Disinterment & Reinterment Permits – Yes, Buried Individuals do Sometimes Get Moved (and Legally)!
Sometimes buried individuals get moved. Sometimes a loved one decides on an alternate location. Sometimes a lake, highway, or other forms of new construction take place, and buried individuals are forced to be moved. Sometimes an individual died during a military conflict, was buried in one place and then re-buried in another (see WWI Casualty Records: The WWI Individual Deceased Personnel File (WWI I.D.P.F.) for more information on the latter.)
So, if someone is not buried where expected based on what’s stated on their death certificate, in an obituary, in funeral home records, etc., consider if they might have been disinterred and reinterred elsewhere.
Typically, when doing this legally, permits are required. My mind started wandering down this path when I reread “Disinterment/Reinterment Permits: One Source Available through the State Archive for Locating a Grave.”
A previous post, Jewish Tombstones Repurposed and Now Rediscovered -- Let's Talk Cemetery Relocations (2014) also includes discussion of reasons why cemeteries are sometimes relocated, including those by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
As usual, this got me curious what states (or authorities) have created digital archives of the permits associated with disinterring/reinterring those bodies already buried. There is a lot of information about the rules and regulations and the paperwork required!
With some searching, I discovered the following additional digital archives:
That was all I could find. I wasn’t exhaustive and clearly though, not much is currently available online.
There are clearly many on-the-ground accessible archives for these records and little that appears to be available online. Even a search on collections which are part of the FamilySearch online platform returned “no collections found” when I searched on disinterment! Archivegrid gave me 35 entries when I searched for the term.
Has a collection of Disinterment, Reinterment, Burial Permits or related been digitized for your locale?
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
