Notice that the grave of Peter Schmidt Sr. is involved, which I didn't know. Betty ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Ww4411@aol.com To: Stuball@icomnet.com, kkdavidson@yahoo.com, AKSENELICK@aol.com, dantana@carolina.rr.com, pbbecksalisburync@cbi1.net, flywileyp@hotmail.com, swinkie@easystreet.com, mwineka@salisburypost.com, bapace2@juno.com, Rmcauley682@cs.com, jsp@carolina.rr.com Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 16:06:44 EST Subject: Email to the Attorney General of N.C. Message-ID: <198.116dcb6c.2b1bd3e4@aol.com> Dear Mr. Roy Cooper - Attorney General of North Carolina PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THIS BEFORE YOU READ! When I first saw the construction of I-85 at the Salisbury exit at Innes Street, Salisbury, NC; I knew it wouldn't be long until it reached the site of my old family cemetery and knew that it would again be in jeopardy of being disturbed. It has been saved twice from destruction....once when I-85 originally came through in the sixties when my Uncle John Ketchie (owner) gave right-a-way for the interstate with the understanding that the family cemetery would not be disturbed (that's why there is a slight curb to the left heading north bound from Salisbury in the interstate so not to go through the cemetery) Then after he died the land was passed to my Grandpa Lee M. Ketchie, and subsquently sold to Mr. Howard Brandon who had knowledge of the old family cemetery being on the parcel of land and also had been asked in a gentleman's agreement to not disturb the cemetery site. Next a developer bought the land to build houses which fell through when Aldi stepped in and bought it for their new distribution site. Aldi had been made aware of the cemetery and they too did not disturb the cemetery in their landscaping and new construction. It is not abandoned...just very old...the last person I know buried there was in 1831. It's hard to even get to the cemetery....as the road was covered up during the Aldi construction and earth moving...and the no trespassing signs that were posted. I parked on I-85 and climbed the fence back in April 2002 and sent emails to everyone possible to try and help save the cemetery...A Mr. Brian Overton, an archeologist with the NC D.O.T. responded back and forth with me for several weeks and then called me by telephone and told me that he had good news that the cemetery was not going to be disturbed and wasn't going to be moved....now in an article of the Salisbury Post on November 11, 2002, it stated it will be moved! Click here: Workers will move family cemetery The article was confusing because there are indeed headstones in the cemetery...and they are readable...just small in design. I went to the cemetery in August 2002, and tied fluorescent ribbons all around in the cemetery so if anybody with the D.O.T. happened upon it would plainly see that it was a cemetery. I also have digital pictures of the remaining Tombstones (6) which I can forward to you via email. The other markers were evidently of wood and no longer exist as the cemetery is well over 200 years old! There is a 1759 Rowan Militia Patriot - George Michael Schmidt/Smith a Revolutionary Soldier - Jacob G. Smith, (Whig) and a Civil War Soldier - John D. Shenk Smith, (Infantry) all buried in this family cemetery. It has been estimated that there may be as many as 50-60 graves in the cemetery and I have not yet researched the rest. The Smith Cemetery is listed (along with cemetery photos) in a book, "Obscure Cemeteries of Rowan County," written by Dr. Kenneth Sells, June 1988. which is available in the History Room of the Rowan County Library at Salisbury, NC The original parcel of land was deeded to Peter Schmidt, first ancestor of my family to arrive in America. He was buried in the family cemetery after his death in 1775 along with his wife Barbara. His son, George Michael Schmidt/Smith Born: 1727 Died: Oct. 23, 1814 was one of the first German Settlers in Rowan County, Salisbury, NC He was a patriot who served in the Rowan County Militia of 1759, (same militia as Squire Boone and Daniel Boone), against the hostile Indians of the area protecting the citizens, even before he was naturalized as a US Citizen! (listed on 1759 Militia List in Rowan County Archives.) He was an appointed Justice of the first court ever held in Rowan in June of 1753, (Pg. 16, The Rowan Story, by James S. Brawley) to help lay out the land for the site of the new township and to select the name for it, (Salisbury) He continued as a Justice of the Peace until his death in 1814, serving Rowan County and it's Citizens. His name is on the first list of Rowan County Taxpayers, which was found in the old courthouse walls in 1944 by William D. Kizziah, Register of Deeds ( Pg. 351, The Rowan Story, by James S. Brawley) Certainly George M. Smith was one of Rowan County's "true" founding fathers of civic import. The Schmidt/Smith cemetery should be preserved. