Two things:

First.  Congratulations to Phil Lord, on your retirement.  I cannot express
the gratitude for all your help, and the pleasure it has been to have
worked with you.  Now go enjoy that kayak, but stay out of Labrador Pond
where the muck lies only inches below the surface and is the consistancy of
putrid chololate pudding (my experience in kayaking, when I turtled and
nearly drowned in it).

Second.  I will say that David Starbuck is one who will do it right, and
for the right reasons, with historical inquiry behind what he does.  Too
many people think that all that scientists do is dig up and study Indians,
but most of us in the field know that this is simply not the case, but yes,
this examination would show that we do have an interest in Human history,
even of our own kind.

Abe Lincoln, George Washington, and a slew of presidents have been dug up
at least once and wondered at and poked by the curious for various
reasons.  Word is that observers were shocked when they found that
Lincoln's skin had turned black.  Some say it was due to the particular
pickling process they used, others divine revelation.

As for Jane McCrea, her body has been dug up more than once already.  She
was originally buried, with Lieutenant or Colonel Van Vechten (I was unable
to find out anything more on him,) near where they were killed in
1777.  Then about 1823 she was moved to the cemetery in Fort Edward, placed
next to the grave of Mrs. McNeil with whom she lived at the time of her
killing.  In 1852 her bones were exhumed again and reburied in Union
Cemetery, in Fort Edward, where she lies today.  She was placed in a plot
near the entrance to the cemetery, where all could see her grave and simple
marker.  Her neice, Sarah Hanna Payne, is the one who had her moved to this
final place.  Duncan Campbell's remains have a similar story, being first
buried at Fort Ticonderoga, then at Fort Edward in 1823, moved again in
1871, and then in 1920 they were moved to the present spot right next to
Jane's.  I have a feeling Van Vechten was moved around alot also.

There are many sources and facts about these events, and, as Ruthann
Messick pointed out, there is a great deal known about Jane McCrea, but we
all know there is even more that we do not know.  Here is an opportunity
not often presented to do a serious look at the remains, and not some
anecdotal poking at the bones.  Archaeology and forensic investigation
provide us with a unique and explicit way to read those pages of history
that were not heretofore available.

For an recent interpretation of much of the story of Jane McCrea, take a
look at:
http://www.yacc-uk.freeserve.co.uk/macrae/JaneMcCrea.htm

        Dan W.