100 graves here some years ago. The most
recent burial there was in 1935.
We approached the Township Trustee about the situation and, though he has
tried to help, we learned today from the Township Attorney that, although
the property was "RESERVED" (I assumed that meant "set aside" or
"excepted
from the deed" and thus protected by law from such encroachment) in a
partition action in 1882, inasmuch as the property owner is and has been
paying taxes on the property, there is very little the Township Trustee can
do to protect even what little remains of this cemetery. As such, the
property is outside the Trustee's responsibility.
There are two pay phones on the edge of the cemetery, within a hare's breath
of the graves, there is a telephone utility pole in the cemetery and utility
lines running through the ground above the graves. The payphones seem to
draw a tremendous amount of suspicious traffic (apparently drug deals taking
place in broad daylight) and result in a high accumulation of trash and
debris in the cemetery.
The Township Attorney has asked me to poll my Internet contacts (meaning
you) for case law and statutes in Indiana and in other states that might be
"on point" with this situation. Any replies I receive from you will be
forwarded to the Township Attorney.
In this situation, we have the concern and good intentions of the Township
Trustee and the Township Attorney; however, without substantial
"ammunition", there may be very little we can do about this situation.
Pictures of the cemetery in question and some fairly recent information
about this situation can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881/halemcbridecem.html
Thanking you in advance, I remain
Lois Mauk, President
Clark County Cemetery Preservation Committee
Jeffersonville, Indiana