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Rowan County and is indeed a very significant historical resource of early colonial Rowan County and Salisbury, NC. I am very distressed! It seems that not even in death you are safe, that according to our N.C. laws a highway or community can be built right on top of your gravesite and that you then become a "movable" commodity! Run an ad in the paper 4 times and your gone! I know that progress is inevitable but our heritage is being destroyed daily by new construction and a lot of times there are options or alternatives to destruction. JUST BECAUSE THE LAW SAYS THE N.C. D.O.T. can move the cemetery, doesn't mean that they should. **************************************** N.C. Laws, REMOVAL OF GRAVES ARTICLE 5. states that "Any remains disinterrred and removed hereunder shall be reinterred in a suitable cemetery or burial ground" The Old County Home Cemetery, which is currently proposed, is referred to in Salisbury as the "poor house" cemetery, as inmates of the county are buried there. It is a total disgrace! This is not a suitable place! I have digital pictures if you would like to see them via email) The attempt by the N.C. D.O.T. to locate and notify family members occurred only after the state and county had already made its decisions. The family desendants were not included in any decisions. We feel our rights according to Article 5 have been violated. The N.C. State Law requires: "reasonable search and inquiry" The article in the Salisbury Post said to contact 2 different people, but I tried to contact both with no response. Mark Wineka at the Post wrote the article and stated he only wrote what the D.O.T. official told him and knew nothing more. (He was one of the contacts) Richard Eaton's telephone number was listed in the newspaper and when I called it...the lady in his office said I could leave him a voice message as he was out of the office. He emailed me about a week later and told me that due to illness, my concerns had been turned over to Wayne Patterson with the N.C. D.O.T. and that he would be responding to me, but as to this date I have heard nothing from him! The Newspaper article stated that no headstones will be moved. ARTICLE 5. "Due care shall also be taken to remove, protect and replace all tombstones or other markers" so as to leave such tombstones or other markers in as good condition as that prior to disinterment." The Newspaper article was incorrect in stating that I, Wanda T. Williams had been notified! I contacted them when construction first began and was told by Brian Overton, the Cemetery was not in their plans for right of way or destruction! No one from Mr. Ronald Eaton's Office has contacted me. Mr. Brian Overton, archaelogist with N.C. D.O.T.has been the only D.O.T. person who has replied to me. He emailed me that he has seen proposed revised plans by the Design R.O.W. people that could possibly avoid the cemetery, but cannot tell me anything definite, if the cemetery will be included in right-of-way and have to be moved or if it won't have to be moved. He stated he sees no reason why the R.O.W. can't be revised. But he is the same person that called me on the phone in April 2002 and informed me that I could rest easy, that the cemetery was safe from destruction. My family needs to know something definite! His contact info: Brian Overton - BPOVERTON@DOT.STATE.NC.US Archaeologist North Carolina Department of Transportation (919) 733-7844 ext 272 I have rushed to notify all Schmidt/Smith, Ketchie Descendants of the N.C. D.O.T.'s plans to move our family cemetery which I was lead to believe was safe from demise. I have called, emailed, wrote, every person I could think of that might be helpful and posted on every Internet family message board my plea to save our old family Smith Cemetery. A great many desendants have also contacted the N.C. D.O.T. to inform them of their relation and plea to save the cemetery. They have notified me that they too have not been responded to. This is unacceptable! The N.C. D.O.T. has completed the four notices in the Salisbury Post conforming to their "legal" obligations. The sad truth is that there are a lot more descendants living out of state than the ones living in Salisbury, N.C. and a lot didn't even see the article in the paper. So my quest has been to let them know and to contact Mr. Eaton's office with the N.C. D.O.T. in opposition to the move. What was the purpose of the N.C. D.O.T.'s article about moving the cemetery and that any Smith desendants should contact Eaton's office or Mark Wineka at the Salisbury Post if nobody will reply to you acknowledging that you are a desendant! I am sorry to say that at this point in time, my efforts may be futile, but I will not get discouraged...not only due to the soiling of my personal heritage but of George Smith and my other ancestor's historical significance to the Trading Ford area, of Rowan County, and Salisbury, NC! Please help me stop this desecration. Our Rights have been violated! Can you, will you, please help me? Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my email and for anything you might possibly do in my quest to save the family's cemetery. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Respectfully, Wanda T. Williams gggg-grandaughter of George Michael Schmidt/Smith 269 Johnson Dairy Rd. Mooresville, NC 28115-9780 Ww4411@aol.com (704) 664-7595

