Jane, Welcome to Cemetery Preservation in Indiana! I know what you are up against and I wish you all the luck. I am too far away to help you hunt, but check old topo maps and ariel photos prior to that were flown about 1940 and also deed records for that property in the early 1800's to see if it was reserved out. You may get lucky! Call the DAHP in Indianapolis and see if they have anything on the property from the investigation in the 50's or 60's. I would watch what you do probing and certainly do not dig! The fact that you know (assume) that there is a cemetery there gets into touchy stuff when it comes to disturbing the ground. You can determine when he dug his basement and maybe there is a sheriff's report. Talk to older people to see what they know as well as, if available, funeral home records might give an insight to where they were buried. At any rate, like they say, short of "digging up the backyard", you will have to determine what if anything you can do about it if it does pan out to be there. If it is documented, technically that landowner can't pull a weed in his flower garden without disturbing the earth within a hundred feet. That makes for a great land owner relationship, so maybe it's best to leave the DNR out of it for a while. Check cemetery books at the courthouse to see if it has ever been platted or recorded. I doubt it. In our county only 10 out 170 have been. Technically, I guess, the stone and stories you have already come across might classify it as a cemetery. At least a cemetery to be disproved not proved. Hang in there and I wish you luck. Jon Andrews >From: Misyjane15@aol.com >Reply-To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com >To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [INPCRP] Cemetery or not? >Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 20:18:52 EDT > >Hello List, >I need some help/advise on this one. It is similar to the recent septic >tank >cemetery. Two weeks ago my sister, myself and our husbands took a Sunday >drive to Shelby county near Morristown in hopes of finding our fourth >greatgrandparents. Armed with a cemetery list from the State Library >compiled >in 1952 that had some simple ( and incorrect as it turns out) directions we >drove the area looking for likely places for a Pioneer Cemetery. The >Cemetery List listed four marked graves on three of our ancestors and one >other person. The list mentioned as many as 40 other graves marked with >fieldstones, one with initials carved rudely. The dates from the ancestors >1835, 1836 and 1846. The list mentioned that when Asbury Cemetery was >started >that no more burials were made in this older cemetery. To make a long story >short, we saw a man trimming trees and asked him if he knew of an old >abandoned cemetery. He said that actually he was told that at one time >there >was supposed to be an old cemetery on his land and he was told that the >headstones had been turned face down to "preserve" them and covered over >with >dirt. He said that actually his wife had made a rock garden from large >rocks >that had been in the yard when they built their house 10 years ago, one of >them had initials carved on it and would we like to see it. We looked at >the >rock garden and indeed there were initials carved in one stone. I don't >have >the knowledge to say whether this was a grave marker at one time but it >seemed suspicious to me having read the comments on the 1952 Cemetery List. >He then seemed embarrassed and said that when the foundation was dug for >their house, some remains (bones) were brought up along with old nails. The >sheriff was called and someone from the state to determine whether the >remains were from a Native American and it was determined they were from a >17 >- 19 year old male caucasion. We went inside to talk to the man's wife and >she remembered that they had found a headstone - when she told me the name, >it was my 4th great grandmother. They gave the headstone to someone at the >fire station that was supposed to be a decendent. We called that person to >see what happened to the stone and he couldn't remember!!! We called the >man >who owned the land before the present owners and he said that he had been >told that there was a cemetery on the land but all the graves had been >moved >to Asbury Cemetery and he didn't know anything else. About that time the >wife's father and mother drove up and the older man said he remembered one >time WHEN THEY WERE HAVING THEIR SEPTIC TANK WORKED ON in the winter he was >walking in the backyard and thought he could see a headstone just below the >surface. We probed a little in the area where he thought it was but didn't >find anything. We have checked the list for Asbury Cemetery and an old >entry >indicated some "bones" moved from the property I am writing about. I >personally think that some bones were moved, the Cemetery List says three >or >four" but the four graves that had markers were there in 1952 and very >possibly are there now. I would like to get this "cemetery" registered with >the DNR but if there really aren't any remains there, is it really a >cemetery? If there are remains, is there someone out there that would like >to >help me probe or do whatever to find them. The people that own the land now >said they would gladly let me try to find any graves short of digging up >their backyard. This is entirely to much for me to handle without some help >- >any takers? >Jane Kesslar >misyjane15@aol.com >11227 Rolling Springs Drive >Carmel, IN 46033 >(317)848-7416 > > >==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== >If we cannot respect the dead, how can we respect the living? > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp