I stopped at a few cemeteries on my genealogical trip to Iowa. It’s nice to get outside in the fresh air after spending the morning in a musty courthouse.
At the Halferty Cemetery in Keokuk county, I was able to find the gravestones of my great-great-great grandparents. Their stones were worn, but in tact and still readable (I will post them on another day).
I was appalled at the fate of the neighboring gravestones though.
After spending a couple of days in rural Iowa, I can imagine that it sometimes gets boring. I had little to no cell phone coverage. There wasn’t a Starbucks or a movie theater or a shopping mall in sight. I get that. Kids get bored and look for things to do.
I have heard of farm kids going “cow tipping” before, but have you ever heard of “gravestone tipping”?
I have to admit that I”m making some assumptions here. I don’t know exactly what happened in this cemetery. All I know is that it wasn’t Mother Nature that knocked these down. And I’m assuming that it had to be some adolescent punks, because I can’t imagine anyone else doing this.
Many of the gravestones were pushed over, off of their bases, left in the grass.
The funny thing is, the cemetery appears to be maintained. The grass had been mowed sometime in the past couple of weeks. There is a fence surrounding it.
How could someone do something like that? 🙁
I wasn’t sure what to do or who to complain to. It isn’t a church or city cemetery. Even though it wasn’t my ancestors, I was still upset.
But I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t do anything. I took my pictures and drove on to the next county to do some more research.
What would you have done?
Should I try to contact someone – perhaps the local genealogical or historical society?
