This is great information, thank you so much for posting. May I have your permission to repost in the Dutch Cousins round robin weekly e-letter? Would you like to be on the mailing list? Blessings, Carolyn > We are preparing for our once every two year Gathering of Low Dutch Cousins. We are descendants of the Low Dutch who settled New Amsterdam, moved to New Jersey, migrated to near Gettysburg, and made history when they later populated the Kentucky frontier. Our Dutch Cousins goal is to research, share and preserve the genealogy and history of our common Low Dutch heritage, including but not limited to, the restoration and preservation of the Old Mud Meetinghouse near Harrodsburg, KY. Our mission is to honor the memory of these ancestors, and enjoy the friendship of cousins - both newly-discovered and long-loved. To learn more about the Low Dutch check out our official webpage managed by Pam Ellingson webmaster: www.DutchCousins.org; Also you can go to www.carolynbleonard.com and click on Dutch Cousins, and the LOWDUTCHHERITAGE; sign up for the Dutch Letters round robin weekly email Buffalo234@cox.net; and visit the Dutch Cousins Facebook page. On Apr 24, 2013, at 9:56 AM, dutch-colonies-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > In those days most people were buried inside the church. And as close to > the altar as possible. Those around the altar were of course the most > expensive graves. Suicides, non-baptized babies, heretics and those who > died by the hand of the executioner, were not allowed to be buried inside > the church. They were buried in a special part of the graveyard next to the > church. The other part was for the poor. > > > The graves were not emptied, which caused a lot of problems, especially > inside the churches. > > The church authorities had to perform divine services on a regular base, > but also a growing number of rich families, who wanted their relative to be > buried inside the church. So they had to store the corpses till there was > an opportunity for the funeral. If the city was struck by an epidemic, the > problems were huge. During the divine services even perfume was not > effective enough, so the situation was unbearable. Authorities decided, > that the funerals would be performed in the evening, after all services and > masses were over. > > > It lasted until Napoleon occupied the Netherlands and he declared an > offical ban on church funerals in 1804. When the French left in 1813 people > started church funerals again, but in 1829 king Willem 1 signed a law > against burials inside the church. New graveyards had to be outside the > city, although some of those have already been 'swallowed' by city > expansion. > > Regards, > Cor Snabel > The Netherlands > To me it's amazing to see graves as old as 1750 or even older. > Here in the Netherlands a grave from 1950 is an rare exception. > Because we have so little space in our overcrowded country, one can only > rent a grave for a limited time. > We know two kinds of graves, the general grave and the private grave. > In a general grave, which is most common, two or three people are > buried, > who were usually (during their lifetime) strangers to each other. They > each > have their own small gravestone close to each other. After ten years > these > graves are removed to make place for someone else. > The private grave or family grave is also rented, but one can rent it > for > 10, 20 or 30 years. After that period the rent can be extended with > another > 10 or 20 years. And the contractant is free to decide who will be buried > there. > There are only a few âeternal gravesâ. Those graves last until the > graveyard stops to excist. But that option is no longer possible. > Regards > Cor Snabel > The Netherlands >