Hi Jon! It is Tom Cannon from Floyd County and I want to add some light as to "where" to find the written law. I havn't found one for your situation yet but until I do I want to share the ones that interest me in our ever growing community. Heres some laws for Abandonment and reburial in Indiana Code 23-14-58-1 Chapter 58. 23-14-58-2 Authority to abandon certain cemeteries; removal of bodies. 23-14-58-2 Abandoment of cemetery; removal and interment of bodies in suitable cemetery. 23-14-58-3 Reinterment 23-14-58-4 Lawfulness of actions I will keep reading for the laws your asking about Jon.

>From what I hear, all you have to do is go ahead, then if you get caught plead Ignorance, and get a permit if you have to. That is apparently what the developer did on the McClintick cemetery in Clark Co. The developer worked within 2 feet of the fence with heavy equipment, I have photographs, but he was only grading out dirt he placed there. If it was placed there the equipment disturbed the ground, unless he was suspended above it while he worked. He didn't disturb the ground??? either he violated the 100 foot Law or he didn't. This kind of stuff is where the law falls down. If we report violations and don't get a quick response, the Law is useless. A Law to be effective must be applied immediately, or forget it. If someone is in your house, you hope someone responds quicker then 24 hours.

O.K., I think it is time that we all hone-up on our understanding of the law in Indiana, as it pertains to cemeteries, etc. Either I don't clearly understand them, (I know you all do), our attorney doesn't or the whole Indiana Code is a mumbo-jumbo mess that needs to be entirely scrapped and rewritten. They did that once already and I don't think anybody understands how complex it has gotten. So for my first question and then I hope someone else will jump in and pose one to the group.... Can I, (John Q. Landowner), get my bulldozer this weekend and start digging a pond right next to the fence of the cemetery that is located on my property without any kind of permit or approval? Why, why not and where does it say that? Jon Andrews _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

Lois, We are so proud of you, and I am truly amazed at what you do. Thank you so much for having the heart of a lion and the soul of a saint and the patience and perseverance to keep us going. Blessings, Helen Wildermuth ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue Silver" <ssilver1951@jps.net> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 10:01 AM Subject: Re: [INPCRP] Presentation to House/Senate Natural Resources Committee > Lois, > > Sounds like you did a bang up job. Good for you! > > I am so impressed with your approach. Politicians just love it when you ask > them to do something that will cost them next to nothing. > > Sue Silver > CA > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Lois Mauk" <loismauk@home.com> > To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:03 PM > Subject: [INPCRP] Presentation to House/Senate Natural Resources Committee > > > > Well, Jeannie Regan-Dinius and I took our dog-and-pony show to the joint > > House and Senate Natural Resources Committee this afterrnoon. The > Committee > > met at McCormick Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana (west of > Bloomington). > > > > > > > ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== > THIS IS A CEMETERY ----- > "Lives are commemorated - deaths are recorded - families > are reunited - memories are made tangible - and love is > undisguised. This is a cemetery. > "Communities accord respect, families bestow reverence, > historians seek information and our heritage is thereby enriched. > "Testimonies of devotion, pride and remembrance are carved > in stone to pay warm tribute to accomplishments and to the life - > not the death - of a loved one. The cemetery is homeland for family > memorials that are a sustaining source of comfort to the living. > "A cemetery is a history of people - a perpetual record of > yesterday and sanctuary of peace and quiet today. A cemetery > exists because every life is worth loving and remembering - always." > --Author unknown -- Seen at a monument dealer in West Union, IA > >

Hello all, I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time answering my question on the # of cemeteries in each county in Indiana. And thank you Lois and Jeannie for giving your presentation on portable cemeteries. You have done alot of work and research on the topic. Thank you guys for all you do. Sincerely, Angela Tielking

There are about 170 in Knox County. Jon Andrews >From: "G Tielking" <tielking@knightstown.net> >Reply-To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com >To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [INPCRP] # of cemeteries in each county >Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 19:34:38 -0500 > >Hello everyone. I am curious about the number of cemeteries known in each >county in Indiana. The reason I ask is that Hancock Co. has 92 "known" >cemeteries. This seems like a low number to me. >Does anyone have a tally? >Angela Tielking >tielking@knightstown.net > > >==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== >Please do not send queries through this list. > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

