| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
Tegan
F L I N T O I D
|
The recent news about the four cemetery employees digging up older graves, dumping remains in a vacant field, and reselling the plots has gotten me thinking about how the living view cemeteries today.
I spend a lot of time in cemeteries, especially the old ones, so I would notice if all of a sudden one of my great great grandparents or uncles headstones were missing, and would be even more concerned if the dirt was disturbed. I understand that most normal people don't visit their family members that often - heck it took my grandfather 70 years to visit his own grandfather's grave for the first time... and he lives just down the road, but maybe the situation at Burr Oak Cemetery should encourage us all to take a more proactive approach to the final resting place of our loved ones.
It doesn't so much concern me that family members didn't visit or notice that their family member's headstone was missing or grave was disturbed (some did notice, hence the investigation), but that no one noticed the crew removing headstones or digging up coffins. Maybe they did the work at night. Maybe they told really good stories. It just seems to me that in such a historic cemetery with so many notable people buried there, someone would notice that 300+ graves in four years were disturbed.
Anyway, I would encourage everyone to think about visiting their ancestors gravesites, especially if they are close by. While I don't think there are scamartists digging up relatives everywhere, there are other things that need attention. For example, so many gravestones are disturbed every year, and not just by drunken mischiefs and rotten kids. I've seen so many old stones - one in particular that belonged to an 8 year old girl who died in 1915 - completely chewed up by a lawnmower or weedwacker. Or stones practically drowning in a sea of weeds and grass because "its just too hard to mow around it." (trust me, I prefer the latter to the former).
Just a thought. |
_________________
"Preservationists are the only people in the world who are invariably confirmed in their wisdom after the fact." - John Kenneth Galbraith |
|
Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:42 am |
|
|
back again
F L I N T O I D
|
hey tegan, you seem t be well informed. where would i go to find locations of graves (1920s,30s & 40s)at the old cemetary next to what was mcdonalds dairy?  |
_________________
even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y. |
|
|
Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:08 pm |
|
|
Tegan
F L I N T O I D
|
Technically there are two cemeteries. Avondale is the large one, and then there is a smaller one that is less taken care of (though sometimes looked after by boy scouts) called Aventine Cemetery.
Avondale Cemetery has a telephone number for inquiries through Covenant Cemetery Services at 810 687 5858. Another good place to look is the Genesee County Clerks Office in the court house downtown. For genealogy inquiries, they generally make you go on a Friday when the volunteers from the Flint Genealogical Society are there. They have books and records on most cemeteries with locations I think. Many of the volunteers are very nice, but some of them can be a little crotchety.
Of course my favorite thing to do is wander aimlessly. If you can't find the info you are looking for and you don't want to wander aimlessly yourself, you might considering going on findagrave.com and putting in a photo request for the person or people you are looking for. |
_________________
"Preservationists are the only people in the world who are invariably confirmed in their wisdom after the fact." - John Kenneth Galbraith |
|
|
Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:27 pm |
|
|
back again
F L I N T O I D
|
well DAMN!!! a lady AND a scholar!! thank you!!  |
_________________
even a small act of goodness may be a tiny raft of salvation across the treacherous gulf of sin, but one who drinks the wine of selfishness, and dances on the little boat of meaness, sinks in the ocean of ignorance.
P.Y. |
|
|
Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:13 am |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Open chat
