STANDLEY-L Archives

From: "Jean Dalrymple" <>
Subject: [STANDLEY] FW: Preserving Old Cemeteries
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 17:09:21 -0700

The following letter was sent to me by one of my a list members, if any one
wants to join in this effort that is up to you.
Jeannie <><

The letter I am forwarding to you speaks for it's self... Mr Muncrief has an
attorney working 'pro bono' drafting the necessary paperwork to try and
change the antiquated laws that do little to protect our old cemeteries.
Emailing Mr Muncrief at that you are FOR changing the
vague antiquated laws will show lawmakers that there is BACKING for this
cause.........OUR CAUSE!
Thanks for your time
Carolyn Mackey Byrum

Subject: Grave desecration


Carolyn,
My name is Dennis Muncrief. I live in Sulphur, Oklahoma. I just read your
cemetary registration of Dripping Springs and the part about the farmer
wanting to graze cows. He must be desperate for grass if he needs the 4' x
6' spot where your grandmother is buried. Recently a farmer decided to
build a barn in Marshall County, OK. Unfortunate a small cemetary was where
he needed to build it. This "man" simply scrapped away the stones to make
room for the new barn. Unfortunately for me, the cemetary was where my
relatives were buried in the mid 1800's when they came to Indian Territory.
The family was livid to say the least. The barn is very nice.
This cemetary was on private land that was donated 100 years ago by the,
then owner, for a cemetary. Generations of families were buried there with
the understanding it would always be a cemetary. The current law says that
the owner of private land where there are cemeteries can do anything he
wants with it.
Now if you are an Indian, there are federal laws against this 'grave
robbing'. Isn't stealing the land where ancestors are located grave
robbing? A friend of mine in California told the story of a cousin that
went to a cemetary in Grady County, Oklahoma to visit the dead relatives.
When she arrived, the farmer was bulldozing the grave stones into a ditch.
When she protested, he pulled a gun on her and threatened to shoot her. She
went to the Sheriff and he told her there was no law against this practice.
The point of this letter is to tell you that there are many who feel as you
do. We need to organize. I have a friend in Washington State who is
drafting a letter that I plan to send to legislators in every state making
it a felony to destroy graves or grave markers that were placed in antiquity
or of recent pioneers such as Oklahoma pioneers. There were no cemeteries
back then. There were no towns. I plan to organize people like yourself in
every state to hound their state legislators until a law is passed in all 50
states to protect these pioneer cemeteries.
It is up to people like us to do something. We can be mad separately or we
can be mad collectively. We will be a little more powerful if we organize.
This has me mad as hell. I have talked to about a half dozen people in
different states and they are upset as well with similar occurrences in
their States.
Want to join the bandwagon?
Dennis

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• [STANDLEY] FW: Preserving Old Cemeteries by "Jean Dalrymple" <>