Occasionally we learn of good folks who undertake the maintenance of cemeteries primarily because the ARE good folks. A year ago, I visited the little Howland Hill cemetery, near Lisle, where my great grandmother, Laura Howland Gibson and three of her children are buried. The Lee family has owned the property for the past half century, and mows and maintains the plot. What a treasure they are. Ruby Gibson Whit NYBROOME-D-request@rootsweb.com wrote: > Subject: > > NYBROOME-D Digest Volume 00 : Issue 77 > > Today's Topics: > #1 Cemetery preservation [Vicki Titus <vtitus@cox-internet.c] > #2 Tracy Creek (Vestal) Cemeteries [Helen Graves <hgraves@psln.com>] > #3 Re: Cemetery preservation [goodspsm@snyoneva.cc.oneonta.edu] > > Administrivia: > To unsubscribe from NYBROOME-D, send a message to > > NYBROOME-D-request@rootsweb.com > > that contains in the body of the message the command > > unsubscribe > > and no other text. No subject line is necessary, but if your software > requires one, just use unsubscribe in the subject, too. > > To contact the list administrator, send mail to > NYBROOME-admin@rootsweb.com. or to > dukedirtbag@yahoo.com > > ______________________________ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject: Cemetery preservation > Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 11:57:22 -0500 > From: Vicki Titus <vtitus@cox-internet.com> > To: NYBROOME-L@rootsweb.com > > For all of you that were touched/angered by the story about the old > cemetery I sent a link to, you might want to know that some of the > cemeteries in our area might be in as bad shape. > > Town Historians are responsible for cemeteries that are still in use, but I > suspect they can only make their limited budgets go so far. Here is part > of a note I received from the Lisle historian in the daily flow of things - > > "The care of old cemeteries should be the responsibility of each town and > the > historian, as a town official, could take the initiative to see that such > care is done. In Lisle, the Odd Fellow's Lodge does the mowing and any > other > physical maintenance. Other groups could be enlisted to do the same. Of > course, some town officials could probably care less. " > > and farther on in the came letter, sent in 1999 > > "Last summer, a vandalized cemetery in Whitney Point, NY had the stones > repaired by a group that does stone work. All the costs of the repairs was > donated, so where there's a will, there's a way. " > > end of snippets. > > I don't know the solution to the situation, especially for those of us > living so far away. Local people could volunteer to help by recording > small unused cemeteries to at least try to save them before they disappear, > but for the rest of us.... > > Vicki > > ______________________________ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject: Tracy Creek (Vestal) Cemeteries > Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 14:24:45 -0700 > From: Helen Graves <hgraves@psln.com> > To: NYBROOME-L@rootsweb.com > > Is there anyone on the Broome Co NY list who lives in Broome Co. who > could tell us what the status is of the old cemeteries in Tracy Creek? > > Have their burial records been abstracted and published? > Is there a caretaker or someone watching out for the cemeteries? Is > there a Town Historian for Tracy Creek? If not, what town historian > would cover Tracy Creek area? > > -- Helen Graves > (I live in California.) > > ______________________________ > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Subject: Re: Cemetery preservation > Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 19:09:11 -0400 (EDT) > From: goodspsm@snyoneva.cc.oneonta.edu > To: NYBROOME-L@rootsweb.com > > Hi Vicki, > That update was good for us to know about. I noticed the one > cemetery that people cared enough to repair the tombstones. I hope that > they were very careful as to just how they did it.... I've been reading > the stones in the Riverside Cemetery in Oneonta, Otsego Co. (it's oldest > cemetery in Oneonta & has most of the early settlers buried there) and > many stones...especially old ones... have been repaired but when they were > cemented back together, they not only cemented the center and back but > they also cemented the front....covering the names and/or dates. That has > been so frustrating! I'm sure the company mentioned bebow didn't do > that but if anyone is involved with old cemeteries wanting to restore > their stones, it's something that they should be aware of. This was not > an old abandoned cemetery...it is a cementery that belongs to a church. > It was a really good deed, trying to repair the stones but I don't think > whoever repaired them realized that they should have tried somehow to > preserve the front or at least the information as there are no records for > the oldest portion the cemetery. > Thanks, Vicki, for always giving us lots of information to keep > us abreast of all that is happening. Sandy, Maryland, NY > > On Sat, 23 Sep 2000, Vicki Titus wrote: > > "Last summer, a vandalized cemetery in Whitney Point, NY had the stones > > repaired by a group that does stone work. All the costs of the repairs was > > donated, so where there's a will, there's a way. " > > I don't know the solution to the situation, especially for those of us > > living so far away. Local people could volunteer to help by recording > > small unused cemeteries to at least try to save them before they disappear, > > but for the rest of us.... > > > > Vicki