If you have ever served on a cemetery board — for profit, non-profit, church, or community — there is a pretty good chance that some type of dispute came before you.  It just goes with the territory of centuries old land and plot ownership of cemeteries.

The other day I read this article and watched this video news report from Jacksonville, Florida, concerning the Braddock-Mason Denver Cemetery in Putnam County, Florida, which somehow came into private ownership after decades of being a burial ground for the people of that community.

The new owner has intended to put living quarters on the property and has had excavators ready the property for his building project even though monuments, tombstones, and other markers are present on the property.  Historians believe that there are at least 100 people buried on the property and it also is a historical site as the Civil War “Battle of Braddock’s Farm” took place on the property.

Related — “The Battle of Braddock’s Farm” history

And, interestingly enough, the process of turning a cemetery into a private home lot gets even stranger.  The State of Florida has declined to get into the dispute because the cemetery is not currently “a licensed cemetery”.  Proponents of the cemetery see that issue as a problem for the state moving forward as they believe that there are over 3,000 cemeteries in Florida but the state lists only 200 “Licensed” cemeteries.

Related — Here is a previous article and video news story on the subject from the same news source.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Rural, previous well populated farming areas of the United States are rapidly being depleted of their citizen inhabitants as America becomes a greater urban country.  There are thousands of these type of “overgrown, neglected” cemeteries in our country.

The costs of simple upkeep continue to rise causing problems for those with active boards to afford.  And, then there are those who have no functioning board any longer.

There is no easy answer in how to finance the upkeep and many Americans would question if there was a reason for upkeep at all.  It leads to a sticky problem that has come to light over time  —  what do we do with those that are abandoned??

America has a system of county government.  County governments have the ability to tax and appropriate funds.  What would the average American position be on that thought process?  Would they prefer to see as is happening with this cemetery. . .monuments bowled over and development able to take place.

All kidding aside. . . this is a very difficult issue that we will see and hear more about in the future.

Related — “The Urbanization of America” – This article will relate the problem of why rural cemeteries have been neglected.  In 1860 America’s population was 19.8% urban and in 2020 America’s urban population had grown to 80.0%. . . . leaving many rural communities lacking a solid population base or finances to support projects or efforts of the past.

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How long is “Permanent”?  That is a question that has never been answered, but in many cases you will find out that “permanent” is not really “permanent”.

There is an interesting dilemma going on in Surrey British Columbia, Canada, right now.  According to this article, a popular pet cemetery is about to be repositioned into a new housing development.  According to the article a sign for the proposed new development has been erected on a plot of land that contains the remains of over 700 animals from as far back as the 1950’s.

And, at least some people familiar with the cemetery believe that there are also human cremation remains buried in the cemetery.

According to the article, Turnberry Developments, which has owned the property for 30 years “has investigated if there are human remains on this property.  None were discovered, nor did (they) find any urns containing ashes.”

The company also said it “searched vital statistics and contacted crematoriums and funeral homes to find the next of kin and ask for their guidance in the matter.”

Here’s another article on the situation.  When viewing the articles you will notice that they both have television video news stories about the situation also.

A volunteer who takes care of the cemetery thinks the land should be protected.  “It’s sacred ground” said David Corrin.  “I think it should be preserved as a memorial, sacred ground. Especially since there’s some old-growth original cedar trees that have been here for at least 200 to 300 years.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  This is certainly an interesting dilemma.  Obviously, this was once a vacant lot that the owners at the time let community members bury their pets on.  There seems to be no contractual obligations on either side. . . . but what about the moral and ethical ramifications?  And, does (possibly) having cremated remains on the property make a difference?

While this is no small situation to families that may have pets buried in this cemetery, the thought process brings up even larger and, possibly more consequential, potential situations.  For instance, what will happen to churches that have cremation memorial niche walls or funeral homes that have memorial niche walls in them at the time when those properties become obsolete for their present functions and are put up for sale or re-purposed?

Outside of some type of contractual situation that has been agreed upon, I think most families think the remains that they inurned in those places expect the remains to be there permanently.  What is the process if the future holds a demolition or some other change to that facility?

Are these problems waiting to happen?

Related Article —  “Should we be re-using Graves?”  Poppy’s – A fresh approach to Funerals – Great Britain

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