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FLORIDA, LONDON, ZIMBABWEI, SOUTH CAROLINA, PENNSYLVANIA, ILLINOIS, ALASKA
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cemeterygen-@yahoo.com
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Mar 07, 2009 13:38 PST
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FLORIDA, LONDON, ZIMBABWEI, SOUTH CAROLINA, PENNSYLVANIA, ILLINOIS, ALASKA
March 7, 2009
CEMETERY GENEALOGY NEWS
http://cemeterygenealogynews.blogspot.com
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FLORIDA
Gators ask legislature for gravesite permission
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090304/APN/903040608
By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press Writer
Published: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 5:08 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 5:08 p.m.
The University of Florida doesn't advertise it, but about once a month people call about having their ashes spread on the school's football field.
The school tries to honor those requests and knows alumni quietly scatter ashes on the campus's Lake Alice or behind fraternity houses. Now the school wants to build a more permanent home: a Gator graveyard of sorts.
The university wants to build what's called a columbarium - a structure with niches for the ashes of alumni - but there's a catch. Without the blessing of state lawmakers, the idea itself is dead. A bill that keeps the project alive passed its first committee Wednesday without objection.
"We feel like it would be meeting a need. I can't tell you how many people call," said Katie Marquis, the university's alumni association director of membership and marketing.
Right now, to build a columbarium the university would have to be licensed as a cemetery. But the state's oldest and largest university wouldn't qualify because new Florida cemeteries must have a minimum of 30 acres. That's more than 20 times the size of the field of "The Swamp," the university's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, and the university can't set aside that kind of space.
As a result, the project is riding on a bill that would exempt the university and let it build a columbarium of five acres or less.
The proposed law would actually let any of Florida's 11 state schools to build their own campus columbarium, but a University of Florida lawyer helped draft the bill and the school has been promoting it. Identical bills have been filed in both the House and Senate (SB 926, HB 671).
University officials first floated the idea of a columbarium by Lake Alice in 2007. At the time, officials said a niche at the memorial might cost $3,000 to $5,000.
Kathryn Mizereck, who graduated from the university in 1973 and is now involved with the alumni association, said she understands the desire to spend eternity on campus and told her husband the football field is where she wants to be.
"Your ashes got to be somewhere," Mizereck said. "I personally would like to be on the 50-yard line because I don't want to miss anything."
If the bill passes and the university constructs its planned building it wouldn't be the first to house alumni's remains. The University of Virginia opened a 180-vault columbarium in 1991 and another 180 spaces in 2004. A master plan calls for building more space when those run out.
Indiana's Notre Dame opened a cemetery in 1843 and in 2007added a columbarium with approximately 650 niches and 70 crypts. The university says it has sold roughly a third of the space available and could construct up to nine more similar buildings based on demand.
In Florida, the bill may have a fair chance of passing, not least because the University of Florida has a special place in many lawmakers' hearts. Six of the Senate's 40 members attended the university at some point as did nearly a quarter of the House's 120 members.
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.
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ISLINGTON LONDON UK
Cemetery records released
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/content/islington/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=ISLGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newsislg&itemid=WeED03%20Mar%202009%2011%3A55%3A23%3A410
nln-@archant.co.uk
03 March 2009
CEMETERY records dating back more than 130 years have been released on the internet - helping local residents to trace their family histories at the click of a mouse.
A joint project by Islington and Camden councils has seen more than 70,000 burial records from Hampstead Cemetery, in Fortune Green, and Trent Park Cemetery, in Cockfosters, archived online.
The records, which date back to 1876, can be accessed at www.deceasedonline..com.
Archive director John Rickwood, said: "We are delighted that Camden and Islington have decided to be among the first London authorities to join Deceased Online, opening their data to worldwide searching on the internet. We are very grateful for their enthusiasm and commitment to this unique national project."
Among the famous names buried at the cemeteries are surgical pioneer Lord Joseph Lister (1827-1912) and Bertie Mee (1918-2001), Arsenal's 1971 double-winning manager.
Councillor Greg Foxsmith, Islington Council's executive member for the environment, said: "More people are interested in family history now than perhaps ever before, and this will make it much easier for them to find out about their past. This is all public information anyway, but is now at people's fingertips.
