Graveyards

[Diggin Deep]

Hi Everyone, I love reading all the posts. So very interesting. I need some suggestions. I have this compulsion to use my metal detector in cemetery's. I don't mean to be disrespectful or anything but is it considered taboo?
I know I would find a lot of old coins there. Will I get arrested ? How does anyone else feel on this subject?

 

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[jeff of pa]

My opinion is DON'T DO IT WITHOUT PERMISSION.

If You Have Permission, & you Have No HANGUPS, Go for It.

They Can Be Productive.

& YES in Most Places It Is Illegal, However With Permission, You Should Be SAFE

 

[JakePhelps]

I think on this forum its considered taboo to a few...I personnaly wouldnt complain if you were, and i dont really find it all that disrespectfull as long as you leave the plots alone and only detect around pathways, open areas, sides, etc...even though you would not dig up someone

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

DD,

If they permit it, it would be your call. Me, just feel a bit uncomfortable; not because of the cemetery but because I might upset some folks who come to visit their departed.

Also not sure how rich the coins would be. Not much commerce in a cemetery. About the only coins I could think of would be if an old coffin broke open and you got a hit on one of the coins they use to put over the eyes of the deceased.

As far as the spirits and other forces in those types of areas, I don't think they would mind. I don't think?

Like I said, your call.

have a good un.............
SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS

 

[hollowpointred]

i wouldnt feel bad about hunting a cemetary as long as (like jeff said) it was alright with the cemetary office. i wouldnt hunt directly around the graves out of respect......but that is just my own morals. i would think that it would be more productive around where cars park anyway,where people pull car keys out of their pockets. i would probably go during the week as well so i wouldnt disturb people paying their respects.(weekends can be a fairly busy time to visit graves).

 

[DigEmAll]

I have to agree with Siapanman, MD'ing gets a bad rap as is. Anyplace where your actions might be questionable I would turn down. It wouldn't matter if you were only digging around the sidewalks, that would be to close to someone's grandmother. Heaven forbid that be the Mayor's grandmother.

For what it's worth, I just found out the the city's largest burial ground was moved in the 20's to make room for the growing number of horizontal residents. The old area is now just over grown lots with forsale signs on them..... I have been having a moral debate with myself over that one!

 

[Lee-MI-MI]

An old, cleared out graveyard should pose no problem. (Assuming) it was cleared of all remains as part of the closing out process.

If it has been plotted and posted for sale, do you think anyone will hesitate to dig a basement there? If any grave site is discovered, the cemetery caretakers are called and they will take care of it post haste.

There was an old church grave yard in my home town that was neglected and overgrown with trees, shrubs and bushes. Kids played there and had paths all through the place. Now, about 30 - 40 years later it is still a paved parking lot for church use.

Sure, there were stories of broken caskets and stuff but the crews did the best they could. Vandals had broken, moved, removed many of the head stones. Many of the graves were unknowns.

I would not hesitate to give it a try.

 

[Vrent]

try detecting around the outside of the cemetary..alot of times this was the gathering area for the mourners fater the ceromony and the kids too..also in some areas of the country it is tradition to leave objects outside the fence....there are a couple in NJ that I know of that the folks, for whatever reason used to leave coins outside the fence, perhaps to keep the spirits in since the coins were silver dunno
HH Vrent

 

[Pistolero]

Hello all,
Other than graves I never thought of a grave yard as a place to detect. I mean at the many funerals I have been too I never thought of money, coins, etc, never pulled any out of my pockets and never saw anyone else doing it. But then again I did lay some keepsakes on my little brother's gave or on his gravestone, who was a big Civil War buff and a die hard Southron. I laid a couple round musket balls, a couple of pointed, hollow based minie balls, and a C.S. buckle that had the back belt hooks broken off. They all lay untouched and aging for about three years (he died in 2001). After weathering like that the brass buckle looked original. Anyway, some months back, perhaps a year, I noticed the buckle was gone. I had wondered how long it would stay there. Somebody probably thought it was an original.

Anyway, ethically speaking, I don't see anything wrong with detecting areas outside of plots. I wouldn't want to do it in someone's plot though, on top of someone's loved one's grave. If I came to visit my folks' graves and some bloke was standing on my mama's grave detecting it would irritate me and I would have to say something to him. I would not jump on him or anything but I would definately tell him to move off of and out from around my family plot! Now say if he was digging a hole on top of a family member's grave, I might get rude!
Just my take,
Dave

 

[Born2Dtect]

My state Maryland has laws covering distubance of all burial sites even privte. Basicaly you can not dig around? or in graves, even to move them, with out getting state approval. I hunt as close? as 25 feet of graves but just don,t feel comfortable getting closer. There is too much land out there to not respect others resting places. Check your staes laws before you go it may save you a lot of trouble. Most grave sites are private property owned by a Church, Town, or Group.

Ed?

 

[wmas1960]

A few thoughts off the top of my head, then I am going to read the other replies. This subject came up a short time ago. Some of the things that were mentioned was about searching in NON BURIAL areas. That might be OK if you have permission. Remember, cemetaries are usually private property. Those, like military cemetaries, that are public property would be considered monuments and would probably be forbidden by the National Parks Service etc. So, I would make sure before going there. I would think, if they forbid photography, for example, in most cemetaries, metal detecting would, probably, not be a desiered activity either. Some people can be very sensitive to such presenses so give some thought.

