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The US Veterans Administration runs the many National Cemeterys for military veterans. They have a standard practice of double burials. Usually for servicemember and spouse. Can be either casket or cremation urns. Not sure if their new columbariums (urns in a niche in a wall) can handle double or not.
Found out that a previously unknown great aunt died as a child. The cemetery office was able to look up in their ancient records -- she died as a toddler about a hundred years ago, and was buried in "cemetery grounds" -- their term for potters field. They did have a section/row/grave number, though. Her parents would have been poor immigrants at that time.
There are many old "family plots" that have as many as 8 buried in one grave. They can tell from the records how deep each one is buried. I'm the 8th person that will be going into my plot -- the first was a g-g-grandfather who died in 1929. I'll be cremated, so theoretically, more people could have their ashes interred their, and their name added to the stone.
I remember an old Law & Order episode that had the detectives drive out to a potters field in either NY or NJ, to halt the burial of an unknown who had just been identified. It was a mass burial, tons of wooden coffins with numbers spray painted on top. I'm guessing they stored the bodies in a massive morgue and had burials every so often.
I remember that Law & Order episode, too!
Will a prior grave have to be opened to make room for you or will you just be in the same plot?
Adding your name to the stone reminds me. I have found one family that adds names to a monument in a family plot; however, not everyone on the monument is buried there. I think that is misleading. If a person memorialized on the monument is buried elsewhere, that should be noted. It is very confusing to the genealogist to find what appears to be one person in two graves. I realize ashes can be divided, too, but if that is done, give us a clue!
In Montana cemeteries pauper's grave means the expense of burial in plain pine box was paid by the County/City because the deceased/deceased family was without means or the deceased was unclaimed. So those folks were buried in a section of the cemetery that was owned by the County/City. This also was unconsecrated ground.
Many burials occur/occurred without permanent markers but the burial plot & funeral home & burial expenses were paid for by deceased/deceased family.
There were also poor farms, which were county property where those without means lived. Some had cemeteries.
Like any other grave site it depends on the time and place. In the US, which obviously has considerably more room than the UK, paupers' graves were a normal size, one person grave. The deceased was usually buried in the cheapest casket, say a pine box. There was no head stone. Maybe a small metal sign to help prevent a double burial, but nothing more.
I remember that Law & Order episode, too!
Will a prior grave have to be opened to make room for you or will you just be in the same plot?
Not sure what they do. I'm guessing there's a large vault underground that has to be opened and caskets are stacked? Or are there separate vaults for each grave?
Quote:
Originally Posted by suzy_q2010
Adding your name to the stone reminds me. I have found one family that adds names to a monument in a family plot; however, not everyone on the monument is buried there. I think that is misleading. If a person memorialized on the monument is buried elsewhere, that should be noted. It is very confusing to the genealogist to find what appears to be one person in two graves. I realize ashes can be divided, too, but if that is done, give us a clue!
Yeah, I was pretty surprised to find my step-mother's name on 2 stones… and she's still living!! Her name's on her parents' stone as well as her first husband's, with her birth year. Confusing indeed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by historyfan
Many burials occur/occurred without permanent markers but the burial plot & funeral home & burial expenses were paid for by deceased/deceased family.
This was the case of my grandparent's graves, who were also buried with 2 aunts. My mother was shocked to discover that there were no stones at these graves, yet they had been buried for decades. I guess she thought that her older siblings had taken care of it. She and my Dad purchased flat markers for the sites -- explains why some old graves have modern markers. I'm a little surprised, though, that my Mom hadn't visited the graves years earlier -- the discovery was made when she went to bury her father.
Yeah, I was pretty surprised to find my step-mother's name on 2 stones… and she's still living!! Her name's on her parents' stone as well as her first husband's, with her birth year. Confusing indeed!
I have some relatives that have stones with their names on them waiting until they die, too and I have seen a few where the person is dead but the death date was never added.
My great-grandfather died in the 1920s in the town where I live. He and his children weren't on good terms, so they wouldn't pay to bury him. He is buried in a pauper's grave in the poshest cemetery in town. What I was told by the cemetery office is, that they dug a hole and tossed the bodies in, no box. And the site isn't in any way identifiable.
I was trying to get a stone placed, and they wouldn't do it. The only way they would was if I bought a plot elsewhere.
Mental hospitals in the UK used to put three bodies in a grave, one on top of another; there would be a metal marker with three numbers on and these numbers would be recorded in a ledger along with the names. All done as cheaply as possible.
At St Martin's Church, Castleton, near Rochdale, I saw at least a dozen paupers' graves, each with a small numbered metal marker.
My family has a plot in NYC where both my grandparents and aunt are buried. It's considered "full" with the 3 stacked on one another. It's quite common practice in NYC to have multiple people in a single plot.
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