Karen- I'd like to take some time to comment on your article in Sunday (4 July 2004) edition of the Dallas Morning News, re the removals at Bucker orphans cemetery. Due to copyright restrictions, I can't post the article in full. Your article was well done, making a effort at presenting both sides of this topic. As a former reporter, I know that this is your goal. I am posting a copy of this mail to you, to two other locations, one of which is the Dallas county genealogy research e-list, sponsored by Rootsweb.com. These email lists/ forums are set up across the country, to assist those who are looking for their families. In Wise county, there are several volunteers who have invested their own funds and time to list, preserve and photograph burial locations of those buried in Wise county. Usually, relatives who now reside in other areas of the country do not have the means, and sometimes the knowledge to protect the burial places of their own family members. I can, reluctantly, acknowledge that the owners of the land do have need for funds to continue serving those who are presently in need. Your article gives credit to Lloyd McWilliams, who made efforts to maintain all three cemeteries involved. Although your article doesn't implicity point it out, there was one major flaw in all of this. The court was petitioned regarding the removal, and presented with statements that "they couldn't find anybody" related to the individuals being moved. Yet, immediately following that, you provided the responses of not one, but two family members... somehow you (or others) were able to locate these people. Thus, I think it is clear that any efforts to "find" next of kin were very limited. I am biting my tongue, in using the word "limited"... my personal feelings are much stronger. Several years ago, our family tracked down an old cemetery near Decatur, that dates back to the 1860's. One cousin stood near the stone of his grandfather, who died in 1905.. in tears. As he said, "I never thought I'd have the chance to see my grandfather's grave". Another grave is only identified tenatively, as the grave of a sister, who died in 1864. Information concerning the burial place of this sister is something that her gr-granddaughter had been seeking for over 40 years. Incidentally, this cemetery is also the burial place of the mother of those siblings. Since the mother was age 70 when she died in 1868, the assumption might be that since no one living would remember her, there was no one who might have an interest. In fact, her living gr grandchildren (and their children) would have to qualify as "next of kin"... and believe me, they DO care. That caring is passed down through generations. Even today, I am locating family members who only now have the knowledge, or resources to track down this information. The reason I am making sure that this letter is posted, is that it can be archived, for the benefit of someone else unknown, who may not begin their search until five years from now. That includes anyone who might hear the family story of a son/daughter, cousin, or whatever that wound up at an orphan's home, somewhere near Dallas. It is ironic that immediately below your story about the Buckner Cemetery was a report of family members whose father's body is to be returned from China, more than fifty years after his death. It only reinforces that family members do NOT stop caring, or wanting closure to the stories of their loved ones. The number one flaw in what happened with the Buckner Cemetery, is the fact that the Judge in this case was told that "no one could be found". That is, in my opinion and experience, preposterous. The next of kin involved had legal rights to be involved in this process. As demonstrated by your story, it isn't even necessarily true that they would be opposed to removal of the graves. But their option to speak up was waived by the court, by the idea that it was "too hard" to find them. The means of finding family is out there, it just has to be used. In the meantime, organizations such as Save Texas Cemeteries are taking time to insure that family rights concerning burial locations are protected. It is a pity that the Judge seemed to be so unaware of these issues. Wendy Caldwell Rowlett, TX