My opiniion.......... First off, I do not believe that the son had any title to the cemetery when he deeded it to the new owners. The reservation by Nicholas, Sr. to the public still stands. Since I feel that the first burial was after 1850 it is solely the responsibility of the trustee. There is ingress and egress to the cemetery, the problem is how is she going to let you to it. Usually the most direct and best route is preferred, but this may not be her opinion. Just because she paid taxes on the property or even occupied it, does not give her title without filing a suit for adverse possession where she would have to prove that she was the sole user of the property for seven years and clearly she was not with people buried there. Anyway she would have to file suit to get possession. She did not. In 1972 it was not illegal to run cattle over a cemetery. If she just recently removed the fence, she violated the law. Your conversation officer may be the place to start. Yes, it needs to be fenced and if she took it down the trustee may be looking to her to put it back. If she, through her cattle and farming operations, is the one who negligently destroyed the cemetery throughout the years, she may have pay to locate the graves and restore it to a respectable condition. But you don't know which stone goes where. You might as well realize that you are not going to make many friends in this business. We have them this way several places in Knox County with the cattle still tromping on them. Don't expect much from the conservation officer, except a report will be made. That is the problem, we really have no one to complain to. And if you think your prosecutor is going after anyone, think again. She might be entitled to, at most, the last three years taxes back. That is her problem. And, if like here, don't expect the county to pay for anything. One suggestion, don't put up a fence until you do an underground survey, if you do you will be taking it back down for the survey, because it runs off an electromagnetic field and all it will show is the fence out to about 5 meters. You really don't need to know where the graves are, because you are going to survey and fence the 50x150 area that belongs to the cemetery. Ask your county surveyor if he will mark it off for you this winter when he has time. Jon Andrews >From: "Christine West" <cherokee@shelbynet.net> >Reply-To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com >To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [INPCRP] ...so long as time may last >Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 22:05:34 -0600 > >Okay, got another dilemma that needs some creative input here in >Bartholomew County. > >Nicholas Jones Sr. was a Revolutionary War veteran who later settled near a >little RR town here called Nortonburg. Before he died, he conveyed the >land to his children and one piece in particular went to his son, Nicholas >Jones Jr. The deed (recorded in 1849) does not contain an exception, it >conveys to him the ground, basically the NE of the SW of the section. But >after the Recorder's declaration, it has the following paragraph, >beautifully written in my opinion: > > >"The within deed and conveyance is made to Nicholas Jones junior with the >distinct and express understanding that I have reserved a certain lot or >piece of ground for the use of the public as a burying ground, 150 ft. deep >& 50 ft. wide lying and being immediately on the North line of said >conveyed piece of land and known by the name of Jones's grave yard or >burying ground, and the same is to be for the use of the public as a >burying place and is to be used for no other purpose so long as time may >last and all and any who may wish to bury on the same with full ingress and >egress to the same for the purpose of a grave yard and it is in nowise to >be considered as conveyed to the said Nicholas Jones Jr. or his heirs. >Notwithstanding is not reserved in the within Deed but to remain as a >public burying ground as long as time lasts." > > >Here is the problem, the son later sold the ground without an exception, >and so it was perpetuated. We had a wonderful historian who worked on our >cemeteries and this is what she wrote of it in December of 1972: > > >"This cemetery was recorded by (herself), who on her first trip, found only >5 broken stones. When they realized the name was JONES and they were >searching for the burial place of Revolutionary War veteran Nicholas Jones, >they went back a second time with an iron probe and found and dug up 3 of >the stones, but were unable to get the 4th one up and it was laying writing >side down. (some local neighbors), went out and finished digging up the >stones and a third trip was made to finish the recording. (a relative of a >former owner), who lived with his grandparents near this cemetery when a >boy, states positively that Nicholas Jones was buried here, he further >states that some of (his) family was buried in this cemetery. The last >burial he recalls was an infant child of (a neighbor). The stones are now >standing up, without a fence around them. Unless a fence is put up or they >are buried again, the cattle will probably destroy them." > > >You can barely recognize the small weed patch in the field as a graveyard >today. It is near the road, but only visible in the winter, as a >"combines-width" exists between it and the road. The township trustee was >told by the former historian that the cemetery was suppose to belong to the >township, as it was originally intended. When the landowner was approached >about it, she refused, stating it was not excepted from her deed and she >paid taxes on it. I checked, she has always paid taxes on it. I spoke >with her about it yesterday (I DO NOT like controversy nor confrontations >so I merely kept the conversation about what SHE knew about the cemetery, >not what I knew) and she still maintains it belongs to her. She said that >when approached several years ago by the trustee, she was told that they >would like to "cut a hole in her fence" and fence on three sides of the >graveyard, allowing access directly from the road. She talked to her >lawyer, who said they had farmed it lon! >g enough that she did not have to do any of it, so she merely removed the >cows and all the fence from it and started farming it. I said that I >estimated there to be about 15 to 20 graves in this cemetery, and she >acknowledged that she knew there were at least that many. Yet they farm >around a patch that could not be more than 10 ft. by 10 ft., so she is >acknowledging the fact that she is farming over graves. I did not mention >to her the new law that says that is illegal, I'll let the Commissioners do >that. > >I plan on gathering my information and having a complete list of questions >that need answers from a qualified BOARD to the commissioners in January (I >hope) and this is my #1 question for them. I don't want to make enemies >doing this, and this lady has actually given me valuable information >regarding another lost cemetery on the other side of the county where she >grew up. I don't want to pick on her (she works for the county as well), >and there are others in bad shape. > >Am I wrong in thinking that this land needs to be surveyed extensively to >locate the actual boundaries of the graveyard, it needs to be fenced in, a >flag pole erected in it, and access given from the road to it? Who pays >for the survey? Who conducts the search for the actual graves? Does she >get a refund for all the taxes she has paid on it since 1962? > > >Cris West >Columbus, IN > > >==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== >To UNSUBSCRIBE, send message consisting only of >"UNSUBSCRIBE" to INPCRP-L-REQUEST@rootsweb.com > or to INPCRP-D-REQUEST@rootsweb.com (for DIGEST version) > _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp