26 Responses to “East View Cemetery’s neglect highlighted”

1. posted by shawn at July 5, 2008 3:43 pm :
   

   I think I know where they are talking about… there’s an area that looks like a wooded buffer-zone between two, more normal cemetary areas. There are grave-stones, and sink-holes.

   I wonder where these peoples’ descendents are? That’s the real question.

2. posted by shawn at July 5, 2008 4:22 pm :
   

   I just watched the video. Williams says “you can tell a lot about a society by how it repsects its dead…” He’d better be careful, because the sociey he’s talking about is petersburg.

   Me, I’ve got a responsibility to not have a party on some random person’s grave, and keep my dog away from their headstones. But the responsibility for tending to the grave belongs to the children and grandchildren.

   My home town has plenty of well tended old graveyards. We have a few untended graveyards in area forests, but these yards date to the 1700s, and the towns that supplied bodies to them are now gone.

   The only responsibility we, as a “society” have to a person’s grave, is if that person is a veteran of a war. It was discovered that one small graveyard in the woods contained the remains of a US war veteran, and the era was cleaned up and a flag planted. Otherwise, it is the descendants’ responsibility to keep the grave-site up. Period.

3. posted by brenda p at July 5, 2008 5:59 pm :
   

   Hm. Not that I disagree with you in theory, but from a practical standpoint… what if someone doesn’t have any descendants… or what if the descendants are in some other city/state/country, and through the years knowledge of their ancestors’ resting places has been lost? What then? Wouldn’t the property owner be the appropriate contact to address concerns?

4. posted by shawn at July 5, 2008 8:39 pm :
   

   I suppose so, but when does the statute of limitations run out? 50 years? 100? 1000?

   This earth is littered with the remains of billions of people. Are we obligated to honor the memory of all of them?

   If you go to the site, it is rather unclear WHAT is up with the area. there are actual headstones there between the trees. It is clear that the descendants have lost interest in those people. Those who are not descendants cannot be expected to take up the interest, just because some professional grievance amplifier says so.

   When I die, I hope there are a few people who would like to visit my grave for a few years. After that, I am not arrogant enough to expect the future to care much about my memory, and certainly not my remains. Whatever may be sacred about me now will be long gone.

5. posted by brenda p at July 6, 2008 10:48 am :
   

   I see your point now. I had read your earlier post differently, thinking that you meant that even generations far removed had some sort of obligation that may be quite difficult to meet from a practical standpoint.

6. posted by Joi at July 7, 2008 10:12 pm :
   

   There are graves of veterans out there, all the way back to the Spanish American War.

   The cemetery isn’t unknown or abandoned, it’s part of the cared for area that isn’t Blanford. The problem they care for one area and not the other and haven’t given answers as to why. What’s going on in the area is clear. The people who are supposed to be taking care of it aren’t and other are abusing it.

   Those sink holes are collapsed graves.

   The flickr page has photos from the cemetery. Includes picture of stones from some of the Veterans.

7. posted by brenda p at July 8, 2008 8:57 am :
   

   The Flickr images Joi is referring to can be found here.

8. posted by Chuck at July 8, 2008 9:26 am :
   

   Those were disturbing but so were these - to me moreso because of the actual human remains that it showed.

   http://flickr.com/photos/guardianofthedead/

9. posted by Cliff Davis at July 8, 2008 9:44 am :
   

   Those photos are not for the squeamish. Yet it is a sad fact that neglected and forgotten burial sites are everywhere, not just in Petersburg — there’s one near the Post Office on Route 10 at the edge of Chester, another hidden behind a bush in the parking lot of a shopping center further north.

   When I was a reporter, I learned that such sites can become absolutely no-mans land, from an ownership status. If the property was owned by some church, for example, as graveyards often are, and then that church goes defunct, nobody can claim the land or do anything with it and the government apparently can’t take it back.

10. posted by shawn at July 8, 2008 10:12 am :
    

    Well, if there are veterans’ graves there, that really changes everything. Very good documentation by the flickr photogs! I had discovered the site at least a year ago, but did not poke around much (I was goofing off enough as it was, since I was supposed to be exercising.)

    Cliff, you seem to have the same curious spirit that I suffer with. I actually DO think there are laws about veterans’ graves that make the fed responsible to swoop in if a neglected graveyard (yes, there are countless!) contains a certifiable war veteran.

    BTW, everyone, I’m not saying a veteran’s life, or remains, are more important than anyone else’s — I’m saying they are more important to the government, that the govenment has special responsibilities to those who served during wartime that they do not have regarding me, for example.

11. posted by Laura at July 8, 2008 10:22 am :
    

    The cemetery Cliff is referring to is Moore’s Family Cemetery. Although it appears neglected now, it is much better cared for than it was in years past. As well as being an historic African-American cemetery, it is active. Some of the family members as well as a junior civic organization have been diligently working to maintain Moore’s for the past few years. Lack of grave markers makes grave identification complicated, however attempts to do so are being made. There is some amazing history in that cemetery.

    During the 1980’s, Moore’s suffered a lot of damage at the hands of vandals and those who do not respect the sanctity of a cemetery. More than one grave was illegally exhumed, and many markers were damaged. During that same time period Blandford, Hollywood, and many other historic cemeteries were desecrated in similar fashion.

    The good part is, there is a statute in the Code of Virginia that allows for a 15 foot easement to all cemeteries, and with the exception of the sundown to sunrise restriction, visitation to any cemetery is legal, including those on private land. The exception would be to anyone who has been charged with the crime of cemetery desecration. Maintenance can be assumed by any interested party, as long as the maintenance does not destroy intentional plantings (those that are placed as markers or as offerings to the deceased),monuments, fences, or (heaven forbid)the actual graves.

