I thought this was interesting since some of Itawamba's cemeteries are on private land now and are at the mercy of the owners? ----- Original Message ----- From: <JSBRIDG@aol.com> To: <MS-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, March 16, 2001 9:12 AM Subject: [MS-CEM] Re: Desecration of MS cemeteries > The law is on our side........but we as family members, researchers & > preservers of history must also do our part. Before Mississippi courts will > back you up, you must prove the cemetery was there. If you don't have > pictures of the lonely graves, rubbings & listings made AND DATED, you are > not gonna get far. We must be able to prove without any doubt that graves > were located there. When you canvas the cemetery, send copies to the > archives in Jackson, county or area libraries for their vertical files & > anywhere else you can think of. Always put your name on the listing, your > address & when you made the listing. Pictures also.........get landmarks in > the background of your pictures to help prove the location. > > If you need proof of a destroyed cemetery & have none in your personal files, > check the cabinet at the MS archives in the cemetery files. Or published > books such as the MS Genealogical Society which still publishes a yearly book > on cemeteries. Or small libraries in the county in which the cemetery is > located. > > One more thought..........if you can prove a grave in this cemetery has a > veteran's grave in it, or someone of historical interest, you can get the > state to declare the cemetery a historical one & possibly even be maintained > by the local board........course the catch in the law is the wording > "maintained at their decisions", meaning might be mowed that year, maybe not. > But at least the cemetery is on record with the state & local levels of > government. If anyone is interested, I will pull my folder on how to declare > such a cemetery & the steps involved. But I do remember........PROOF is t he > first step. > Joyce > > > ==== MS-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Mississippi Cemetery list, use > MS-CEMETERIES-l-request@rootsweb.com or MS-CEMETERIES-d-request@rootsweb.com if > you are on the Digest list. > To learn more about my world visit http://dwp.bigplanet.com/kburnett > > ============================== > Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & Celebrate > your heritage! > http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog >