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I found an articile from the Hendersonville News yesterday. The article was posted on the Corn message board. There were about 30 graves in the “white” section and an unknown number in the “black” section. There were Corn, Drake, and McMinn’s buried there. The earliest readable headstone was 1818. The cemetery was bulldozed. There was a fence and gate as late as 1993. I’m not sure but I think it was dozed to make was for a trailer park, or to add on to a trailer park. I heard today that the law has decided not to do anything about it.
I am beginning to believe that this is par for the course. The Fish Cemetery in Douglas Co. Mo. where alot of my Collins and Johnson ancestors are buried was also bulldozed. So far we haven’t got the law to do anything about it .
BillieLee
When they bulldoze, do they leave the graves where they lie? So, if I bought a lot there I’d be digging into somebody’s coffin when I put in my basement?
At the Corn Cemetery they removed the fence & gate, then bulldozed the stones aside and put in four trailers and septic tanks, but left the graves. I’m wondering if they found some graves when digging the septic tanks.
At the Fish Cemetery in Douglas Co. MO. they bulldozed the rock fence and headstones, but didn’t dig up the graves. There alot of early Collins and Johnson graves there.
Linda I thought it was against the law, it would be here in TX. We don’t have this problem here, just kids pushing over stones, and they do get in trouble for it. I have cousins in MO who have been fighting for the Fish Cemetery but no progress yet.
The problem at Fish & the Corn Cemeteries seem to be that someone buys the farm that the old cemeteries are on, and then decides that they don’t want a cemetery on their land, or want to use the land for something else and then just bulldoze it. I can’t understand people like that with no respect for the dead or the living decendents.
Billie
I’ve heard here in Ohio, that if they can’t contact the next of kin of the folks buried there they can pretty much do whatever they want.
Cemetery records list the “owner” of the plot when the burial takes place, but then that information is never updated. So when the surviving spouse or child dies, that gives local government free reign to make decisions about the “highest and best use” of the property.
There are Corn decendents living in the Clear Creek community. The Henderson Co. has a newly formed Cemetery Advisory Committee, they filed the complaint, but I doubt anything will be done.
I don’t know for sure, but I think each state has different laws relating to cemetaries and it has only been in recent history (25 – 30 years?) that some states have stopped building on cemetaries or have adopted a legal process for development of the land. I thought, but could easily be wrong, that in NC if a grave or cemetary is marked and enclosed it has to be develop around – not over. I had a student in a personal finance class a couple semesters ago (I teach) who brought this up when we were covering estate planning. Her family home had a previous family’s small cemetary in the back side yard with a fence around it. Her family had been told that the family of the people buried there had an easement to come into the property to maintain the cemetary. From what she said it didn’t sound like a special easement – it sounded like one that was automatic because the graves existed – not because her family agreed to allow it. I really feel like I’m talking about something I don’t know much about here….. I just tried calling a real estate instructor (NC) who’s office is down the hall and she isn’t in. I’ll try to remember to ask her about this later.
This is not an Indian example, but it is related –
In the 1970’s there was a notice in a local paper in Alexandria, VA asking if any relatives of the people buried at the old Quaker cemetary would like to have remains moved to other locations. Apparently, the developer, or the city, had already made arrangements for space at other cemetaries. A couple families had remains moved. The history of this cemetary is that they stopped using it as a burying ground in the early 1900’s and the Quaker Meeting (church) allowed the city to use the property as a playground for inner-city children (Early Quaker graves rarely had head stones). Eventually the property was sold to the city or bought by a private citizen and given – don’t remember which. Anyway, today there is a branch of the city library sitting on the property and a memorial to the people buried there is out front. Most of the burieals are actually in the back yard of the building. I have had the odd experience of researching those ancestors in the local history room feeling as if I was sitting on top of my ancestors’ graves (that were not moved). Can’t help but feel that they knew I was there with them – not really a creepy feeling – kind of nice actually.
I walked downstairs to the library and checked the General Statues of NC 2003 Edition. (My office is on the next floor up from the library at a community college). No exact quotes here –
Chapter 14-149 says that it is unlawful to desecrate, plow over or cover up graves.
Article 5 in chapter 65-13 is entitled “Removal of Graves”
Any person, firm, or corporation, which owns land on which abandoned cemetaries or burying ground are located after first securing consent of the governing body of the town, city, or county in which such abandoned cemetaries or burying grounds are situated may effect the disinterment, removal, or reinterment of graves as follows:
Give 30 days written notice of intentions to the next of kin or the decedent, if known or subject to reasonable search and inquiry. Notice shall be published at least once per week for four successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the grave is situated and the first publication shall be no less than 30 days before disinterment. Remains shall be reinterred in a suitable cemetary or burial ground.
The party removing or causing the removal shall, within 30 days after completion of the removal and reinterment, file with the registrar of deeds of the county in which reinterment is made, a written certificate of the removal facts. It shall contain full names, …..including where reintered.
