My family plot is in an old Catholic cemetery which dates back to the 1800's. I note many stones which have fallen over under their own weight due simply to age. The church which owns the cemetery has little, or no money to maintain the cemetery other than cutting the grass. I note that these fallen stones have dates going back into the last century; thus there are no 'families,' as you state, to get permission from. What would the procedure be in cases such as these to get these stones repaired? Thank you for any suggestions. Bill Waterhouse Mystic, CT -------------------------------------------------------------- I believe you would have to get permission from the family of the person(s) that are buried there as they own the graves and stones. ==== RIGENWEB Mailing List ==== The RI Archives http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ri/rifiles.htm RIGenWeb Archives Search http://www.rootsweb.com/usgenweb/ri/risearch.html

Hi Bill - I believe Bob Ryan is talking about the same situation - a catholic parish cemetery that the particular parish cannot afford to restore. If you want to repair a stone in such a cemetery, I'm sure you will be allowed to hire a qualified monument company to repair the stones. Call the church and ask how to proceed. I don't believe they are saying it can't be done - they are just saying you have to follow their rules. If a storm blew over all the stones, and the cemtery workers righted them all, no one would complain. Following this logic, I don't think the church would need permission from the owners of the stones that have fallen over to stand them up again if the church decided to make repairs in the cemetery. The point here is that it is the church who owns these cemeteries so it is the church who will have to give permission for any repairs If you and Bob are asking about restoring the entire cemetery, it would seem to me that a meeting with the priest is in order. There might be parishioners and other interested people in the community who would hopefully be willing to improve the cemetery. [there are parishes who sponsor boy scout troops that need projects....] If you could put together such a group, the parish priest might be willing to work with you. The best thing would be for someone who personally knows the priest to talk to him about the situation with these cemeteries and see what the feelings are about getting something done, so you will know how to proceed. There's always some politics involved..... In the end, it all comes down to money - an unused historical cemetery is probably pretty low on their list of priorities. Lisa ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Waterhouse" <wm.r.waterhouse@mailstation.com> To: <RIGENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, April 30, 2006 9:10 AM Subject: Re:Re: [RIGENWEB] Cemetery Stone Repair Class > My family plot is in an old Catholic cemetery which dates back to > the 1800's. I note many stones which have fallen over under their > own weight due simply to age. The church which owns the cemetery > has little, or no money to maintain the cemetery other than cutting > the grass. I note that these fallen stones have dates going back > into the last century; thus there are no 'families,' as you state, to > get permission from. What would the procedure be in cases such > as these to get these stones repaired? > Thank you for any suggestions. > Bill Waterhouse > Mystic, CT