Hello to you all, Please advise exactly what I need to do to register a cemetery in LaGrange County. It is an old family cemetery, with just a few graves, and is being maintained by family. It is fenced in, with no new graves being added. Thank you, Dennis Buerge

Dear Dennis: First, we need to have an understanding of what you mean by REGISTERING a cemetery. There is a new state database being created by the DNR which will be a register of all the cemeteries and burial sites found in the state. That project was started earlier this year and is still in its infancy. Jeannie Regan-Dinius < JRdinius@dnr.state.in.us > is in charge of this database and you can contact her for additional information, the necessary forms, etc. (Be sure to include your mailing address when you write to Jeannie.) My concern is that you might believe that REGISTERING this cemetery will somehow impart to it some sort of "protection". That is not true. The key here is to fully research the ownership of the cemetery itself to determine its legal status. I'm presuming the cemetery is surrounded by private property, but that does not make the cemetery itself "private property". Only by researching the deed records back 100 years or so can you ascertain the property's true status. There is an excellent article by Marlene Mattox on the INPCRP website that makes a perfect primer on cemetery property research. I highly recommend you read this article to learn how to do this kind of investigation. The INPCRP website offers a good deal of useful information and this e-mail group can be invaluable to you as you pursue this matter. Your statement that the cemetery is maintained by family and is fenced leads me to believe that this site is in good condition. That's refreshing news around here. More than half your battle is already won! Please let us hear from you again soon. Lois ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Buerge" <denny@mail.inct.net> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 11:22 AM Subject: [INPCRP] Request > Hello to you all, > > Please advise exactly what I need to do to register a cemetery in LaGrange > County. It is an old family cemetery, with just a few graves, and is being > maintained by family. It is fenced in, with no new graves being added. > > Thank you, > > Dennis Buerge