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SOUTH CAROLINA
Study of women's genealogy important
http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/mar/03/study_womens_genealogy_important73580/
Wevonneda Minis
Kinship
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Additional stories
Kinship
As the popularity of genealogy continues to rise, family historians are developing genealogical specialities. They may focus on a country, ethnic group or subject area such as immigration.
But there is one area of genealogy that is important to everyone's family search. Yet, not nearly enough attention is being paid to it. This area involves at least 50 percent of everyone's parentage at every generation: women..
Family historians can be forgiven for pausing and taking deep breaths before researching female ancestors. It's reasonable for them to fear that after an enormous investment of time and effort all they'll have are blank spaces on a family chart.
Perhaps that is why many published family histories trace only the male lines.
It's something Shirley Gage Hodges, who lectures on the subject, found frustrating. So for the past two decades of her four-decade genealogy career, Hodges has made tracing female lines one of her specialties.
Genealogical research is done by moving back one generation at a time, identifying ancestors by name in census records, deeds, diaries, newspapers and more. Knowing a woman's maiden name is important to discovering who her parents (and their parents) were.
"Because of the name issue, it really is a lot more diffi- cult," says Hodges, Genealo-gical Speaker Guild presi- dent and lecturer on the subject.
"In the early days, when a woman married, her legal existence was suspended, and the husband had absolute control (over her property and children). It was a sign of disrespect in some cultures for a woman to use her own name. She wouldn't even use her own first name. She literally became Mrs. John Smith. I found a case of that as late as 1969.
Usually, an unmarried woman's father or brother acted on her behalf, Hodges says. So her name might be buried in a record, but it would not be found in an index.
If the father or brother died, her name might begin to surface.
"But once she married, she could just kiss that goodbye," Hodges says. "Until the 20th century, women did not conduct many legal or business transactions on their own. When researching women, it's always important to trace the collateral lines."
Tracing collaterally involves examining family members and close acquaintances of an ancestor.
Here's a fairly straightforward example of tracing a collateral:
--You don't know the name of a grandmother's parents.
--You do know the name of your grandmother's brother.
--Trace the name of the brother to find his father.
--Study the name of the father to find the name of his wife.
--Then study them to learn if they had daughters while married to each other.
--Compare the daughters to your grandmother by name, birth year, etc.
--If they match those of your grandmother, it's likely you have identified her parents, your great-grandparents.
Reach Wevonneda Minis at 937-5705 or wmi-@postandcourier.com.
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ZIMBABWEI
Lusaka Copes With Shortage of Burial Sites
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19234&Itemid=100
Tuesday, 03 March 2009
burial_sites.jpg
In Lusaka, Zambia, the fast growth of cities and the lack of urban planning have led to a shortage of burial sites. Danstan Kaunda takes a look at the situation in the Zambian capital.
It’s not unusual in Lusaka’s newspapers to read tales of grave diggers unearthing old human remains as they lay to rest new ones. The graveyards are full, and some people are burying their relatives on top of other bodies.
The Chingwere cemetery in the northern part of the city was supposed to be closed six months ago, but due to lack of alternative place, people are still using the site.
Local officials say another burial site – the old Leopards Hill cemetery -- will be full within a year. They say there’s no available land left in the city.
Chanda Makanta is an official of the Lusaka City Council.
"We have no alternative burial space here [in Lusaka]," he says, "and people should understand that the city has run out of [public] land completely. [People] are bury [their deceased relatives] there not because we [the council] have given them space. There are unscrupulous [people acting as salesmen] who are taking advantage of the situation. They are [selling] small portions of land [in the grave yard] without the council’s authority."
But Lusaka resident Timothy Makota says he does not condemn the illegal grave plots. He says, "I can not like condemn those grave-diggers [who give out illegal burial plots]. They are helping the community, because currently the council has no plans [to improve the situation]. If they are stopped [the illegal grave diggers] then where would poor people [bury their relatives]?"
The situation has resulted in the creation of private cemeteries. But people say the cost of the burial plots there is too expensive. The costs range from K1, 500,000 to K5,000,000 [About US$428 to $1,428.]
