> Contact the Chamber of Commerce and ask them who to notify about cleanning up an old cemetery. Sometimes the DAR will clean the cemeteries. Good luck. Connie > From: DON MARKUM <[email protected]> > Date: 2006/04/12 Wed PM 08:05:47 GST > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [TNCANNON] Found Cemetery > > I have a question about cemetaries that have grown up . Can anything be done about them . > I have a gg grandfather and wife and his mother buried at Craddock cemetary, it is badly over grown.lot of tombstones are broken or lieing on ground. > Maybe Jess Lewis can answer this question. I would like to see it in a better state of repair. What can be done ? > > > > --------------------------------- > New Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big. > > > ==== TNCANNON Mailing List ==== > To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Cannon Co. list, send mail to.. > [email protected] ,with subscribe or unsubscribe > in the subject line. NOTHING ELSE. > > ============================== > Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more. > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx > > In God we Trust

Connie and Don, In my opinion, the ultimate responsibility for cleaning up and maintaining old cemeteries, lies with those who have loved ones buried there. I have certainly cleaned my share, with and without my family being buried there. Regardless of what laws and responsibilities may be on the books, most rural law enforcement people and / or district attorneys are not going to be much help. They are not usually going to get prisoners out and they are not going to cut and gravel a road into the cemetery. Most of these rural cemeteries are actually private property and are therefore not a direct public responsibility. Few have actual deeds, the families buried there have died off, children have moved away and the property has changed hands, several times. Therefore you may run into access problems, even to cross someone's land to visit them. Many have old neglected (or no) fence around them, and livestock come and go, at will. Sure, you can eventually get the local sheriff to go out, and enforce your lawful right to go over there and visit the cemetery, if you have the patience and time. Then, there is always the question of who is responsible to fence livestock out, and maintain the fence. The law says they have to keep the livestock out, but few, especially with none of their relatives buried are too keen on the idea of installing and maintaining a fence, at their expense. This is the case of the Craddock Cemetery, along the Stones River Road, a few miles east of Woodbury. It is mostly a weed and briar patch, with almost no fence and animal paths through it, in the summer. There are some neat and beautiful old stones there. I've got pictures of some of them. Some parts of Cannon Co. are still pretty wild and somewhat "untamed". I do believe that some folks grow things other than corn or beans, back up in some of those hollows. Those folks are naturally suspicious of "outsiders" who come nosing around, especially an outsider demanding that "something ought to be done". You have to be easy going and eventually earn their trust. Sometimes, you are very lucky, as B.J. Martindale and the Bradyville, Patton Cemetery Restoration Group were. They earned the trust of two local men and got them interested in helping out on the project. As she said, they have no one buried there, but have taken the cemetery (and the group) on as a project and have been a priceless asset to the group. I doubt that you are going to get much help from "The Chamber of Commerce" and not from the ladies of the DAR. Sorry folks, but it has been my experience that these people have meetings, talk a lot, and sip tea (or whatever) Few will get their hands dirty and some may even have a vested interest in getting rid of the "eyesores", so the property can be "developed". I know of at least two ancient cemeteries within the city limits of Woodbury (with some beautiful old t'stones) that are in deplorable condition, and have been for years. These are in much worse condition than the Craddock Cemetery. There was a third one in Edgefield, near the junction of Hwy 70S and Hwy.145. It was about gone, and a neighbor just took a personal interest in it and did quite a good job in cleaning and restoring it. But mother nature will be back this summer and will soon take it back, without someone's continued dedication. I have had some success with Boy Scout Troops and occasionally a middle school class with a teacher with an interest in history, taking on an old cemetery to clean it and research the people buried there. But kids today, have other interests. Computers, game boys, and soccer, to name a few. Sorry to have such a pessimistic attitude, but such has been my experiences. I don't have a good answer to the problem. That is one reason that I spend a lot of time locating and recording old cemeteries. At least there will be a record of who lived and died there, after time, the elements and new development has taken the markers away. Actually, I enjoy doing it also, but I certainly haven't made any fortune doing it :^)) That's my two cents worth. Good luck on your project and I hope you prove me wrong. Jess Lewis