I believe, It would be wrong to search in the areas where the graves are. Further, some people think that all the items that they find are lost items. That may not be true. Some items are left by mourners as a gift or memory to the one who died. Those would be intended to remain there. It might be a charished childhood toy or a piece of jewelry a military medal... Maybe coins bearing the date of birth or death... Not to rain on someones parade but I saw a picture a few days ago of a charm bracelet that someone found. While that might have been lost by a visitor, it could also have been left as a memorial for a loved one who died. It had charms that seemed to represent zodiac signs, if I recall, and the births of children. I just can't help but wonder if that might not have been left intentionally. Say, by some children, for Mom.

So, Personally, I would stay away from cemetaries. They are a very sensitive area and last thing I would want to do is disturb those who are remeniscing or mourning a friend or relative. Imagine if you were visiting a gravesite and you saw people around the area wandering with metal detectors.

Those are just some of my thoughts, since you ask.

 

[gfletch1]

On my farm, there is an abandoned cemetery that dates to the turn of the century. This past year, the state gov't wanted to widen the highway past my place and wanted to know who owned the cemetery. I said it belongs to the people buried there. The attorney general called me and said that they couldn't determine an owner so as far as the state was concerned, it now belongs to me since my land adjoins it. Sooo... since I now own it, I'm going to hunt it next spring when the weeds are matted down. I don't think the spirits will mind!

 

[Dr.Jones]

I also had the intuition of hunting in a graveyard. I would not do it if it was a cemetary that was still in use, but i have 2 in my small town that date back to the early 1800's and I have been there a couple times, without a detector. The most recent graves in both was 1834 and 1863. I have never ever seen anyone at either cemetary in all my 25 yrs. In this case i would say its probably not that big a deal as long as you digging with a little hand shovel and not a backhoe. :P Where would you ask for permission to hunt a graveyard anyway. Also, both areas i am referring to are overgrown with grass.

 

[slow sweeper]

Personally I would not detect around a cemetary. Some people have no problem with it. To each his own. But I really don't understand why you think you'd find lots of old coins in a cemetary. But if you dig deep enough you might find some gold teeth.

 

[da Hobo]

Interesting thread with input from both sides.

Early this year, when I first got into MDing, I thought about maybe sweeping a cemetery or two in my area. We have some very old ones that seemed interesting. I asked our local funeral director (Digger O'dell) if it was permitted. His reply . . .

"I don't see why not. But don't dig too deep. We bury urns at about 18" in case someone wants them moved later . . . they are easy to retrieve."

I gave it some thought and decide it probably wasn't the best location to md. HOWEVER . . . we happen to have a very old AND deserted cemetery that was just rediscovered about 6-8 years ago and hasn't been used since the mid 1800's and it's WAY off any roads, in the middle of a farm/woods. A cemetery restoration group has cleared it and mows it now and I might consider looking around that location sometime.

In any case, I would expect VERY little finds in places like that. After all, there is little foot traffic there and people are there a VERY short time and seldom handle money and such while they are there. You are MUCH better off sweeping the edges of your local sidewalks and not near as likely to be in the wrong.

JMHO

Hobo

 

[JerV3]

It's a hunt at your own risk type of spot. There are good finds to be made in them. You have to pick and choose the days to be there. Weather like going in the rain you will see less people. I would hunt the sides of the roads and any open fields. I have made good silver and coin finds in these spots.

One thing I did notice is this. That I wasn't the first person to hunt them. Second people walk through the place let there dogs run and I have actualy seen kids riding quads and dirt bikes in them. Cops won't take you to jail. Atleast not in p.a. They will tell you to leave if a neighbor calls them.

You could be confronted by someone so you best be able to hold your own. I take my chances from time to time when the opportunity is there.

It's your call just my opinion on it.

Be safe

Jeremy

 

[Kent in AL]

I once hunted under a small pavilion at a cemetary. It was once used for funerals but I doubt it's been used for decades. It had a gravel floor so I thought a coin or two might have rolled out over the years but I didn't find any. However, it was my first detector and probably one of my first times to hunt so maybe I should go back sometime. I wouldn't hunt anywhere else in that cemetary because it is still used. I know of another one way out in the woods that hasn't been used in about 80 years that I might try sometime. But only on the fringe areas.

If you do detect a cemetary and get the reading "Gold ring at 6 feet", don't dig.

Kent

 

[Cfm]

Right on SWR... ^5's to you...

 

[spotz]

I detected a local Pioneer Cemetary this spring. Research states that it has been abandoned to nature. I detected the whole place for a day & took a lot of pix. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon & it was very peacful. Ground squirrels do way more damage than any professional detectorist ever wood. A six inch digging tool or my Lesche was all I used. The ground was almost powder dry & I found nothing old. I intend to hit it again after we get some serious rain. I sook pix of all teh stones & have spent several interesting hours doing searches on the names.
Spotz

 

[Pistolero]

Hey Spotz,
I noticed under the pic it said "Foster Cemetery". What state was it in? Just curious. It would seem someone, some distant descendent, or some local society, would cliean it up. Those headstones need to be stood back upright.

You mentioned you wrote down some of the names. You ought to write them all down and send them to the USgenweb Tombstone project. I am sure they would be appreciated.
Take care,
Dave