Date: May 21, 2000
Cemetery Name: Prock Murray Cemetery
Street: don't know
City: Pleasant Hope
County: Polk
State: MO
Zip: don't know
Land Type: Private
Status: Abandoned
Number of graves: 20
Oldest grave: early 1860's
Records: Don't Know
Inventory: Don't Know
Owner: I don't know at this time, am in the process of
finding out the legal owner.
Problems:
Cemetery about to be destroyed
Overgrown-trees
Overgrown-ground cover
Overgrown-vines
Broken Headstones
Buried Headstones
Disintegrating Headstones
Fallen Headstones
Removed Headstones
General Neglect
Vandalism
Other Problems
The woman who owns this property is elderly and currently in a
nursing home. While she was still in her own residence, none of the
desecration of graves occurred. Her grandson is currently
"overseeing" the property. He is asking 2,000 dollars per
acre for unimproved, unincorporated, poor, rocky soil with no
utilities, on a dirt and gravel road quite some distance from a paved
road, that has no recreational value and little agricultural value.
Similar land in this area is selling for 800 dollars an acre. All of
the huge cedar trees that were the only cedars in the field, and purposely
planted to mark the graves of our ancestors over 130 years ago have
been cut and logged out. There are currently walnut trees that have
sprung up over the years-they may be next, and they are growing
directly on top of several graves. There is no one in the area young
enough to care for the grounds on a regular basis, the rest of the
family is spread across the country. I am about three hours away, and
am only able to ma
Description
Sits in the middle of a field off of a dirt and gravel road. It is
overgrown to a degree, but not really badly as there has been some
care in the past few years. Someone is taking out the trees planted
over 130 years ago and selling them for lumber. In doing so they are
digging into the spaces occupied by the coffins and bodies of my
ancestors-particularly my gg-grandmother. They have broken apart the
stones and cast them aside, and tipped over and moved stones at
random. There is a decayed cow carcass on the grave of my gg-uncle, a
Civil War veteran. The fence surrounding the cemetery has been
removed, and replaced with one strand of barbed wire only about six
inches off the ground. The most recent burials were in the 1930's.
There are two household slaves buried in the corner with a stone slab
for a marker. There are many children buried there, along with their
parents.
Previous Contacts
I have asked knowledgeable people in the area if the historical or
genealogical societies could be of assistance, and was told it was not
possible. The county clerk said the county was a poor one financially
speaking, and they were not able to do anything, either. I am in the
process of trying to rally support for this among the family members
known to me across the country.
Current Status
I am in fear the cemetery will be completely lost to us if I try to
press charges of desecration of a gravesite, and in Missouri it is
only a misdemeanor. I am at a loss as to what to do next to keep any
further depredations from happening, and am begging for help from any
quarter.
Submitted by / Contact for additional Information:
name: Jan Bradbury
Email: jansawesome@aol.com
