Found Gravestone in yard.. (Pittsburgh: insurance, house, buying)

[sbrobbie]

My husband was mowing the lawn at the property we have a contract on. He had to mow the lawn for the perc test, it was getting way to high. (no one lives at the property, tear down home) At the back of the property he found a tombstone. The house we currently own has a tombstone of a cat at the back of our property. Our crazy neighbor who owns a town home buried her cat on common ground. I was sick to my stomach yesterday upon my husband telling me we have a grave at the new land. I am feeling a bit like what the heck, we move to Pittsburgh and one animal tombstone and now this, a person's tombstone. I am thinking of getting the land blessed, what are thoughts? Anyone else have this happen to them, is this common in Pittsburgh?

[Aqua Teen Carl]

That's creepy, yet awesome. I've never heard of anyone around here stumbling on a tombstone.

[BrianTH]

The pet thing I have heard about before, but never a person.

[sbrobbie]

Yeah, I stumbled on the cat one when we were unknowingly on her tombstone looking at my property. The day after we closed is when the crazy woman took off all the leaves and we then had seen a memorial for her cat. It is illegal to bury an animal like that, especially when it is not on your land. She is absolutely nuts this woman that I live by. She is one of the reasons we are buying new land, only to find a different type of headstone at the land we have a contract on. I am starting to wonder what the heck.......

[Mugatu]

Interesting. You should probably check your homeowners policy to see if you have coverage for zombie outbreaks. Your property would be at high risk.

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by mugatu

interesting. You should probably check your homeowners policy to see if you have coverage for zombie outbreaks. Your property would be at high risk.

lol!

[KoobleKar]

It's not common, but it is perfectly legal (as long as it's a certain number of feet from any natural water). In order to remove it however, you'd need to get a court order for disinterment. Once someone is "resting in peace", it's supposed to remain that way unless there's a decent reason for removal.
I'm not so sure I follow why you'd get it blessed however. The grave was probably consecrated when the burial took place.

[Tallysmom]

How old is the tombstone? A lot of family plots on the ancient homestead are around the area. I know Cranberry has lots -- some of them I'm sure had old wooden markers that dissappeared with time and have been developed over.

I'm not sure if this would help -- but even though there are ghost hunters that talk about haunted graveyards, my thought (and others think the same) is why would they? Ghosts would go where they died tragically or lived happily to haunt, not where they were planted.

Also another thing to check -- sometimes things happen at graveyards. I once stayed at an inn whose main walkway was made from old headstones. When I asked about it, the graveyard they came from had a large washout flood, and the town ended up abandoning the site and moving the graves that were left. These headstones were so old and had no graves to belong to, and no relatives that cared anymore, so she bought them.

Now these I could see as being visited from beyond, because it's awful hard to walk on these things and not think about those people. I know we did.

And if the stone is more recent, I agree with the previous poster -- they would have had to get permission, so there has to be a record somewhere.

Good luck!

[Copanut]

If you haven't closed on that property yet, I'd hold off to see if that grave may cause a problem. You want to make sure it's a buildable lot.

[sbrobbie]

How old is the tombstone?

My husband said it was triangle in shape, had a name but no date. Anyone know a time frame where this style was popular?

I'm not so sure I follow why you'd get it blessed however. The grave was probably consecrated when the burial took place.

Well, I figure if it is the family that lived theirs grave, it probably was not blessed, the family lived on that block and I know the cousin. I am positive she does not know of the grave, so I doubt it was blessed. The home we are demolishing has a note on it by the county, it is not livable. Interesting.

You should probably check your homeowners policy to see if you have coverage for zombie outbreaks. Your property would be at high risk.

Yeah, will look into that insurance... will need it, if you see a blonde zombie in the news next year,,, it is me... lol lol lol