In a message dated 10/23/01 9:04:27 PM US Eastern Standard Time, loismauk@home.com writes: > Jeannie and I were asked to > speak about the situation concerning the ridiculous ease with which > cemeteries can be dismantled and relocated, a tactic being widely used (at > least down here in this end of the State) to increase profits in real estate > development and to circumvent Indiana Code 14-21-1-26.5 > Lois, Whether it works or not it sure is a Darn Good Start. I hope Rep. Lytle doesn't think this ends all of our problems with the Laws. But applying pressure with the Petition Idea can't hurt. Keep up the Good work. Jack E. Briles Sr. Floyd County PCRP Coordinator Po Box 444 New Albany, In. 47151-0444 (812) 282-6585 Fax (812) 282-6585

Tippecanoe has 133 verified cemeteries. We have around 69 others that haven't been found yet. If the last 69 are real cemeteries. That would put us up to 202. L. A. Clugh Tippecanoe Co. Cemetery Restoration Committee Coordinator Visit our cemetery list at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~intippec/tcem.html

Newton County reporting in....I believe the count should be 28 cemeteries here. Kyle D. Conrad

Way to go, Lois! Thanks for organizing the effort for us all - I know how hard you've worked on this, and it sounds very encouraging. We'll see what transpires. Dale Drake Cemetery Committee Morgan Co History & Genealogy Assn Lois Mauk wrote: > Well, Jeannie Regan-Dinius and I took our dog-and-pony show to the joint > House and Senate Natural Resources Committee this afterrnoon. The Committee > met at McCormick Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana (west of Bloomington). > etc.

Angela, I have a "preliminary" count in 56 counties. They start at 42 cemeteries in Benton County up to over 300 in some of the southern counties. This is just known. This also does not include any Native American sites. Jeannie Regan-Dinius Cemetery Registry Coordinator Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology 317/232-1646 317/232-0693 (fax) 402 W. Washington Street RM W274 Indianapolis, IN 46204 -----Original Message----- From: G Tielking [mailto:tielking@knightstown.net] Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:35 PM To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [INPCRP] # of cemeteries in each county Hello everyone. I am curious about the number of cemeteries known in each county in Indiana. The reason I ask is that Hancock Co. has 92 "known" cemeteries. This seems like a low number to me. Does anyone have a tally? Angela Tielking tielking@knightstown.net ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== Please do not send queries through this list.

Lois, Sounds like you did a bang up job. Good for you! I am so impressed with your approach. Politicians just love it when you ask them to do something that will cost them next to nothing. Sue Silver CA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lois Mauk" <loismauk@home.com> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:03 PM Subject: [INPCRP] Presentation to House/Senate Natural Resources Committee > Well, Jeannie Regan-Dinius and I took our dog-and-pony show to the joint > House and Senate Natural Resources Committee this afterrnoon. The Committee > met at McCormick Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana (west of Bloomington). > >

Rush Co. Has 122 cemeteries that I have listing for and are on the map. There may be another 3 that are not on the map but are listed as being single graves that are now lost. Diana

Morgan Co. has 167 known cemeteries, counting the ones where the stones are gone, but we know exist. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lois Mauk" <loismauk@home.com> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:54 PM Subject: Re: [INPCRP] # of cemeteries in each county > Dear Angela: > > I've identified approximately 190 in Clark Co. The number at one time > reached about 210, but I eliminated a number of duplicates (different names; > same property). Since I add 2 to 4 new ones a year to that number, I'm sure > we'll top 200 eventually. And, of course, there are dozens that we'll NEVER > know about -- the tiny ones that no one ever recorded, isolated graves, > Indian burial sites, etc. Also, that 190 includes the ones that are "GONE", > the ones we can't find them, but we KNOW they existed. > > Bear in mind that the Clark Co. area was settled a good deal earlier than > most of the rest of the state. And, when the settlers came here, they > fanned out all over the place. > > I seem to recall Monroe Co.'s number being something in the neighborhood of > 300. > > I think Tippecanoe Co. has identified something like 133. > > Lois > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "G Tielking" <tielking@knightstown.net> > To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:34 PM > Subject: [INPCRP] # of cemeteries in each county > > > > Hello everyone. I am curious about the number of cemeteries known in each > county in Indiana. The reason I ask is that Hancock Co. has 92 "known" > cemeteries. This seems like a low number to me. > > Does anyone have a tally? > > Angela Tielking > > tielking@knightstown.net > > > > > > ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== > > Please do not send queries through this list. > > > > > > > ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== > If we cannot respect the dead, how can we respect the living? > >

