Everyone, The problem has not been handled, I suppose we will continue to have to deal with it on a one on one situation, and the Clerk of Court has assured us that she will issue us an order to go on any property to take photos. We are not always there just to take photos if we have reason to believe that other tombstones might be there we have a long probe (long metal pole) that we always punch into the ground looking for tombstones that has broken off and buried into the earth or in some cases a whole cemetery that the tombstones were physically broken off and laid down to make mowing the grass easier, and Ben and I dug up all of those tombstones (luckily for us there was no one living on the property to give us grief). Keep in mind while the Clerk of Court is understanding and believes in what we are doing, we first have to be run off of a property by the landowner, then we have to go to the Clerks Office, she in turn goes to the site (cemetery)and decides that what we are doing is not harming the property and then issues an order for us to go on the property against the owners wishes....We are wasting a lot of time running up and down the road back and forth to the Court House when we could be photographing 2 or 3 Cemeteries. It just isn't time efficent for us when Ben comes all the way from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and only has a day or two in which to photo as many as possible while he is here. It is so Sad but True but Currituck County has become such a highly valued Real Estate area and a bunch of pardon the expression IGNORAMUSES are moving in that #1 have no family members buried in these cemeteries #2 have no understanding of the historical information obtained from the tombstones #3 have no MORALS and have never been taught to RESPECT the Final Resting Ground of the Deceased #4 Just Plain Don't Give a Rats A-- about anything or anyone but themselves and the appearance of THEIR surrounding property.
As far as I am concerned anyone that would destroy a cemetery and its tombstones should never be allowed a final resting place to be interred in and should just be chopped up and fed to the Wild Animals!!!!! Cause that is just what they are a BUNCH OF HEATHENS!!!! To me they have no claim to be laid to rest OR any last wishes on their behalf to be kept
The Lady that called the Police on us and caused so much commotion told us Point Blank that she wished the Cemetery would just DISAPPEAR!!!! Ben and I know of several Large Cemeteries that have done just that since we have grown up, people have moved in and actually destroyed and demolished a whole cemetery. I know what you are going to say...BUT-- by law you have to see them doing this and PROVE that THEY actually destroyed the tombstones and then what is going to happen to the offender, even though there are suppose to be "Strict Regulations and Laws" forbidding this.....nothing!!! The State Representatives has a committee suppossedly trying to change the gray areas of the Laws and Regulations governing the destruction of Cemeteries but in the last year that I have been in touch, nothing that I have been made aware of has been done except just TALK, which is par for the course in our government and by the time they get around to actually doing something are we going to have any "PRIVATE" cemeteries left? This is the big thing, you don't have to worry about a PUBLIC Cemetery someone will definitely protect them and the Laws will be most definitely enforced but supposedly no one wants to jump on the band wagon for the "PRIVATE" or as we call them "Family" Cemeteries, no one (in authority or government) will admit that they have power concerning OR governing "Private" but are quick to tell you that they do have power over "Public", do any of you see any "Public" Cemeteries disappearing? When Ben and I were rallying for support to save the Willis Gallop grave site, we called Marc Basnight's office, and while his office got us attention in places we needed (we assume) they too were quick to tell us that their office had no power over PRIVATE cemeteries ONLY "Public",
Go to
www.rootsweb.com/~ncccc/cemeteries Go to Shawboro 004 then click on Cemetery Information...you will see a 2004 photo then (2) 2006 photo's and if you saw the newspaper article that was done on Ben and I doing the cemeteries you will see another photo of this same "Private" Cemetery done 4 months later and in 4 months time how much the farmer has destroyed since we photographed it in April. This is why Ben and I are trying so hard to get these cemeteries photographed not for our own gratification but to document their existence before they become extinct. We approached the County Level trying to get them to give us Blanket Permission to photo and dig if necessary for any buried tombstones, and when I say dig I only mean usually about 4 to 6 inches below ground (trust me Ben and I are not into physical labor), this was not granted, just with what I previously said about the willingness of the Clerk of Court to help. I called Governor Easley's Office and have not received a reply, but of course I was only ONE at the time. I have been in touch with House Representative Carolyn Justus and Tim Spear who are both on the Committee to change the wording of the Laws and Regulations and I will include both their addresses and Tim Spear's phone number.
What would be realy nice is to bombard Justus, Spear, and Governor Michael Easley with request to give Ben and I blanket permission to go on any property to take photos and or dig up tombstones in Currituck County. It is no different than sending a Census Taker door to door, we are only gathering information that soon will no longer exist.
Here are the addresses
Carolyn Justus
1023 Legislative Building
Raleigh, NC 27601-1096
Phone: 919-733-5956
Tim Spear
Home Address: 612 Mt. Tabor Rd
Creswell, NC 27928
Home Phone: 252-797-4481
Office Phone 919-715-3029
Office Address
403 Legislative Office Building
Raleigh, NC 27603-5925
Govenor Michael Easley
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Fax.919-715-3175
Phone: 919-733-4240, 919-733-5811
I believe ONLY Governor Easley can give this kind of Blanket permission, and when they tell you that they are working on changing the Laws let them know WE DON'T HAVE TIME on our side.
Thanks Everyone for your help, I feel like I finally have someone on our side.
Judy