Last Sunday I was out visiting my brother's grave to pull weeds and tend the flowers when my wife suggested we drive over to the section where the old graves are. I had no idea there were any other Clouds buried there, but I managed to park right next to Elizabeth Grace Kennedy Cloud's crypt and there found several Cloud graves. I would have taken pictures of the other family members' graves but I didn't know their surnames. Visit here to see the gravesites of the family of William Augustine Cloud (1810-1870) in the Bagdad Cemetery in Williamson county, Texas. (Yes, it is spelled "Bagdad".) http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/headstones/Bagdad/ ... clicking on any of the pictures gives a larger one. There are at least two descendants of this family on this list -- Margaret Lindly and Bill Riddle (Cloud). Margaret is concerned that the body of Elizabeth has been stolen from the crypt http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/headstones/Bagdad/images800/DSC00709.jpg for it is broken and there are only two stones inside. Does anyone know how to deal with something like this? I suppose calling the police, but I can't say with any certainty that her body was buried above ground -- the space inside the "crypt" is very narrow. It looks to me like the vault or crypt is sitting on top of the grave ?? Tom Cloud

Tom, I've just now taken a look at Elizabeth Grace "Kennedy" Cloud's tombstone photo. It wasn't broken into, it was hit, probably by a car or truck. The body isn't missing as it was buried below ground. The tomb was just a style that was used, not only of the times, but also of the families connected to these. This is not the first time I've seen these. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Cloud To: CLOUD-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 10:48 AM Subject: [CLOUD] grave photos of family of William Augustine Cloud Last Sunday I was out visiting my brother's grave to pull weeds and tend the flowers when my wife suggested we drive over to the section where the old graves are. I had no idea there were any other Clouds buried there, but I managed to park right next to Elizabeth Grace Kennedy Cloud's crypt and there found several Cloud graves. I would have taken pictures of the other family members' graves but I didn't know their surnames. Visit here to see the gravesites of the family of William Augustine Cloud (1810-1870) in the Bagdad Cemetery in Williamson county, Texas. (Yes, it is spelled "Bagdad".) http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/headstones/Bagdad/ ... clicking on any of the pictures gives a larger one. There are at least two descendants of this family on this list -- Margaret Lindly and Bill Riddle (Cloud). Margaret is concerned that the body of Elizabeth has been stolen from the crypt http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/headstones/Bagdad/images800/DSC00709.jpg for it is broken and there are only two stones inside. Does anyone know how to deal with something like this? I suppose calling the police, but I can't say with any certainty that her body was buried above ground -- the space inside the "crypt" is very narrow. It looks to me like the vault or crypt is sitting on top of the grave ?? Tom Cloud ==== CLOUD Mailing List ==== .................................................................. Volunteer for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness at http://raogk.rootsweb.com/index.html

Ric, Margaret wrote that she'd always been told they were buried above ground because they were from Louisiana. But you don't have to live here but a day or two to realize coffins aren't going to float here. Even if/when it rains, it just gets the rocks wet! And a mortician surely would tell the family above-ground burial isn't necessary (and it's not necessary in most of Louisiana either). I pretty much agree with you that it is just a decorative vault, not a burial crypt (if I'm using the terms correctly??). WRT how the damage occurred .... my first thought was a vehicle hit it, but I don't know. After looking at the photo in yesterday's paper of the new mummy uncovered in Egypt, I realized that a mortician could bury even a large person in that narrow crypt. Comfort or spaciousness probably is not a consideration. Then there's the appearance of the earth under the crypt. It didn't look disturbed to me -- which disturbed _ME_. If Elizabeth's body is buried there, I'd think the ground would have settled like it has for all the other graves -- that's why all the other markers are leaning!. When you look at the pictures, there's a little "Notes" or memo tab at the bottom. Click there for the descriptions. That is an artifact of PhotoShop CS, and I won't use it again. I don't like it! .... and, yup, tha's me an' my ol' red pickup (and my lovely child bride!). I managed to kick the bottom of Elizabeth's headstone back into place, sealing the interior, but it's obvious the top is cat-a-wonkus -- another indication to me that something hit it ... also the fact that it is right at a bend in the road/path. Then I leaned the top part of her headstone against the bottom part. There are other headstones broken in two there and I noticed someone clever had made a steel bracket for the sides of a stone to repair it. That would be difficult for Elizabeth's stone because it is wedged into the opening in the vault/crypt. http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/headstones/Bagdad/ So my question remains -- did a theft of her body occur and who do we report it to? There are two contact phone numbers as the last picture that you or Margaret could call. I am willing to go out and do some more investigation for any of the family members, but I really don't know how to proceed. I can even call the sheriff or police (if it's in the city??) out, but I'd like some evidence a crime has been committed). Tom At 02:35 PM 5/4/2005, Ric Gordon <fdg@flash.net> wrote: >Tom, > >I've just now taken a look at Elizabeth Grace "Kennedy" Cloud's tombstone >photo. It wasn't broken into, it was hit, probably by a car or truck. The >body isn't missing as it was buried below ground. The tomb was just a style >that was used, not only of the times, but also of the families connected to >these. This is not the first time I've seen these.

