Another scenario is that grandmother "so and so" was buried not in a cemetery but "in the family farm west of ......." I have that problem with one of my relatives. The only clue I have now is a statement from an elderly relative that he "I remember there may have been an old tombstone leaned up against the barn when I was a kid". Eeesh... Chris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wayne and Sharon Johnson" <johnsonwe@earthlink.net> To: <mo-cemeteries@rootsweb.com> Sent: 07/04/2007 3:54 AM Subject: Re: [MO-CEMETERIES] MO-CEMETERIES Digest, Vol 2, Issue 111 > Wednesday, July 04, 2007 > > Dear Elaine, > > The scenario that you present is very possible. In fact, it happens > frequently. In many of the cases, part of the burials in a small family > plot were documented by tombstones and that little family burial site is so > well hidden that common knowledge of it has disappeared long ago. In many > cases, the landowners are reluctant to disclose the fact that a cemetery > exists on the property out of fear that it will ruin the value of the > property or place them in a situation in which they will have to spend on > the cemetery or to maintain it. > > When I started actively seeking to locate the small family cemeteries of > Callaway County, Missouri a little over five years ago, the historical > society had a catalog of 223 cemeteries in the county. That catalog was > compiled by two men working together for approximately five years in the > early 1980's. Since that time another individual and myself have been > adding to that catalog of known cemeteries and the total for the county as > of today is 301 cemeteries and we have a list of approximately forty more > cemeteries that we have yet to check out. When we started, there were a > number of those added that were commonly known; but still not in the > catalog; but now we are getting down to the ones that are increasingly more > difficult to find, and to find reference to. About half of our leads still > come in by word of mouth; but many are being discovered from references in > probate records or an obituary indicating that an unlocated individual was > buried in the "family" cemetery. It just takes patience and diligence > seeking and following up on every lead to bring these lost cemeteries to > light. Don't think that we win every one of them; because we don't; but we > are still bringing in a number of newly found cemeteries every year. As > long as they haven't been physically destroyed, they are possible to find. > > Old land records are still the best place to start when seeking the > "family" cemetery. Land patents and historic atlases are the greatest help > in locating those cemeteries. Just simply knowing where the properties > owned by the family are located, selecting the oldest male member of the > family whose burial site is unknown, and then finding the oldest property > that he had owned will generally produce the "family" cemetery. Historic > atlases can give you the indication of approximately where the house existed > at the time of the atlas, and you can bet that the cemetery will be about > 250 ft. from the house near the crest of a little knoll in a grove of trees. > They are frequently marked by a remnant of a fence which has no readily > apparent reason for being there. If there are no tombstones, the burials > will frequently be witnessed by a native stone headstone and possibly native > stone footstone with the accompanying slight depression between that tends > to fill up with leaves. > > Lost family cemeteries do exist and there are many that will escape us; > but with some effort, there are many that can be found. In the course of > documenting some of the previously known cemeteries, we have discovered that > there are not just three or four burials in that little cemetery; but there > are numerous burials that have gone undetected previously. Case in point, > we have checked out two previously cataloged cemeteries, thought to be > family cemeteries, each containing seven known burials documented by > tombstones. Closer scrutiny of the burials and surrounding area revealed > that there were a large number burials marked by native stone that previous > listers had failed to find because there were no tombstones on those > burials. When checking land records we discovered that both had been church > cemeteries that had been abandoned. Even the County Poor Farm which may > have had active burials up to its closing in the mid 1950's barely escaped > destruction by a land developer approximately two years ago because > knowledge of the cemetery was not documented by the county and obscured by > subsequent landowners. There was only one tombstone on the Poor Farm > Cemetery, yet there were probably at least two hundred burials in a piece of > real estate that was approximately 220 ft. by 110 ft. > > Yes there are many lost family cemeteries, many of which we can still > find and many of which will be lost to us forever. Every year that goes by > without actively seeking and documenting these cemeteries is one more step > toward disappearance by neglect or destruction. How many will you find this > year? It's 2007. Do you know where your Great Grandparents are? > > > Sincerely yours, > > Wayne Johnson > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Elaine O'Neill" <elaineoneill1948@gmail.com> > To: <mo-cemeteries@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, July 04, 2007 12:42 AM > Subject: Re: [MO-CEMETERIES] MO-CEMETERIES Digest, Vol 2, Issue 111 > > > > Thank you, Bill for all the wonderful information. I intend to file > > this for future reference. > > > > I have one question, if I may. Don't know if you'll have an answer, > > but I'll take that chance. > > > > What are the odds, in poor, rural areas in the last half of the 19th > > century, that persons were buried on family land...no gravestone, no > > record anywhere of a burial? I have on in particular I've been > > searching for in either Howell or Texas county. The cemetery books > > have been checked there is no listing anywhere for her. There are > > other members of her family that are equally elusive. I wonder if > > they were just buried "out back under the Maple tree" and then when > > the family moved on they are left behind and forgotten. > > This is the only scenario that makes any sense at this point. > > > > Thanks for any light you might be able to shed on this sort of situation. > > > > Elaine O'. > > Hollister, MO > > On 7/3/07, kimbuc4@juno.com <kimbuc4@juno.com> wrote: > >> List members, > >> > >> For the past several days there have been a number of messages concerning > >> the lack of information on burials and tombstones. > >> > >> I have mentioned this in the past but apparently there are many new > >> members. Some basic information about cemeteries, concerns tombstones. > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > MO-CEMETERIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MO-CEMETERIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >