Hello Ruth, Although I am not a WV resident, I am one of many heirs to "the old homestead" in Mercer County, WV. On this property is a family cemetery up on the top of the hill above the house. The title for the property has been left for several generations now. It was just left to the heirs of my great grandfather's body. There must be 75, or more, heirs by now. The chances of clearing the title are slim to none. My father has been paying the taxes. I have been trying to keep track of it because I don't want to lose access to the cemetery. Daddy kept telling me that he thought that we would be given access even if for some reason we lost the property. I'm glad that you have made this bill known to me. Now I can show this information to my father and make sure that the family gets together and makes arrangements for the taxes to be paid in the future. Our property does not connect with any public roads. There is an access road through someone else's property. My Dad says that we have access rights. Can this person build across this access road and close off access to our property along with the family cemetery? I will be sure to notify my cousins who still live in WV and have them contact their representatives. Thanks again for your time and effort. Donna Thornton Cathell -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, February 26, 2000 10:14 PM Subject: [WVMERCER] Senate Bill 90 - Allow us access to family graves >Dear friends of WV genealogy and local history, > >My name is Ruth Bush-Highland. I am a member of Hacker's Creek Pioneer >Descendants Library in Weston, WV, Lewis County. Currently we genealogists >are trying to fight a problem that could hinder each & every genealogist & >family member who has a relative buried in WV. > >Please send me your comments!!!! I would like to hear how you feel & any >experiences you or anyone you know has had when trying to visit a cemetery on >private land. > >Please read on about Senate Bill 90. This bill, if we can all pull together >to get it passed in the House, would allow each & every person trying to >visit a grave on private land to do so. If you or anyone you know has a >family member buried on private land, there could possibly be a time very >soon when you'll never be allowed to visit those graves & it would be upheld >by law!!!!! > >Consider that the land currently held as a public cemetery one day be sold as >private land. The person obtaining the land would no longer allow you access >to visit the grave or graves of your family members. When our ancestors >buried their dead on their own land, they did not forsee the land belonging >to anyone other than family. That could possibly be the case with any >cemetery. Even those in church yards. Churches are always being sold for one >reason or another. > >Two years ago I had a call from a man in Webster County asking me how he >could get permission to visit his wife's grave. She was buried in a family >cemetery on land that had formerly belonged to the family. Now the land was >sold and the landowners were denying him access to the cemetery. I had to >tell him that there was no law permitting him access, that the landowner was >within his rights in denying access. > >Last year a family here in Lewis County ran afoul of the landowner when they >tried to bury their mother in what was once a church cemetery. The land >around the cemetery had been sold, the new property owner had built a new >house across the access road and would not permit the hearse to carry the >mother to her final resting place. The case did go to court, a ruling was >made for the establishment of a new road (which has not yet been done), and >the landowner claims that he doesn't have to permit the family access to >visit their mother's grave. Recently, a son of the family, after giving the >property owner two weeks notice, was met by a man with a gun when he tried >to visit his mother's grave. > >A quote from another concerned genealogist..... >" XXXXX died in Harrison Co. in 1939. He was living in Anmoore, Harrison >Co., WV >at the "poor farm". It is my mother's recollection that he was also buried >in the pauper's cemetery on the property. For the past two years while we >have been visiting WV, I have tried to find information so I could bring my >mother to her father's grave. She will be 75 her next birthday. > >We finally learned that the old poor farm is now the 4-H Camp and that >everything on the property had been bulldozed - including part of the >cemetery. The part of the cemetery that wasn't ripped up was the landing >place for all the debris that was. > >While we knew there would most likely not have been a stone fro his grave, we >still wanted to visit his final resting place. So sad that we can not." > >I know of other similar cases as these scattered around the state. > >Last year a bill was introduced in the WV Senate that would have addressed >these problems. The House did not pass the bill. > >A couple of weeks ago, the WV Senate passed SB 90 which, if adopted by the >House or if combined with a bill from the House would be a step forward in >permitting access to family or private cemeteries by cemetery plot owners, >heirs of deceased persons, family members of deceased persons and persons >interested in engaging in genealogy research for the purposes of visitation >of the grave sites, maintenance of the grave site or cemetery or research. >It would also create a cause of action for injunctive relief if a person is >not permitted access to the cemetery, requires visitors to conduct >themselves in a responsible manner and limits the use of motor vehicles when >accessing the cemetery. Now the House has HB 4370 in committee. If it does >not get out of committee and if it is not acted upon in the next couple of >weeks, the bill will die and there will be no relief. > >You can read HB4370 in its entirety at: >http://129.71.161.247/scripts/as_web.exe?hbills2000+D+7832961 > >The genealogical and historical communities in West Virginia began acting in >concert four years ago when we established History Day at the Legislature. >Now is the time for us to get our act even more together and contact our >delegates about the importance of this bill!!! > >The property rights activists are sending negative comments to the sponsors >of this bill and others. > >Let us, West Virginia's genealogists, family researchers and historians, >work together to preserve an important part of our history and gain access >to our sacred grounds. > >If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. > >Ruth Bush Highland, Harrison County WV > >