Johan Richter is the manager of a private burial ground, Mutumbi Cemetery and Remembrance Park.
He said graves have never truly been “free.” Richter adds that government has usually provided subsidies for public plots, but now the cemeteries are full. People have to pay for private sites.
But what about the people who cannot afford private cemeteries like Mutumbi?
City council member Chanda Makanta offers her opinion.
"If the worse comes to worse," she saysd, "I can see a situation where the council can propose that we start cremating bodies because we do not have space to bury them. Though it is not in our culture, we should understand that ….a dead body is a dead body."
Muslims and Hindus in Zambia says they have no problem with cremation, but most Zambians, who are Christian, say it goes against their religious beliefs.
Lusaka’s population has grown four-fold in the last 10 years to well over 2.8 million people. Over 900 bodies are buried every month.
VOA
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PENNSYLVANIA
Our history
http://www.dailyamerican.com/articles/2009/03/02/opinion/letters_to_editor/letter341.txt
Monday, March 2, 2009 11:07 PM EST
To the editor:
I was glad to see Sandra Lepley’s article “Black Americans contributed to Somerset County history” in the Daily American. It is well to be reminded of contributions of the known and successful Black citizens of the county. It was especially commendable to see the references to the research and photographs of the Black slave cemeteries in Stonycreek Township. Until recently those residents had been virtually forgotten.
I agree that “Probably one of the most unbelievable facts of local history in relationship to African-Americans is the existence of a slave cemetery. In Stonycreek Township near Brotherton, a burial site near the Black family cemetery contains 35 graves - all believed to be African-American slaves.” I have not yet seen the cemetery, but there are federal Censuses from the early 19th century that enumerated these “negros” under the name of James Black and state that Mr. Black owned a tannery. So the earliest contributions of these unknown slaves helped prepare the leather that was vital for the shoes for family life and for harnesses for farming, logging, etc., in those earliest years after the settlement of Brothersvalley and Quemahoning (later Stonycreek) Townships.
Thanks for reminding us that their labors helped to give thousands of families a start as they settled or passed through our beloved Somerset County.
Norman L. Gindlesperger
Alexandria, Va., formerly of Sipesville
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ILLINOIS
Metal Thieves Eye Copper, Gold and Aluminum for Scrap Value
http://www.tickertech.com/cgi/?a=news&ticker=a&w=&story=200903200903021625PR_NEWS_USPR_____DC77615
Bronze Grave Markers and Home Air Conditioners Targeted
ADVERTISEMENT:
DES PLAINES, Ill., March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- If you haven't used your air conditioner since last summer, you might want to make sure it's still in one piece before the first heat wave arrives this year. A new report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) confirms what many law enforcement agencies and unfortunate victims have been experiencing across the nation -- as the price of copper and other metals went up, thieves began stealing anything containing these metals for their scrap value.
According to claims data analyzed by the NICB, as the value of metals such as copper, aluminum, silver, and gold increased over the past three years, the number of thefts also dramatically increased.
Copper prices peaked at approximately $9,000 per metric ton between April and June of 2008. During that same three-month span, insurance claims for metal thefts were most numerous, totaling 2,052. By comparison, claims totaled only 483 for the same three months in 2006 when the price of copper was just starting to rise from about $5,000 a metric ton.
To get their hands on pricey metals, thieves stop at nothing. Entire air conditioning units have been stolen from residential properties and stripped of their copper components.
In Washington State, one city's Web site warns, "The City of Olympia is experiencing an increasing amount of copper wire theft. Copper wire has been stolen from street lights, signals, and storage yards. These thefts jeopardize public safety by disabling traffic signals, roadway lighting, information signs, and other transportation systems."
Several San Diego, Calif., cemeteries have lost over 300 bronze and brass grave markers and flower vases since 2006.
Not only are metal thieves risking arrest and prosecution for their activities, some are killing themselves while trying to make a killing. In Vancouver, British Columbia, a man was electrocuted while attempting to cut through and remove live wires at a power station. Another was killed attempting to remove copper wire from a live cable at a power station in Windsor, Ontario.
