 About one hundred years ago, and from a time not too long after the Civil War, graveyards and burial places took on a different appeal to the American populace. Cemeteries were no longer considered merely places to bury the dead, but became gardened shrines to honor the lives of the persons buried within them. At about this same time the tradition of burying family members on the homestead became less practiced, as Americans became more transient and less likely to own real property, and designated cemeteries were plotted & planned in even the remotest areas. With that change came renewed interest in caring for burial sites and in most of these modern cemeteries the lawns were landscaped and meticulously manicured, monuments were erected by military, fraternal, lineage and social organizations and tombstones became works of art to be eternally displayed as adoring edifices to the dearly departed. On Sunday afternoons in 1890 it was considered socially acceptable to be seen walking or riding in your carriage through your town's cemetery, paying respects to the dead, trimming grass or weeds from obscuring epitaphs and placing flowers on graves, all the while conversing with neighbors and relatives who were also there to do the same. Here in Kaufman County the ritual was the same and there were scheduled picnics held on the lawns of many cemeteries, including the Kaufman City Cemetery, which allowed family and friends a chance to assist each other in tending the graves of their family's plot, while catching up on all that was happening in each other's lives. For many, especially those who were freshly bereaved and not allowed to partake of social engagements for a respectable period of mourning, the visits were the only means of staying in touch with the goings-on in their home town. It was also right before the turn of the century when it became customary for many of Kaufman County's church groups, social organizations and family clans to begin organizing annual, day-long events centered around the maintenance and decoration of the burial sites containing their loved ones - and that tradition has continued until today. For many organized groups, such as the College Mound Church and Cemetery, these annual functions - or Decoration Days, as they are called here in Texas - have become a way to help share the responsibility, both manually & financially, in caring for the county's oldest cemeteries. And in most cases the efforts of those cemeteries where annual gatherings are held have paid off - those burial sites are a joy to visit. However, for those burial places with no affiliations to able-bodied and financially secure caretakers, the years since Kaufman's first pioneers were laid to rest in their soils have been painfully long to endure. Most of them lay in ruin - sad examples of abandoned neglect, vandalism, and in many cases, desecration. 
 Theft of angels from grave sites became popular in Texas a few years back, and although those particular items are not immune to being stolen, it's the theft of antique wrought iron gates and fences, benches, lambs and bronze vases that are more prevalent. Some thieves are even bold enough to steal entire tombstones, with the most lavishly-carved and inscribed ones being their choice targets for making a quick buck. These items can be found in many antique & junque shops throughout this state and in recent months funerary and cemetery ornaments have been listed "For Sale" on the auction websites of the Internet, and it seems every flea market has examples of graveyard art for sale. Our question, as preservationists, should be: "Who is buying these things and why?", and possibly we will find a way to make the theft stop. |