Hello All: While on a research trip through Oregon, I was at the Oddfellows Cemetery in The Dalles. I did find my great grandfather/grandmother's graves here even though they were not included in the on-line roster. The sexton did have a book that showed where they should be located but there was no headstone. I dug down a few inches with my hands (where there was a very slight depression in the grass) and found a thin layer of concrete. They had scratched their names in the concrete with a stick along with the year of (re)burial (1909). See these pics: http://www.foothill.net/~jbrass/genealogy/goodwin/gravestones/ Catherine1.jpg http://www.foothill.net/~jbrass/genealogy/goodwin/gravestones/ William3.jpg I don't know how large the concrete was, never got to an edge. Of course this concrete was originally visible but over the years it grew over. It appears this was a common practice in this cemetery so the headstone could be placed when it became available. I have also seen wooden and metal uprights used in other cemeteries (with numbers or names, most faded out with time). John Brassfield Goodwin, Polley, Brassfield, Lamson On Sep 19, 2004, at 3:00 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > > ORFORUM-D Digest Volume 04 : Issue 154 > > Today's Topics: > #1 grave robbers ["John Thomas" > <[email protected]] > #2 Re: [GFO] grave robbers [[email protected]] > #3 Re: [GFO] grave robbers ["Gary Murray" > <[email protected]>] > > Administrivia: > To unsubscribe from ORFORUM-D, send a message to > > [email protected] > > 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 ORFORUM-D list administrator, send mail to > [email protected] > > ______________________________ > > > From: "John Thomas" <[email protected]> > Date: September 18, 2004 2:47:22 PM PDT > To: [email protected] > Subject: grave robbers > > > Hello List, > A while back an elderly relative told me a story of how one of our > mutual ancestor's body was stolen from Jason Lee Cemetery in Salem, > many decades ago, by medical students from Willamette University. The > body along with other bodies was recovered and then buried in the > Salem Pioneer Cemetery. Through research I came to the conclusion > that my ancestors were not involved in this incident. Obits and > funeral records show everyone is where they should be and the time > frame for medical students to be at Willamette University doesn't > match. I decided that my relative must have heard the story and maybe > confused it with our ancestors. Last year I discovered that under > the grass and weeds on my ancestors plot there is concrete. My > ancestor died in 1931 so the concrete had to have been poured after > that year. I noticed that other plots in the same area are also > covered in concrete. The City View Funeral home, who maintains the > Pioneer Cemetery, has no idea when or why the pl! > ots were covered in concrete. The Friends of the Pioneer Cemetery > had not heard of any grave robbing and they did not respond to my > question about when and why concrete was poured over some of the > plots. I tried looking up newspaper articles at the State Library and > found nothing. > I was wondering if anyone else had heard of a story of medical > students robbing graves in Oregon and when did it take place, and does > anyone know when and why some of the plots at the Salem Pioneer > Cemetery are covered in concrete? > Thank you > Sheri > > ______________________________ > > > From: [email protected] > Date: September 18, 2004 2:57:29 PM PDT > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [GFO] grave robbers > > > > why some of the plots at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery are covered in > concrete? > ------ > > You will find this in many of the older cemeteries. Families did > this so > there wouldn't be so much maintainence in keeping the plots free of > weeds, etc. > > Daraleen > > ______________________________ > > > From: "Gary Murray" <[email protected]> > Date: September 18, 2004 3:08:07 PM PDT > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [GFO] grave robbers > > > HI: SOME years back i was tramping a verrrry old cemetery in > yamhill > co. and came to a grave that someone had dug down to get any jewelry > that > has been placed on this lady. i had never seen anything like this but > was > told later that it was quite common. these were farm people with > almost > nothing. all these grave robbers would have gotten was a wedding band, > probably worn almost thru from work. how sick can some people be. > gary in az. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 2:57 PM > Subject: Re: [GFO] grave robbers > > >> >> why some of the plots at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery are covered in >> concrete? >> ------ >> >> You will find this in many of the older cemeteries. Families did >> this so >> there wouldn't be so much maintainence in keeping the plots free of > weeds, etc. >> >> Daraleen >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ==== ORFORUM Mailing List ==== >> To unsubscribe, send a message to [email protected] that >> contains (in the body of the message) only the single word: >> unsubscribe >> >> ============================== >> Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration >> Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. >> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >> >> >> >>