FIRST OF ALL: THANK YOU, LOIS FOR ALL YOU DO IN THE QUEST TO PROTECT PIONEER CEMETERIES OF THE STATE......SECOND: HOW SAD IT IS THAT WE EVEN HAVE TO ADDRESS SUCH AS THIS.....RUTH PRIDE

Floyd County has 137 officially recorded sites. A few have been destroyed, but the remains are still in the cemetery location. Others have been destroyed and are known in Name only.

Harrison Co Has 234 Surveyed and Platted Officially and diagrammed in a book. from 1939-40 WPA project. This does not account for over 100 small cemeteries not Surveyed and platted, only the prominent ones. Not the ones hidden in woods. They are still being found as of this year, and some are also being destroyed.

Parke County is near 219, We are continuing to find more . ----- Original Message ----- From: "G Tielking" <tielking@knightstown.net> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:34 PM Subject: [INPCRP] # of cemeteries in each county > Hello everyone. I am curious about the number of cemeteries known in each county in Indiana. The reason I ask is that Hancock Co. has 92 "known" cemeteries. This seems like a low number to me. > Does anyone have a tally? > Angela Tielking > tielking@knightstown.net > > > ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== > Please do not send queries through this list. > >

At last count Dearborn was somewhere in the neighborhood of 150, but we are still finding them after about 25 years of searching. Chris McHenry ----- Original Message ----- From: "G Tielking" <tielking@knightstown.net> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 7:34 PM Subject: [INPCRP] # of cemeteries in each county > Hello everyone. I am curious about the number of cemeteries known in each county in Indiana. The reason I ask is that Hancock Co. has 92 "known" cemeteries. This seems like a low number to me. > Does anyone have a tally? > Angela Tielking > tielking@knightstown.net > > > ==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== > Please do not send queries through this list. > > >

