Thank you for your VERY kind words. It's been both a learning experience and a labor of love working on the Pebble Creek matters. I'm not certain what the final outcome will be, but just to know that more people are aware of these types of things happening is a tremendous achievement in itself. I'm always happy to help anyone with their genealogy. You just never know where you might find that missing tidbit of info or that certain connection. I do love this county dearly. It's unique for me in that my maternal roots go back in this county for hundreds of years and the fact that I am so very blessed to live here right now with my own family. I am both honored and flattered to have Virginia Indian allies as well as allies of other origins/backgrounds. If nothing else has come from this, more eyes have opened and more people have witnessed just what can and will happen when we are not paying closer attention to our local and state government officials and their plans. As for the Tate cemetery, I can assure you that the family members who have been directly involved with this ultimately would rather have had their family members remain undisturbed. I'm going to post after this email the two newspaper articles in one email regarding this cemetery situation and some additional info. I hope others on this list will understand why I have posted this information. In doing genealogy, you rely on burial records, headstones, among other things, to "connect the dots" within your own family tree. When a family member's remains are removed, destroyed, or obscured it makes the genealogy research even more difficult as well as difficult for family members to understand why a final resting place does not prove to be just that. Hopefully one State government official will follow through with myself and some others in regards to having the Virginia State Laws changed to protect the rights of those who can not speak for themselves today. We may not be able to change what is happening right now, but we can certainly prevent this from ever happening again. Thanks, Sheri Millikin ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2002 5:50 AM Subject: Re: [VAHANOVE] When the Back Yard is a Graveyard > Sheri, the residents of Hanover county, the families of those whose graves > have been torn open, and countless others who don't know how to tell you, all > owe you a tremendous debt for your tireless efforts on Pebble Creek, as well > as your genealogical assistance. You have allies in the Virginia Indians > living in and around Hanover County, who believe that burial places should > always be sacred. > > Some of us are especially appalled at the handling of the Tate cemetery. > This quote from the RTD article is especially disturbing: "A family member of > some of the deceased said Wednesday that relatives and the county agreed not > to invite publicity about the exhumation, partly from fear that the graves > might be disturbed by thieves. The remains are expected to be shifted to a > fenced part of the site within a few months." > > ONE family member of SOME of the deceased speaks as if he represents all of > the descendants, and you can count on it that many Tate descendants, > including some on the Tate rootsweb list, do not agree with the removal of > these remains. One wonders exactly what reconciled one Tate family in > Hanover to the clandestine machinations of a county that has proved itself as > deaf to its residents on the issue of this sewage plant.