[HistoricCemeterieslistserv] Question on Unmarked Graves

[Elizabeth Banducci]

Hi Jane!

We used ground penetrating radar on the Myrtle Creek Pioneer Cemetery. We found well over 100 graves. In the 70s a Boy Scout club had cleaned up the cemetery and pulled up the wooden crosses unfortunately. We used a concrete tablet style marker that had an Oak leaf on it. We actually purchased several marker concrete molds and a local concrete company donated the concrete. We then put a placard up explaining the meaning behind these markers. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I have pictures too. It was quite the undertaking and took us a long time to complete.

Elizabeth Banducci
banducc1 at live.com
541-643-8072
Myrtle Creek Pioneer Cemetery

On Jul 31, 2020, at 4:54 PM, Jane Evans via HistoricCemeteries <historiccemeteries at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:


Hello!
   I'm reaching out to the serve list folks for some help.

   I am with the historic Miller Cemetery and Church outside of Silverton, Oregon.  We recently had a portion of  the older part of the cemetery undergo Ground Penetrating Radar.   Our goal was to find where unmarked burials were, as well as mark plots that have gone unused since the creation of the cemetery in the 1880's.   I would welcome your ideas and experiences with the following:

1)  If you have,  how did you mark unmarked burials?  We want to respect and honor that there is someone buried in the spot.  We have nearly 40 in the section we did that showed a burial is in the plot, but we don't have records showing who it was.   Did you put a small headstone or marker?   What material did you use? What wording did you use?  Unknown,  or a phrase?

2)  Do you allow new burials in your older section after the plot has been made usable through a  process assuring it is available?  If so, do you have requirements as to the type of markers that must be used to maintain a visual continuity?

Thank you for your help.  We have at least one more section to GPR next year.

Jane Miller Evans
Miller Cemetery
Silverton, OR
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