This article appeared in the Florida Peninsular in
May of 1866 titled "Our Grave Yards." The conditions of our cemeteries
was outlined and it is apparent that the upkeep and maintenance of
local cemeteries has been a persisting problem for the past 140 years
and continues to be a problem today, as some of our cemeteries slowly
disappear. It's believed this article is directly speaking of a
cemetery in Tampa however it shows the cemeteries in our area have laid
in neglect for many years and several of those in Pasco County are
still victim to years of neglect.
We had an occasion a few evenings
ago, to visit one of our Grave yards, and must confess our surprise and
mortification at finding it in so miserable dilapidated, and apparently
neglected condition. It would seem that the old saying "what is
everybody's business is nobody's business," is here fully illustrated.
Has not almost every old resident
of the area, some precious jewel or jewels deposited there and is it
not the anticipated resting place of our own mortalities! Can
it then be a place of so little interest as to cause no emotions in our
hearts when we think of its condition. Has the memory of the dear ones
deposited there become so faint, and the affections which once
clustered around them become so enervated by "times endless hand" as to
entitle us to look at its present appearance with indifference? Surely
not. Surely there is more pride and more spirit yet left in our midst
to suffer the sepulchers of our dead, to remain much longer, thus
neglected, thus dishonored.
|