Betty and Wanda, I have a friend in KY who has just WON over the KY DOT regarding moving the graves of his ancestors, but not without considerable angst. Email me privately and I will put you in touch with him. I'm sure he'll be happy to share how he did it. He is currently writing a book about it. They will all do this to us if we allow them! They can be stopped, but we must become very aggressive and pro-active. Letters alone will not work. City Hall can be fought. I am not related, but do have Rowan County ancestors. Debra ----- Original Message ----- From: "Betty A. Pace" <bapace2@juno.com> To: <NCROWAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 8:30 AM Subject: [NCRowan] PETER SCHMIDT SR. - ROWAN CO. GRAVEYARD : Notice that the grave of Peter Schmidt Sr. is involved, which I didn't : know. : Betty : ----- Forwarded Message ----- : From: Ww4411@aol.com : To: Stuball@icomnet.com, kkdavidson@yahoo.com, AKSENELICK@aol.com, : dantana@carolina.rr.com, pbbecksalisburync@cbi1.net, : flywileyp@hotmail.com, swinkie@easystreet.com, mwineka@salisburypost.com, : bapace2@juno.com, Rmcauley682@cs.com, jsp@carolina.rr.com : Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2002 16:06:44 EST : Subject: Email to the Attorney General of N.C. : Message-ID: <198.116dcb6c.2b1bd3e4@aol.com> : : Dear Mr. Roy Cooper - Attorney General of North Carolina : : PLEASE DO NOT DELETE THIS BEFORE YOU READ! : : When I first saw the construction of I-85 at the Salisbury exit at Innes : Street, Salisbury, NC; I knew it wouldn't be long until it reached the : site of my old family cemetery and knew that it would again be in : jeopardy of being disturbed. : It has been saved twice from destruction....once when I-85 originally : came through in the sixties when my Uncle John Ketchie (owner) gave : right-a-way for the interstate with the understanding that the family : cemetery would not be disturbed (that's why there is a slight curb to the : left heading north bound from Salisbury in the interstate so not to go : through the cemetery) Then after he died the land was passed to my : Grandpa Lee M. Ketchie, and subsquently sold to Mr. Howard Brandon who : had knowledge of the old family cemetery being on the parcel of land and : also had been asked in a gentleman's agreement to not disturb the : cemetery site. : Next a developer bought the land to build houses which fell through when : Aldi stepped in and bought it for their new distribution site. Aldi had : been made aware of the cemetery and they too did not disturb the cemetery : in their landscaping and new construction. : : It is not abandoned...just very old...the last person I know buried there : was in 1831. It's hard to even get to the cemetery....as the road was : covered up during the Aldi construction and earth moving...and the no : trespassing signs that were posted. I parked on I-85 and climbed the : fence back in April 2002 and sent emails to everyone possible to try and : help save the cemetery...A Mr. Brian Overton, an archeologist with the NC : D.O.T. responded back and forth with me for several weeks and then called : me by telephone and told me that he had good news that the cemetery was : not going to be disturbed and wasn't going to be moved....now in an : article of the Salisbury Post on November 11, 2002, it stated it will be : moved! Click here: Workers will move family cemetery : : The article was confusing because there are indeed headstones in the : cemetery...and they are readable...just small in design. I went to the : cemetery in August 2002, and tied fluorescent ribbons all around in the : cemetery so if anybody with the D.O.T. happened upon it would plainly see : that it was a cemetery. : I also have digital pictures of the remaining Tombstones (6) which I can : forward to you via email. The other markers were evidently of wood and : no longer exist as the cemetery is well over 200 years old! : : There is a 1759 Rowan Militia Patriot - George Michael Schmidt/Smith : a Revolutionary Soldier - Jacob G. Smith, (Whig) : and a Civil War Soldier - John D. Shenk Smith, (Infantry) : : all buried in this family cemetery. : : It has been estimated that there may be as many as 50-60 graves in the : cemetery and I have not yet researched the rest. The Smith Cemetery is : listed (along with cemetery photos) in a book, "Obscure Cemeteries of : Rowan County," written by Dr. Kenneth Sells, June 1988. which is : available in the History Room of the Rowan County Library at Salisbury, : NC : : The original parcel of land was deeded to Peter Schmidt, first ancestor : of my family to arrive in America. He was buried in the family cemetery : after his death in 1775 along with his wife Barbara. : His son, : George Michael Schmidt/Smith Born: 1727 Died: Oct. 23, 1814 was one of : the first German Settlers in Rowan County, Salisbury, NC He was a : patriot who served in the Rowan County Militia of 1759, (same militia as : Squire Boone and Daniel Boone), against the hostile Indians of the area : protecting the citizens, even before he was naturalized as a US Citizen! : (listed on 1759 Militia List in Rowan County Archives.) : : He was an appointed Justice of the first court ever held in Rowan in June : of 1753, (Pg. 16, The Rowan Story, by James S. Brawley) to help lay out : the land for the site of the new township and to select the name for it, : (Salisbury) He continued as a Justice of the Peace until his death in : 1814, serving Rowan County and it's Citizens. His name is on the first : list of Rowan County Taxpayers, which was found in the old courthouse : walls in 1944 by William D. Kizziah, Register of Deeds ( Pg. 351, The : Rowan Story, by James S. Brawley) : : Certainly George M. Smith was one of Rowan County's "true" founding : fathers of civic import. The Schmidt/Smith cemetery should be preserved. : It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Rowan County and is indeed a very : significant historical resource of early colonial Rowan County and : Salisbury, NC. : : I am very distressed! It seems that not even in death you are safe, that : according to our N.C. laws a highway or