|
|
Under the legislation, a historic burial place is defined as a tract of land that has existed as a burial ground for more than 100 years, and/or is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as determined by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Hasay said he is aware of several old cemeteries in his district where the headstones were stolen over the years.
He recently spearheaded efforts to clean up the old Trescott Cemetery in Huntington Township, which contains the final resting places of settlers and soldiers who fought in the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War.
"There are many throughout the county, and they contain the remains of those who helped build this area. We need to pay our respects by cleaning these places up and protecting them," Hasay said.
"That is the importance of enacting legislation that will provide a further deterrent to vandalism of historic grave markers and burial places."
The new law was good news for Jesse Teitelbaum, executive director of the Luzerne County Historical Society. He said the legislation not only protects the cemeteries from vandals, it also preserves a valuable resource for genealogy research.
"Old cemeteries are invaluable to those who research their family history," Teitelbaum said. "Years ago they used to put a lot of useful information on the headstones, such as the person's parents and spouse, sayings and even the cause of death. Protecting them for the future is really important."
Teitelbaum said there are many such cemeteries in the county, although most are small family plots. Some of the larger cemeteries containing century-old headstones, he said, include Forty Fort, Hanover Green, Hollenback and the West Pittston (Harding-Jenkins) cemeteries.
"A lot of the others are in rural sections of the county and they have some of the first settlers," Teitelbaum said. "But they're really small and can be forgotten."
However, Teitelbaum pointed to the work Hasay did to clean up the Trescott Cemetery as an example of the growing interest in the historical places.
"Cleaning up the Trescott Cemetery was a great project, and I think there is a huge movement to save these old cemeteries," he said. "Many churches, social groups and scouting organizations have become involved, and anything that helps protect them from vandalism is a good thing."
