Martha, I have seen several letters recently about the deplorable condition of these old cemeteries and the fact that they are soon to be lost entirely. In Florida we were recently successful in getting Historic status for the Stewart Cemetery, supposedly the final resting place for Reuben Hart of North Carolina. This effort was spearheaded by Jeanette Henderson of the Baker Block Museum in Baker, Florida, and required about a year of work to get the large application filled out and to get the local politicians on our side. She had the fortitude to see it through and we were successful. While receiving Historic status does not guarantee anything, it does free up some matching money for monuments and possibly headstone repair, but this will differ from state to state. I think a couple of the advantages of the designation is to keep access to the cemeteries open, even when they are on private property. Getting the politicians on board is also a gift because quite possibly they can provide some prisoner time for cleanup and repair of the grounds. The very nature of completing the application will get some interest aroused within the community and maybe get some volunteers to help work the site. We are hopeful that we can use some of the matching funds to buy a monument respecting the accomplishments of our cherished ancestor, Reuben Hart. Cordially, Roger Hart