So, there is a process to be followed. I’d like to look at the newspaper article and see why it was in the paper – were they saying the graves should not be removed – were they not removed? I have forgotten the detail in your original post. it seems like there are enough organizations involved in preserving cemetaries that this should never have happened.
There is a large section on historic property, but I’m not sure why this property would not be considered historic. I didn’t read far enough to determine why this cemetary is not historic is there are graves from the early 1800’s. There is a section that says that information from and preservation of abandoned cemetaries is preserved by the Department of Cultural Resources.
It also seems odd that if whole entire Indian tribes were relocated from that part of the state that the law would require that the notice be published only in that county.
Cheryl
North Carolina statutes:
ARTICLE 22.
Damages and Other Offenses to Land and Fixtures.
§ 14 147. Removing, altering or defacing landmarks.
If any person, firm or corporation shall knowingly remove, alter or deface any
landmark in anywise whatsoever, or shall knowingly cause such removal, alteration
or defacement to be done, such person, firm or corporation shall be guilty of a
Class 2 misdemeanor. This section shall not apply to landmarks, such as creeks
and other small streams, which the interest of agriculture may require to be
altered or turned from their channels, nor to such persons, firms or corporations
as own the fee simple in the lands on both sides of the lines designated by the
landmarks removed, altered or defaced. Nor shall this section apply to those
adjoining landowners who may by agreement remove, alter or deface landmarks in
which they alone are interested.(1858-9, c. 17; Code, s. 1063; Rev., s. 3674;
1915, c. 248; C.S., s. 4319; 1993, c. 539, s. 86; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)
§ 14 148. Defacing or desecrating grave sites.
(a) It is unlawful to willfully:
(1) Throw, place or put any refuse, garbage or trash in or on any cemetery;
(2) Take away, disturb, vandalize, destroy or change the location of
any stone, brick, iron or other material or fence enclosing a cemetery without
authorization of law or consent of the surviving spouse or next of kin of the deceased
thereby causing damage of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000); or
(3) Take away, disturb, vandalize, destroy, tamper with or deface any
tombstone, headstone, monument, grave marker, grave ornamentation, grave artifacts,
shrubbery, flowers, plants or other articles within any cemetery erected or placed to
designate where a body is interred or to preserve and perpetuate the memory and name
of any person, without authorization of law or the consent of the surviving spouse or
next of kin, thereby causing damage of less than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a professional archaeologist
as defined in G.S. 70 28
(4) acting pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 70 of the
General Statutes.
(c) Violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. In passing sentence, the
court shall consider the appropriateness of restitution or reparation as a condition of
probation under G.S. 15A 1343(b)(6) as an alternative to actual imposition of a fine,
jail term, or both.(1840, c. 6; R.C., c. 34, s. 102; Code, s. 1088; Rev., s. 3680; C.S.,
s. 4320; 1969, c. 987; 1981, c. 752, s. 1, c. 853, s. 4; 1993, c. 539, s. 87; 1994, Ex.
Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)
§ 14 149. Desecrating, plowing over or covering up graves.
(a) It is a Class I felony, without authorization of law or the consent of
the surviving spouse or next of kin of the deceased, to knowingly and willfully:
(1) Open, disturb, destroy, remove, vandalize or desecrate any casket,
human remains or any portion thereof or the repository of any such remains, by any means
including plowing under, tearing up, covering over or otherwise obliterating or removing
any grave;
(2) Take away, vandalize or destroy any stone, brick, iron or other material
or fence enclosing a cemetery, causing damage of more than 1000 dollars ($1,000);or
(3) Take away, vandalize, destroy or deface any tombstone, headstone, monument,
grave marker, grave ornamentation, grave artifacts, shrubbery, flowers, plants or other
articles within any cemetery erected or placed to designate the place where any dead body
is interred or to preserve and perpetuate the memory and the name of any person, causing
damage of more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to a professional archaeologist as
defined in G.S. 70 28(4) acting pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of Chapter 70 of
the General Statutes.(1889, c. 130; Rev., s. 3681; 1919, c. 218; C.S., s. 4321; 1981, c.
752, s. 2; c. 853, s. 5.)
So how do these laws shake out in regard to tribal burials? They seem to be fair game. People still come home with skulls they’ve found to put on their trophy shelf.
Linda asks >>>> So how do these laws shake out in regard to tribal burials?
I would guess about like old black cemeteries and old white cemeteries marked only with fieldstones. They get very little respect. Becky and I started recording them because we are losing them every day…….. at least if they disappear after they are recorded then maybe something can be done but you still have to have a DA willing to prosecute and an outraged public. Just because the laws are on the book doesn’t mean squat …..if it isn’t enforced. Ancient burial grounds come under a whole nother set of laws, but…..no …. that doesn’t mean squat.
It seems like the way to fix the problem might be through the state department concerned wth Indian affairs. I can’t think of the name of it – Department of Cultural Resources. I wonder if lack of funding is related to why they are not on top of this? Calling and asking directly might be the thing to do.
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