One cemetery that i know of personally, in IL. is Turner Cemetery. The old part has cows running through it and not much in the way of stones still standing. The Morgan Co. IL Gen Soc in Waverly, was cleaning it for years, eventually the owner gave it to the Gen Soc. That might be an alternative. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Diana Owen" <dianaowen@home.com> To: <INDIANA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 5:43 PM Subject: [INDIANA] Indiana Cemetary For Sale > I forwarded the Cemetary for Sale email listing to Marsha Chapman who is > the Vice-President of the Brookdale Cemetary in Brookdale/No. Stockholm > NY area. > As you can see, she had some definite opinions on the sale of a piece of > history... > Here are her comments: > Diana > First and for most, just the thought of this makes my blood boil. > What can be done legally I don't know. > > Secondly, don't those fools know they are destroying vital > history!!! > > What happens here in New York State is a cemetery is declared abandoned > after 14 years I believe then the town that it is located in usually > hired a person to mow and trim at least 4 times a year, of course, some > never get taken care of, like the one where my great great grandparents > are buried, if might get mowed once a year. At least Here in the TOWN > OF STOCKHOLM. I was deputy town clerk for 5 years and that is what the > town board did here. There are 3 or 4 abandoned cemeteries. Abandoned > > is when there is no Cemetery Association to care for it and there have > been no burials for the set amount of time. > > Here in New York also the Department of State has jurisdiction over the > cemeteries, they control the going on i.e.: how the moneys paid for lots > > are to be use, i.e. X number of the dollars go for perpetual care. In > other words can not be used for anything, the interest moneys is what is > > actually use. There is a portion of these dollars that go into a > general maintenance fund, i.e.: moneys used for just what the fund says > Maintenance, mowing and up keep. We here for Brookdale have work bees > and ask the inactive cemetery families to make donations if possible for > > any large projects, i.e. - replacing fences, maintaining fences, > removing hedges, etc. What I mean when I say inactive families are the > ones who have loved ones buried here but don't take an active roll in > meetings and in put of how the cemetery is run. > > So, may I suggest, if this is a cemetery that you know of anyone with > family or just want to get involved to see to it nothing happens. See > if Indiana has a Department of State and if they are involved with > governing cemeteries. > > I can't wait to show my husband this dilemma, when he gets home later. > And then I could really open a can of worms at our next cemetery > meeting. We have all elderly members that attend our meeting. The > younger people like my husband and I don't get involved with "Such > Matters". > > Thanks for this eye opener. > > Marsha > > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! >