Wendy (and all those interested), Missing headstones?? In the early 1940's, at the young age of 6, 7, 8 or so, I visited cemeteries in the Scranton, PA area with my grandparents. One such visit was to a very small cemetery, usually overgrown with grass and weeds. The tombstones were visible from our car parked on the road in which my grandmother and I would sit until my grandfather paid his respects to whomever it was buried there. After about 65 years of growing up raising a family, working for a living, and then retiring, I searched and searched for the location of this site that was very vivid in my mind. Without going into the details of genealogy, the computer age, and web sites such as the one you are reading right now, I made a startling discovery. The cemetery was the final resting place of my Grandfather's mother and her brother both who came from Prussia, and a baby sister that died shortly after birth. However, all the stones were gone, the whole area was a grassy hillside, and in the late 1970's, one lone plaque had been laid in the ground with the names of those that had been buried there.........but only the names of the ones that had head stones. If there were no stones, then there were no names. I seems the caretaker did not want to mow around all the stones, so the church that handled the cemetery gave him permission to take up all the stones and dump them out of the area. It wasn't until an interstate was being built through an area not far from the cemetery that the stones were found. It was determined it was just a dump site, the stones were plowed under, and became part of the base of a very busy road way. As for me, I'm sick over the whole thing!!!!!!! Where will it all stop??? Jack Flannigan

It is certainly sad for our loved ones remains being treated so callously. That is why we all have to maintain an interest in maintenance of our local cemeteries and the mapping of the old ones. I know of a few in the area where I live, near Hazleton Pa. that fallen into memory. -----Original Message----- From: njwarren-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:njwarren-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of JRflannigan@aol.com Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 9:28 AM To: njwarren@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NJWARREN] Missing Headstone Wendy (and all those interested), Missing headstones?? In the early 1940's, at the young age of 6, 7, 8 or so, I visited cemeteries in the Scranton, PA area with my grandparents. One such visit was to a very small cemetery, usually overgrown with grass and weeds. The tombstones were visible from our car parked on the road in which my grandmother and I would sit until my grandfather paid his respects to whomever it was buried there. After about 65 years of growing up raising a family, working for a living, and then retiring, I searched and searched for the location of this site that was very vivid in my mind. Without going into the details of genealogy, the computer age, and web sites such as the one you are reading right now, I made a startling discovery. The cemetery was the final resting place of my Grandfather's mother and her brother both who came from Prussia, and a baby sister that died shortly after birth. However, all the stones were gone, the whole area was a grassy hillside, and in the late 1970's, one lone plaque had been laid in the ground with the names of those that had been buried there.........but only the names of the ones that had head stones. If there were no stones, then there were no names. I seems the caretaker did not want to mow around all the stones, so the church that handled the cemetery gave him permission to take up all the stones and dump them out of the area. It wasn't until an interstate was being built through an area not far from the cemetery that the stones were found. It was determined it was just a dump site, the stones were plowed under, and became part of the base of a very busy road way. As for me, I'm sick over the whole thing!!!!!!! Where will it all stop??? Jack Flannigan ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NJWARREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message