Photo by: Andrew Kuchling
If you are like me, you’ve discovered that in the not too distant past, one or more of your ancestors burial location is unknown or as my sexton friend calls it, “Gone Missing.”
I first heard that term in my quest when I asked a sexton in Massachusetts if he knew where my great granduncle was buried in the cemetery. “Nope.” “He’s gone missing.”
His comment raised my eyebrows and being a child of the “B” horror movie culture by accident, not by choice, visions of grave robbers, ghouls and zombies flooded through my mind no matter how hard I tried to remain soberly focused on his honest response.
Fortunately for many families, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is frequently used in cemetery to find lost graves today. In most cases, more graves are found than was anticipated at the start of the project.
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I have been involved with this process for many years and it is truly awakening to see how many grave sites are “lost” due to boundary changes, construction, the area is no longer fenced in or designated, etc. If you ever have the chance to look at an area with the GPR, do it! Record the findings with graphs and photos and then keep a file for yourself but also file it with the nearest library or historical society for future.
Wonderful post! This is one of the many, many reasons why ground penetrating radar is such an amazing piece of technology. I was recently contracted by my township to scan an area where construction plans were set, but it was an area where unmarked graves might be present. We found the area and we were able to block of the graveyard and building began a couple hundred feet away from the graves. Thanks to ground penetrating radar, no graves were disturbed. We were able to work with US Radar, a company that distributes ground penetrating radar equipment. I highly recommended utilizing ground penetrating radar for non-destructive testing purposes.