community can be built right on : top of your gravesite and that you then become a "movable" commodity! : Run an ad in the paper 4 times and your gone! I know that progress is : inevitable but our heritage is being destroyed daily by new construction : and a lot of times there are options or alternatives to destruction. : : JUST BECAUSE THE LAW SAYS THE N.C. D.O.T. can move the cemetery, doesn't : mean that they should. : **************************************** : N.C. Laws, REMOVAL OF GRAVES : ARTICLE 5. states that "Any remains disinterrred and removed hereunder : shall be reinterred in a suitable cemetery or burial ground" The Old : County Home Cemetery, which is currently proposed, is referred to in : Salisbury as the "poor house" cemetery, as inmates of the county are : buried there. It is a total disgrace! This is not a suitable place! I : have digital pictures if you would like to see them via email) : : The attempt by the N.C. D.O.T. to locate and notify family members : occurred only after the state and county had already made its decisions. : The family desendants were not included in any decisions. We feel our : rights according to Article 5 have been violated. The N.C. State Law : requires: "reasonable search and inquiry" : The article in the Salisbury Post said to contact 2 different people, but : I tried to contact both with no response. Mark Wineka at the Post wrote : the article and stated he only wrote what the D.O.T. official told him : and knew nothing more. (He was one of the contacts) Richard Eaton's : telephone number was listed in the newspaper and when I called it...the : lady in his office said I could leave him a voice message as he was out : of the office. He emailed me about a week later and told me that due to : illness, my concerns had been turned over to Wayne Patterson with the : N.C. D.O.T. and that he would be responding to me, but as to this date I : have heard nothing from him! : : The Newspaper article stated that no headstones will be moved. : : ARTICLE 5. "Due care shall also be taken to remove, protect and replace : all tombstones or other markers" so as to leave such tombstones or other : markers in as good condition as that prior to disinterment." : : The Newspaper article was incorrect in stating that I, Wanda T. Williams : had been notified! I contacted them when construction first began and : was told by Brian Overton, the Cemetery was not in their plans for right : of way or destruction! No one from Mr. Ronald Eaton's Office has : contacted me. : : Mr. Brian Overton, archaelogist with N.C. D.O.T.has been the only D.O.T. : person who has replied to me. He emailed me that he has seen proposed : revised plans by the Design R.O.W. people that could possibly avoid the : cemetery, but cannot tell me anything definite, if the cemetery will be : included in right-of-way and have to be moved or if it won't have to be : moved. He stated he sees no reason why the R.O.W. can't be revised. But : he is the same person that called me on the phone in April 2002 and : informed me that I could rest easy, that the cemetery was safe from : destruction. : My family needs to know something definite! : : His contact info: : Brian Overton - BPOVERTON@DOT.STATE.NC.US : Archaeologist : North Carolina Department of Transportation : (919) 733-7844 ext 272 : : : : : I have rushed to notify all Schmidt/Smith, Ketchie Descendants of the : N.C. D.O.T.'s plans to move our family cemetery which I was lead to : believe was safe from demise. I have called, emailed, wrote, every : person I could think of that might be helpful and posted on every : Internet family message board my plea to save our old family Smith : Cemetery. A great many desendants have also contacted the N.C. D.O.T. to : inform them of their relation and plea to save the cemetery. They have : notified me that they too have not been responded to. This is : unacceptable! : : : The N.C. D.O.T. has completed the four notices in the Salisbury Post : conforming : : to their "legal" obligations. The sad truth is that there are a lot more : descendants living out of state than the ones living in Salisbury, N.C. : and a lot didn't even see the article in the paper. So my quest has been : to let them know and to contact Mr. Eaton's office with the N.C. D.O.T. : in opposition to the move. What was the purpose of the N.C. D.O.T.'s : article about moving the cemetery and that any Smith desendants should : contact Eaton's office or Mark Wineka at the Salisbury Post if nobody : will reply to you acknowledging that you are a desendant! : : : : I am sorry to say that at this point in time, my efforts may be futile, : but I will not get discouraged...not only due to the soiling of my : personal heritage but of George Smith and my other ancestor's historical : significance to the Trading Ford area, of Rowan County, and Salisbury, : NC! : : : Please help me stop this desecration. Our Rights have been violated! : : Can you, will you, please help me? : : Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my email and for : anything you might possibly do in my quest to save the family's cemetery. : I look forward to hearing from you soon. : : Respectfully, : Wanda T. Williams gggg-grandaughter of George Michael Schmidt/Smith : 269 Johnson Dairy Rd. : Mooresville, NC 28115-9780 Ww4411@aol.com : (704) 664-7595 : : : ============================== : To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: : http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 : :