There may be a silver lining, however. Metal prices plummeted in late 2008 and theft claims began to show a sharp decrease in the last two months covered by the report.
The NICB report examined 13,861 claims of metal theft from January, 2006 through November, 2008. Of these claims, 65.9% were on commercial polices, meaning that the thefts were related to utility, construction or housing components, while the remaining 34.1% were on personal policies indicating a theft of personal property like jewelry or coins.
The most stolen metals during this period were -- in descending order -- copper, gold, aluminum, silver, brass and bronze.
The top 10 states generating the most metal theft claims were:
State Claims
Ohio 1,511
Texas 1,171
Georgia 891
Michigan 830
California 785
North
Carolina 706
Illinois 606
Pennsylvania 597
Tennessee 498
Kentucky 491
The full report can be reviewed and downloaded at http://www.nicb.org.
About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: Headquartered in Des Plaines, IL, the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through information analysis, investigations, training and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,000 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. To learn more visit http://www.nicb.org.
National Insurance Crime Bureau
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ALASKA
Growth prompts appeal to allocate cemetery space
http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2009/03/02/local_news/doc49aa3276e3937267551264.txt
By Greg Johnson
Frontiersman
Published on Saturday, February 28, 2009 10:09 PM AKST
WASILLA — The last thing Harold Ward wants those moving on to their final resting place to encounter is a “no vacancy” sign.
That’s why the local resident and former VFW chaplain is asking the city to identify land to expand Wasilla’s public cemetery capacity now before continued growth swallows up all the available parcels.
“As it’s been analyzed, we’d need at least 20 acres of land,” he said. “That would be a realistic size, so the time to be doing this is now.”
(Use arrows above to view more photos)
What concerns Ward is that Aurora Cemetery, Wasilla’s only public cemetery, is filling up fast. A new section was opened up last fall, but even with that there is only about 20 percent of plots available. That comes to about 450 available burial spaces in the 2,240-plot cemetery.
“That’s going fast and can be gone in maybe three, four years,” Ward said.
For city officials, Ward’s proposal has merit, councilwoman Dianne Woodruff said.
“This is something that does need to be addressed,” she said, adding that Wasilla’s current budget doesn’t have money for unplanned land purchases.
Although the city operates Aurora Cemetery, that doesn’t mean it has to operate other cemeteries in city limits, Woodruff said. Another option would be to identify a parcel of land and zone it for that use with the hopes of attracting a private cemetery interest.
“(Ward’s) right, though, if you don’t plan for it now, you won’t have it later,” she said. “I think that’s fair to say, that we really don’t want to be in the cemetery business. We would really rather not be doing that.”
As a chaplain for the local VFW, Ward said he saw first-hand what families go through every day when dealing with the loss of a loved one. What he said he doesn’t want is for one of those families to also have to deal with questions about where that loved one could be buried.
“That’s why they need to be dealing with this now,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s going to really cost someone.”
Although the Valley’s growth has meant more pressure on local funeral homes, considering whether there will be enough cemetery room hasn’t been on the radar for Jennifer Erwin, funeral director at Kehl’s Palmer Mortuary.
“That’s a really good question,” she said about Ward’s concern for Wasilla. “I know that in Alaska, the cremation rate is definitely a lot higher than burial. To me, it seems there’s still room for growth at both of the cemeteries. Should we set something aside for future generations? Probably.”
With about 80 percent of Aurora Cemetery’s plots spoken for an no place to expand, the crunch isn’t as tight at Palmer Pioneer Cemetery, a volunteer run organization that also serves the general public.
Wayne Bouwens, who manages Palmer Pioneer Cemetery, said about 40 percent of the cemetery’s 3,000 plots are available. Even with high growth rates in the Mat-Su Valley, he doesn’t anticipate that cemetery to reach capacity for another 20 to 25 years.
More people choosing cremation also helps extend the life of local cemeteries, Bouwens said.
“People are going more and more toward cremation, so I would guess that would extend our operation,” he said.
Local public cemetery capacity hasn’t been a concern for some time, Bouwens said, “but maybe it’s something to dig up again.”
Contact Greg Johnson at greg.j-@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.
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