The only crime I think has been done there, is the fact that if someone did hit the crypt and didn't report it. Also, if we were to look into the crypt of William Augustine Cloud, we'll find that it's empty, but if radar (or whatever they use) were used, we would find that there is a body there. That road needs to be moved, or at least the grave be more protected from this happening. Ric ----- Original Message ----- From: Tom Cloud To: CLOUD-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2005 7:41 AM Subject: Re: [CLOUD] grave photos of family of William Augustine Cloud Ric, Margaret wrote that she'd always been told they were buried above ground because they were from Louisiana. But you don't have to live here but a day or two to realize coffins aren't going to float here. Even if/when it rains, it just gets the rocks wet! And a mortician surely would tell the family above-ground burial isn't necessary (and it's not necessary in most of Louisiana either). I pretty much agree with you that it is just a decorative vault, not a burial crypt (if I'm using the terms correctly??). WRT how the damage occurred .... my first thought was a vehicle hit it, but I don't know. After looking at the photo in yesterday's paper of the new mummy uncovered in Egypt, I realized that a mortician could bury even a large person in that narrow crypt. Comfort or spaciousness probably is not a consideration. Then there's the appearance of the earth under the crypt. It didn't look disturbed to me -- which disturbed _ME_. If Elizabeth's body is buried there, I'd think the ground would have settled like it has for all the other graves -- that's why all the other markers are leaning!. When you look at the pictures, there's a little "Notes" or memo tab at the bottom. Click there for the descriptions. That is an artifact of PhotoShop CS, and I won't use it again. I don't like it! .... and, yup, tha's me an' my ol' red pickup (and my lovely child bride!). I managed to kick the bottom of Elizabeth's headstone back into place, sealing the interior, but it's obvious the top is cat-a-wonkus -- another indication to me that something hit it ... also the fact that it is right at a bend in the road/path. Then I leaned the top part of her headstone against the bottom part. There are other headstones broken in two there and I noticed someone clever had made a steel bracket for the sides of a stone to repair it. That would be difficult for Elizabeth's stone because it is wedged into the opening in the vault/crypt. http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/headstones/Bagdad/ So my question remains -- did a theft of her body occur and who do we report it to? There are two contact phone numbers as the last picture that you or Margaret could call. I am willing to go out and do some more investigation for any of the family members, but I really don't know how to proceed. I can even call the sheriff or police (if it's in the city??) out, but I'd like some evidence a crime has been committed). Tom At 02:35 PM 5/4/2005, Ric Gordon <fdg@flash.net> wrote: >Tom, > >I've just now taken a look at Elizabeth Grace "Kennedy" Cloud's tombstone >photo. It wasn't broken into, it was hit, probably by a car or truck. The >body isn't missing as it was buried below ground. The tomb was just a style >that was used, not only of the times, but also of the families connected to >these. This is not the first time I've seen these. ==== CLOUD Mailing List ==== .................................................................. Volunteer for Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness at http://raogk.rootsweb.com/index.html