12. posted by Laura at July 8, 2008 10:24 am :
    

    Shawn is correct…there are federal laws protecting veteran graves, especially those in “abandoned” cemeteries…the problem is East View is not abandoned, just mal-treated. The difficult part is in getting the federal government to act.

13. posted by indigenous at July 9, 2008 12:34 pm :
    

    There are graves of veterans out there, all the way back to the Spanish American War.

    The cemetery isn’t unknown or abandoned, it’s part of the cared for area that isn’t Blanford. The problem they care for one area and not the other and haven’t given answers as to why. What’s going on in the area is clear. The people who are supposed to be taking care of it aren’t and other are abusing it.

    Those sink holes are collapsed graves.

    There was a story posted in the Progress on this subject about 2 years ago and photos posted on the Crater Road website. The people responsible for this are not the folks from Blandford Cemetery, but rather the Oldest Black Funeral Home that is still in service in Petersburg. The trees were cut about 2 years ago and futher cleanup was stopped when the woman who was trying to bring it back to life passed away. Since her death no one has tried to follow in her footsteps. At the time the first photos were taken there was only one grave that anyone cared about. There was a beautiful yellow flower on it and I believe the caption under the photo was: “Emma you are Loved, someone still cares.” Recently the animals (people) have been using the area to dump their trash! Black or White, it makes no difference, it is and will always remain a travisty.

14. posted by shawn at July 9, 2008 1:32 pm :
    

    Indigenous,

    “Oldest Black Funeral Home”

    That’s exactly why I said the journalist had better watch out. His whole job seems to be blaming people like me for every problem anyone ever has in a place like petersburg — but if he starts “blaming the victims,” he will soon be out of a job.

    The guys who speak at every city council meeting will loudly show up on Franklin St. in Richmond and declare that those graves are desecrated by the “developers,” and, if he doesn’t get his story straight, a lawsuit will follow.

15. posted by Boudicea at July 9, 2008 1:37 pm :
    

    I went to check out the damage to the cemetery today, and there are bones on top of one of the new graves in the clear part of the cemetery! Why is this being allowed to happen?

16. posted by Boudicea at July 9, 2008 1:39 pm :
    

    Shawn—What developers? Is someone trying to build something there?

17. posted by brenda p at July 9, 2008 2:48 pm :
    

    ? the RTD article gives the current owner as Virginia Burial Supply and the former owner as J.M. Wilkerson Funeral Establishment. No developers mentioned in the article. I suppose folks could make of those details -if correct- some other story, but such misunderstanding would be sure to be cleared up pretty quickly.

18. posted by shawn at July 9, 2008 6:37 pm :
    

    Boudicea,

    Don’t you know that the developers are too blame for everything!!?? If you don’t I’ll point you in the direction of those that can explain it to you. ;)

    No developers involved. Site is a strip between two major graveyards, totally useless for development.

    Yes, according to the T-D, the land now belongs to Virginia Burial Supply. For how long, I don’t know.

19. posted by indigenous at July 9, 2008 8:58 pm :
    

    The Cemetery on the otherside (east) of the area in question is a Black Cemetery. So why the care for one and not the other? Good question. From what I understand, it was Wilkerson Funeral Est. that abandoned these graves many years ago. It appears that the last dates on some of the stones goes back to the 50’s. Kinda like Petersburg today; If it needs fixin, forget it and build a Golf Course instead!

20. posted by Boudicea at July 9, 2008 9:43 pm :
    

    Any idea why only half of the cemetery was abandoned? They both have people buried in the 50’s…there are people in both that are veterans…other than one area being mowed and the other not, I don’t see much difference. If the same people own both areas, why aren’t both areas being taken care of?

21. posted by shawn at July 9, 2008 9:52 pm :
    

    Good question, Boudicea.

    BTW, it is not half a cemetery. It is a mere strip of land. It looks like a buffer zone.

22. posted by Boudicea at July 9, 2008 10:27 pm :
    

    I took some pictures while I was at the cemetery today, and decided to start a flickr page with them (seems like the best way to let people see the problem)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/boudicea/

23. posted by brenda p at July 10, 2008 12:56 pm :
    

    Perhaps folks interested in seeing this area get cleaned up can contact the current owners about volunteering to participate in a clean-up day or two? Though I imagine with remains being exposed, it might be a bit early for volunteers to help yet, as I wonder if setting that particular detail right may be a job for professionals? At any rate, when volunteers can appropriately step forward, that may be an option.

24. posted by Boudicea at July 11, 2008 2:48 pm :
    

    Brenda, I think that’s a wonderful idea! Maybe if the community gets involved, this cemetery will stay as nice as Little Church and People’s!

25. posted by brenda p at July 15, 2008 12:36 pm :
    

    Boudicea (et al.) — I chat with some folks that have participated in restorative work at Blandford about the idea of volunteers approaching the owners of East View. They noted that there is a certain amount of training volunteers would need, so as to not damage fragile elements and also for their own safety. So maybe a good way to proceed would be to contact the folks at Blandford about who conducts such trainings, in addition to the cemetery owners. Again, not sure this particular endeavor is appropriate for volunteers to really be able to assist with. But thought I’d share in case it were helpful.

26. posted by boudicea at July 16, 2008 9:25 am :
    

    Does anyone know who worked on getting Little Church and People’s cleaned up? I remember how overgrown they used to be, and now they’re really nice. Maybe the people who worked on those can give some advice.

Leave a Comment