Very Old Cemeteries

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Steve(MS)]

Same here. Years ago I hunted some close by rural cemeteries. There wasn't anything in them to be found. These were out in pastures and are real old. I got a feeling most people who visited them in long years past were in their better clothes and probably didn't drop very much. I did find a few pulltabs, foil and modern coinage but it was very little. I really don't think they are worth detecting. I don't think anyone cared that I detected them but wouldn't do it if you aren't familiar with the locals. If you can find a nearby church or old house place then detecting them would be a better.

 

[tabdog]

n/t

 

[coin2]

Hello
Your right about breacking the law. I was told that hunting in grave yards with a metal detector is off limits. Besides who wants to search in a grave yard any way.

priscilla

 

[Dyna_Willie]

I am sure there are unscrupulous people who have dug up graves in hope of gaining jewelry, not for me, gives me the creeps thinking about it.

 

[GRAY GHOST]

n/t

 

[Dyna_Willie]

agreed Gray Ghost, I sat down and wrote a huge list of places I can go, never once did a cemetery pop in to my thought process. Very taboo if you ask me. It just doesn't even seem right even if you did have permission. What if you were in an old cemetery, get a hit, start to dig, come to find out the bones had rose over time and you landed in a shallow grave and there was a finger attached to the ring you just popped. NO THANKS!

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[tabdog]

It's possible. All graves are not marked for one reason or another.

I designed a water system that went through a small town called McCroy, AR. I also did the surveying on the water system and had located the highway right-of- way. As the construction company was approaching an intersection, I discovered that there was a cemetery there. There was a square monument that I thought was a highway right-of-way monument. That monument turned out to be the only head stone left standing in the whole cemetery. People have been driving over his grave for decades apparently without even noticing it.

The back hole was 100' from the grave of the guy that the cemetery was named after. I had to stop the construction and re-design the water line. It cost several thousands of dollars in 8"couplings,pipe, concrete blocking, two highway cuts, valves and labor.Can you guess who's fault it was. That's OK I took it out of the contractor's hide. He owed it to me anyway.

HH,

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We all too often get bad PR. They had some kids a few years ago destroying headstones in Oxford MI.Also in an Oxford cemetery some weirdo was robbing crypts of human remains he just happened to work at a local muffler shop.Norman Bates had nothing on this guy.If you metal detect near this cemetery you might as well put a big target on your back.

 

[Dyna_Willie]

Oh my, what would you possibly want with human remains... What a sicko...

 

[Rick(ND)]

Many people will bury jewelry and other items near the headstone that was forgotten when the person was buried to REMAIN there.
I remember a few years back someone was telling me they have the best luck detecting next to the headstones without realizing the rings and stuff was put there on purpose. I call that Grave robbing.
I have detected the walkways and the parking area outside, but if I have to walk across the grave site I will pick up my detector and hold the coil in the air. Many of the country cemeteries used to have churches by them, so the area around them I have detected, but not inside the fence in area as this property belongs to the family's of the person buried there.

 

[shawn1]

Do not think i could do that, i would be scared id dig up someones body parts.

 

[Hugh Pharted]

I have a very old cemetry that borders our property w/ unmarked graves w/ headstones w/ no engravings and marked graves. The oldest that's marked is hand chisled w/ the born date at 1848....I go up there often and say howdy to the folks there but I don't hunt next to it or around it out of respect....OK, So I did hunt next to it one time and it creeped me out thinking what if I'm digging something and I dig a grave that's not marked....I do hunt the entrance way up to about 8 yards of the cemetery. The oldest things that I've found around there is a 1938 wheat penny, some zinc mason jar lids ( everybody needs a drink) and a National silver plated fork..I guess someone got hungry on the way to bury their loved one..lol...The family that is burried there are the Whites which were black slaves and decendants w/ one of the headstones reading Willie B. White.

HP

 

[jmaryt]

i can't!..he's dead!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

i like it!..simple!..easy to remember!

 

[jmaryt]

it really is!..as someone else stated,and i agree,better,more productive sites elsewhere!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

boys from "deliverence",,resurrected!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[JoanInCreek]

Cemetaries in most states are illegal to hunt in. You need to check the laws in your state. Here in Florida, if we stumble on a cemetary, need to report it to the local authorities.

 

[Dyna_Willie]

I am dead set against going even near a cemetery, no pun intended.