INDIANA-L Archives
Archiver > INDIANA > 1999-04 > 0924068422
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Subject: Re: [INDIANA-L] Fw: DESTRUCTION OF INDIANA'S CEMETERIES!
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 01:40:22 EDT
Hello,
I dont mean to sound utterly stupid but I dont understand the tons of codes
and law talk about this subject. I'm curious to know basic answers to:
Would it be legal for the descendents of people buried in these old destroyed
cemeteries to pay to move the people to a bigger/newer cemetery? Maybe thats
an option for graves that are on their way to the city dumps.
Do the laws apply to cemeteries owned by churches?
If so, can a church get any kind of funding to help restore an old cemetery?
We have one in Gary, Tolleston Cemetery, owned by St Johns Lutheran church
that is very bad, grown over with weeds, only a few of possibly around 100 or
so graves left standing, covered in wine bottles and garbage...thats
basically how most of that town looks and if it was fixed up it might be
destroyed soon after anyway. The cemetery's story basically goes like this:
"The Tolleston are of Gary is a district west of Grant Steet and
South of Ninth Avenue. It was named for George Tolle, who established
a village here in 1857. First Settlers were of English, Irish, and
French extraction but by 1860, a large group of German families
supplanted the original settlers (up to 1906 the village was a German
Lutheran town)..." "St. John's Lutheran Church was
built in 1868 (Their records go back to 1863), and was the first such
building in the Calumet region. The property was set aside when the
village was laid out by Tolle."
"The survey of this sadly neglected cemetery was made by Mrs. C.A.
Huber and Mrs. J.M. Seabright of the Pottowattomi Chapter, DAR, Gary,
Ind during the summer of 1958. Facing now toward Grant Steet, a main
aetery of travel, the cemetery is gradually disappearing because of
lack of care, vandalism, and weather."
"Cindy's Note: This cemetery was visited in Aug 1992. There might
be a total of 10 stone left in this cemetery. I have LEMKE's and
STANG's Buried here. This only shows why reading of stones is so
important, or preserving any old records. Here is the list of stones
still standing in 1958:"
It goes on to list about 102 names (if my count was right)...and only 10
stones in 1992...possibly less now. The new pastor and his wife are
sympathetic towards the matter but I'm not sure what they can do or what
resources that church has.
I'm sure anyone who is still reading at this point has heard of Gary IN.
Money Magazine rated it the worst place in America to live in 1997. It was
named Murder capital per capita in 1995 1996 and 1998 (ok we slacked off in
1997) Basically, I worry that even if it's fixed up it will be destroyed soon
after anyway. Tough situation up here.
Any suggestions?
Kathy
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