Well, Jeannie Regan-Dinius and I took our dog-and-pony show to the joint House and Senate Natural Resources Committee this afterrnoon. The Committee met at McCormick Creek State Park in Spencer, Indiana (west of Bloomington). Dan Mathis (Legislative Liaison for the DNR), Jeannie and I were asked to speak about the situation concerning the ridiculous ease with which cemeteries can be dismantled and relocated, a tactic being widely used (at least down here in this end of the State) to increase profits in real estate development and to circumvent Indiana Code 14-21-1-26.5 < http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title14/ar21/ch1.html#IC14-21-1-26 >, which requires developers to obtain approval by DNR of a development plan BEFORE disturbing the soil within 100 feet of a known cemetery. If they get a Order to Disinter, they don't have to get a development plan approved and, further, DNR is not even notified that the cemetery has been MOVED. BTW, Jeannie was able to confirm (perhaps through Mr. Mathis, who is an attorney) that my interpretation of the pertinent statutes has been correct. If a developer gets a Court Order to Disinter, then the State Dept. of Health has no option but to grant the Disinterment Permit and DNR never has to know that the cemetery has been moved, thus circumventing the prohibition against disturbing the soil within 100 feet of the site. I have been pretty sure of my interpretation of the statutes but, since I'm not an attorney and know little about Indiana law except what I have figured out on my own, I feel reassured that I'm not missing something important that could change what the statutes appear to say. We certainly got Rep. Lytle's attention with the 2,300+ petition signatures that we delivered to him on 10/6/2001 in Madison. He was obviously disturbed with what we told him was going on and he placed this issue on the Committee's agenda for today. I was impressed to see that he went so far as to bring the 3" thick stack of petitions on the table in front of him during the meeting and made specific reference to it. (I also delivered to him 23 additional signatures that my preacher gave me last week!) I put together a 17-page handout for each of the members of the Committee. It included copies of two Petitions to Disinter and subsequent Orders to Disinter, copies of deeds proving that neither the Petitioner nor the property owner on one Petition even OWNED the cemetery property, subdivision plats that show how closely one builder intended to build to a 106x126' deeded cemetery, and a couple of pages of bullet lists consisting of the following text: HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO MOVE A PIONEER CEMETERY IN INDIANA? Not difficult at all. It requires FIVE OR LESS PIECES OF PAPER filed with a local Court. Ownership of the cemetery is not required. No notice to the public is required. Some disinterment orders are entered the same day as the filing of the Petition to Disinter. If a cemetery was an exception on the Deed and then is dismantled and relocated, WHO then owns the former cemetery location? Is this rash of disinterment orders a way for developers to circumvent the 100-foot buffer around a cemetery or burial site within which a developer must obtain DNR approval of a development plan before disturbing the soil? ====================================== Since January 1, 2001, at least TWO Orders to Disinter have been entered in Clark County. Since January 1, 2001, ONE cemetery has already been moved in Floyd County. A developer tried to move Slate Run Cemetery in Floyd County this year, but the Township Trustee backed them down. Plans are underway to move at least TWO MORE cemeteries in Floyd County. THAT'S SIX AFFECTED CEMETERIES IN ONLY TWO COUNTIES IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR. HOW MANY ARE THERE IN THE ENTIRE STATE???? =============================== Can Indiana Code 23-14-57 be rewritten to require developers and others seeking to move cemeteries to prove to the satisfaction of the Courts: . Ownership of the cemetery property (including copies of deed records going back at least 100 years) . Current survey of the property in question . Publication of prominent Legal Notice of intention to disinter in the county's newspaper of record permitting descendants and interested parties an opportunity to object to the disinterment . Verification of the tax status of the cemetery property . The acquiescence of the Township Trustee . A disinterment plan prepared by a qualified Archeologist . The date of the last known burial . A record of all known stones and markers . Approval of the plan by the Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Archeology and Historic Preservation . Filing of the post-disinterment report with the County Recorder, pursuant to IC 14-21-2-3 ========================================= BACK TO COMMENTS BY LOIS: ========================================= Rep. Lytle remarked that he was reluctant to bring up the subject of pioneer cemeteries yet again and that he had hoped that steps taken in previous years' legislation might be sufficient to address the issue for at least the time being. BUT, he felt that, after having received our petitions, after reading the materials I gave him with the petitions and after talking with officials with the DNR, that it was important that the Legislature deal with this issue in the upcoming short session. Several members of the Committee made remarks that led me to believe that they understood what was happening out here in the State. I expressed that I was particularly dismayed that a local court granted an Order to Disinter when the moving party did not OWN the cemetery and felt that this set a DANGEROUS precedent. The suggestions that I made for changes to the statute have one important thing going for them. Aside from developers having to get a relocation plan pre-approved by DNR, nothing in the changes will cost the State a dime. The financial and proof burden would all be squarely upon the shoulders of the moving party. As it should be! If we make relocations difficult and expensive, my hope is that relocation won't be the first and only option considered by developers. I tried to make a point of one very important factor: If I own property that has an EXCEPTED cemetery on it and I get a court order to disinter those remains and I get them moved off the property, WHO THEN OWNS THE PROPERTY? Is this just another land grab? How is the title to the "former" cemetery resolved? The Committee members seemed to grasp the importance of putting a stop to these tactics. Let's see what develops. In the meantime, if you know any of the Committee members (listed below), go to http://www.IN.gov/cgi-bin/legislative/contact/contact.pl and send him/her an e-mail asking for their support. The members (all of whom were present today) are: Rep. Markt Lytle, Chairperson Rep. James Bottorff Rep. Richard Mangus Rep. Phyllis Pond Sen. Potch Wheeler Sen. Becky Skillman Sen. Richard Young Sen. James Lewis Thank you. Lois