CEMETERY DESTRUCTION AGAIN!

Cemetery Destruction AGAIN!!!! HORRIBLE
Leslie Braddock - Mar 7, 2007 View Viewers

This is happening in Louisiana..it is a common practice for the Catholic Church to remove graves and "reuse" the spaces if no one claims them..it happened in the historic St. Martinville Church where my "Jean Charles LeBlanc" ancestor was burried according to records but his body is "missing". I guess they just "forgot" to move him when they moved the cemetery and made way for a parking lot! He is the Father of the current LeBlanc family that lives in Louisiana and is on the St. Martinville Wall of Ancestors of the Original Acadians. What is going on here is HORRIBLE and wrong on so many levels.And My "Jean Charles LeBlanc" is just one of HUNDREDS of "missing graves" at that church. We have to stop this practice..I dont know if any of you live in Louisiana but if you do ..please pass this on to anyone that you think might be able to help this or fight this issue.
Thanks,
Leslie Braddock

This is a notice to anyone who has ancestors who were part of the St. Nicholas Catholic Church near Patoutville/Lydia. There are many dozens of sites throughout, which are nothing more than a pile of broken bricks and mortar. Some are open so that the remains are visible.
Is this the way you would want your great-great grandmother to "rest in peace"?
Furthermore, a Finance Committee from the church has posted signs announcing that if these sites are not claimed by April 7, 2007, then repaired, the remains will be removed to another spot and the site cleared. The vast majority of these graves have markers. Some of the families represented areDubois, Dupuy, Gary, Guillot, Louviere, Hebert, etc.
A group of genealogy enthusiasts including some people who live out of state, called The Friends of the Historical St. Nicholas Cemetery are working together to find living descendants and notify them of the need to make a claim known to the church and then to do repairs immediately. Anyone in this organization who suspects he has an ancestor buried there can contact me, and we can help you to determine if this is a problem for you and your family.
My contact info is Julaine Deare Schexnayder, 337 365-7667, or julainehome@cox.net.
We have just completed the inventory of the entire cemetery. Unfortunately many tombs are unmarked. But we are willing to do lookups for any name you'd like. E-mail me at julainehome@cox.net. I am a member of the Lafayette Genealogical Society and would like to make a presentation to the group on our efforts since last fall to prevent any destruction to the historical tombs in the St. Nicholas Cemetery at Patoutville/Lydia. We have been able to find descendants for about 10-15 tombs and some have already been repaired.
This is happening in Louisiana..it is a common practice for the Catholic Church to remove graves and "reuse" the spaces if no one claims them..it happened in the historic St. Martinville Church where my "Jean Charles LeBlanc" ancestor was burried according to records but his body is "missing". I guess they just "forgot" to move him when they moved the cemetery and made way for a parking lot! He is the Father of the current LeBlanc family that lives in Louisiana and is on the St. Martinville Wall of Ancestors of the Original Acadians. What is going on here is HORRIBLE and wrong on so many levels.And My "Jean Charles LeBlanc" is just one of HUNDREDS of "missing graves" at that church. We have to stop this practice..I dont know if any of you live in Louisiana but if you do ..please pass this on to anyone that you think might be able to help this or fight this issue.ThanksLeslie BraddockThis is a notice to anyone who has ancestors who were part of the St. >> Nicholas Catholic Church near Patoutville/Lydia. There are many dozens >> of sites throughout, which are nothing more than a pile of broken bricks >> and mortar. Some are open so that the remains are visible!>>>> Is this the way you would want your great-great grandmother to "rest in >> peace"?>>>> Furthermore, a Finance Committee from the church has posted signs >> announcing that if these sites are not claimed by April 7, 2007, then >> repaired, the remains will be removed to another spot and the site >> cleared. The vast majority of these graves have markers. Some of the >> families represented areDubois, Dupuy, Gary, Guillot, Louviere, Hebert, etc.>>>> A group of genealogy enthusiasts including some people who live out of >> state, called The Friends of the Historical St. Nicholas Cemetery are >> working together to find living descendants and notify them of the need >> to make a claim known to the church and then to do repairs immediately. Anyone in this organization who suspects he has an ancestor buried there can contact me, and we can help you to determine if this is a problem for you and your family.>>>> My contact info is Julaine Deare Schexnayder, 337 365-7667, or julainehome@cox.net
We have just completed the inventory of the entire cemetery. >> Unfortunately many tombs are unmarked. But we are willing to do lookups >> for any name you'd like. E-mail me at julainehome@cox.net. I am a member of the Lafayette Genealogical Society and would like to make a presentation to the group on our efforts since last fall to prevent any destruction to the historical tombs in the St. Nicholas Cemetery at Patoutville/Lydia. We have been able to find descendants for about 10-15 tombs and some have already been repaired.
Julaine Schexnayder New Iberia, LA 337 365-7667