Cemeteries are always full of mysteries and that is what makes doing research in them and about them so interesting. People are usually shocked when I explain that in Greenridge Cem. in Saratoga Springs, some of these people have been buried 3 times. When the first cemetery opened in 1844, older cemeteries were moved in from around the county. When the newer portion opened in 1880, the later families bought bigger plots and moved them from the old cemetery so some of the earlier reburials were moved again. I am always fascinated to see how many reburials were done in many cemeteries. One project I did in Binghamton had an earlier cemetery moved up into Glenwood Cem. They did not move them in the order of burial. When I found the old forgotten papers in the City Clerks office it showed the caretaker removed them in the order that the papers of approval for removal came in. Thinking in terms of how you would type on a typewriter, when you get to the end of the line on the right, you went back to the left margin. The caretaker dug them up, loaded them on a wagon pulled by horses, drove them from the North side of Binghamton across the river and up the hill into Glenwood. He started on the left and went 12 rows. #13 started back on the left margin and continued to until # 25 which went back to the left margin. So where he dug up several members of a family, if the reburials ended up being at the end of the #12 burial in that row, the family was split up because those remaining were buried starting on the left margin of the next row. Without finding those papers, it would have been an unsolved mystery. By the way, not everyone who is listed on a stone is buried there in some cases. We do a lot of lettering in cemeteries and families are having us add additional family members names and dates so that there is a permanent record that will not burn. Great for genealogists. One monument was full and a sister was cremated and ashes spread elsewhere. There was a granite urn with a flat, smooth side as part of their memorial. They had us put her name and years of birth and death on that urn. They felt badly that she was not buried there but feel now they are all together. Be aware and don't let these things trap you. The Bible states that when Jesus returns, he will be coming in the East sky, hence that is why most cemeteries lay them out that way. Now that I am employed in the cemetery monument business here in Saratoga Springs, I have discovered quite a few other reasons for cemeteries to be laid out as they are. From the earlier sections of some cemeteries, the dimensions of the graves have changed a lot. Some caretakers and cemetery boards had laid them out in the past to get as many burials in so that means more income. Burial policies dictate that they stay within the those lines but over the years other factors in the funeral industry have messed up those boundaries. Today, many cemeteries are remaping so that they are 3 1/2' - 4' wide by 10 feet long to accomondate the vault or these newer designed larger caskets. Go look at the earlier grave sizes and see what a difference there is. People are growing taller than previously so they are needing to lay them out differently. Cemeteries that sold lots that were 8' long, many of those with 4 (two front and two back) plots are needing to bury two the long way and one across those two in the rows behind. They cannot get a 4th in with the newer vaults and caskets. Some families have been forced to cremate if they planned on using the earlier purchased family lots. Tree roots from earlier plantings cause all kinds of changes and strangely, people do not want them taken out to get the space back so they bury at angles instead of where the graves are. Mike Noonan, a Saratoga photographer, discovered from a photo taken in the air of Prospect Hill Cemetery in Schuylerville that the circled plots are laid out like a Celtic circle AND further back in the clearing in a field past the Saratoga Monument is a design that was in vegetation of a Celtic circle. Had these shown up in the Catholic cemetery across the street from Prospect Hill, one would not think much of it. But why in Prospect Hill and why the one in the field next door? Why did the earlier planners of Prospect put in those Celtic circle designs when the rest of the cemetery is buried in the traditional style? Just an interesting design with the circles included or intentionally Celtic circles? Whatever you discover, make sure that that is in print and placed into more than one repository to be found by anyone researching in the future. Keep up the good work. God Bless Ruth Ann [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]