Sharon sure has a point -- with as many genealogists as there are in the state we should be able to get some type of law passed. What confuses me is that I was always under the understanding that Indiana had the same types of laws as many of the other states and that in order for a person to even be allowed to be buried in the ground (anywhere in the state) that it had to be a state-approved and health-dept approved area even going back to the early 1900's and that this land (even though it is on private property) was protected and it was because of this that allows the township and counties to even support and take care of these cemeteries with tax dollars as well as being charted on the county maps, etc.. Others who have owned the property previously usually has "given" this land to the church, county, state, etc. to be used for burial purposes too and even though there is a new owner it would be the same as a lien on that piece of property. And usually there is some type of document showing this gift. I understand that many of the title companies will only go back so far and it is because of this reason that title insurance is obtained by the owners because oftentimes they will have a lawsuit on their hands because the title company did not go back far enough and someone comes up with documents showing the land was not part of the sale so many years ago, etc. I bet if someone checked really hard they would find each cemetery in the state of Indiana has been given to the state, county, township or a church at some time or other. But, maybe my understanding is faulty (according to what I read here) -- but it still seems that there is probably a document SOMEWHERE showing that this is no longer the sale with the property. The second thing I would like to point out and wonder about too is if this (way described here) is the law, then WHY are so many of the cemeteries moved to other sites when the state or township or county makes roads, builds dams and lakes, and other things??? As penny-pinching as most of these government agencies are it seems that they would have taken this same way out as this one property owner -- dig up, destroy tombstones, etc. -- but yet they DO relocate entire cemeteries. So WHY wasn't this done in this instance? But, Sharon has a good point -- we really DO need to contact someone -- seem if historic buildings can be preserved that we can also preserve cemeteries and their stones. Just my 2cents worth. <BTW - did you know the cent mark isn't on your keyboard anymore? I have checked over 100 keyboards of all makes and models and can't find one of the computer ones with it on it -- you can use the ascii codes to make it, but not just hit a key -- just something I noticed recently> Judy M. >As long as a piece of land has not been removed from the tax books and >reserved as a cemetery, there's nothing we can do about it. > >My friend is a member of the Putnam County Cemetery Board and she advised >me that the state law says that if the cemetery is on private property, the >owner of that property may do with it as he pleases. > >You want to stop this? WRITE OR CALL YOUR CONGRESSMAN > >Sharon Bryant >cc Putnam County > >---------- >