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Archiver > CEMETERY > 1998-12 > 0915124546


From: Ron Piper <>
Subject: Re: [CEMETERY-L] Where to bury when theres no records?
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 11:15:46 -0600


This might sound a little strange, but have you considered witching (dowsing). I recently
attended a cemetery trek with a genealogy class I was attending. The instructor demonstrated
this using two wire coat hangers. I was hesitant at first but then tried it by walking over known
sites and then going to areas where there was possible unmarked graves. This method works
by detecting places where there has been a ground disturbance. Try this where you have a
known buried pipe. Look at the following site ( http://sepwww.stanford.edu/sep/jon/dowsing.html ) and it describes the method and how it works. This technique seems to work by locating where
the soil has been disturbed, try it and form your own opinion. If nothing else its fun. The lady that
I saw demonstrate this claims they plotted a suspected old cemetery site with no stones and when finished they had a chart that clearly showed row and columns of possible graves.

Ron

Connie Schofield wrote: Here they use a long metal rod to probe the ground to see if they hit a casket. However this does not work evey time.The old burials in a wooden box or just rolled in cloth won't show up even though, if they would really look at the ground they could tell if there was a grave there. In our reading of cemeteries we have found overburials, some accidental and some not. We have found most older cemeteries have no records or the sexton may ignore what he has. Many years ago the sextons kept the info in their heads so when they died, their knowledge went with them. As of now, we have not found a cemetery still in use that doesn't
have some overburials.

> Connie
>
> ----------
> > >> I was also wondering....HOW can they bury somebody in a cemetery
> > when there
> > are NO records??? DO they just pick a spot and dig until they find and
> > empty
> > place? This is bothering me. I've talked to tons a people about this
> > certian
> > cemetery and some say "We have a family plot there but we don't know where
> > to
> > bury Mom or Dad" So...where do they? <<
>

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