Signs aim to discourage cemetery vandalism

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal staff | Thursday, November 22, 2007

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ROUBAIX CEMETERY -- The still, gray morning was perfect for a slow walk through the small Roubaix Cemetery.

The day was warm by November standards and ideal for Vernon Davis, 72, who drove from his home in Beulah, Wyo., to hang signs at the cemetery and the Mountain Meadow Cemetery down the road.

The signs warn would-be thieves and vandals that the Society of Black Hills Pioneers and the Lawrence County History Society are prepared to offer a reward for the arrest and conviction of anyone desecrating the cemetery.

Davis and volunteers have posted more than 50 of the signs at cemeteries scattered throughout the Northern Hills and Rapid City.

And there's still more work to do.

Davis estimates there are scores of cemeteries scattered throughout the region. Whether isolated or near well-traveled roads, cemeteries can be easy prey for thoughtless vandals who think nothing of shooting at tombstones, prying them out of the ground or even stealing them.

Near the center of the Roubaix Cemetery, Vernon Davis pointed to the family plot of the James C. Andersen family.

Surrounded by a worn concrete curb, the plot contains three, moss-covered stones and a brief glimpse into a family's life. James Andersen was born in 1843 and died in 1915. Petrine Andersen, most likely James' wife, was born in 1865 and died in 1944. The Andersens lost a "Beloved Daughter," Gladys Violet, in 1903. The little girl died just one month short of her second birthday.

There's a lot of history in the cemeteries scattered throughout the Black Hills, Davis said.

"People forget that there were 36,000 people in this area in 1878," Davis said, sweeping his arm to encompass the forested hills that lured people after gold was discovered in 1874.

Davis recently helped replace a slim pillar of gray marble in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Spearfish. The stone was found tossed aside on Forest Service property in the Tinton area several weeks ago, Davis said.

The monument commemorates the brief life (eight days) of Baby Russell, who lived and died in 1883. The child was the son of J.H. and E. Russell.

But, for someone who has spent the past few months mounting signs at cemeteries, the monument has another story.

Davis says the pillar was clean and probably kept in someone's home before it was discarded.

Without the stone, there would be one less record of the child, Davis said.

"He is just gone," he said. "Who in the world would want to destroy something that was dead for that long?"

Leonard McVay of Piedmont can recall the anguish he and others felt when the Piedmont Cemetery was vandalized in July 2006. More than 60 stones were knocked over, chipped and damaged in two separate nights of vandalism.

"It was very devastating to see what happened," McVay said.

The Piedmont Cemetery is the final resting place for several members of the Cooper family, relatives of McVay's wife, Alta.

Someday, the McVays will join them, even though Leonard McVay is a veteran and could be buried in the nearby National Cemetery. The couple decided it would be better to be near family in Piedmont.

"It's nice to have everyone in the same place," McVay said. "Maybe someone will come and visit us," he chuckled.

The individuals who damaged the Piedmont Cemetery have not been caught, McVay said.

A $3,000 reward offered by the cemetery association has never been claimed.

Davis' campaign to protect cemeteries from vandalism began shortly after the Piedmont Cemetery was violated.

Not long afterwards, several 100-year-old stones in Belle Fourche's Minnesela Cemetery were overturned and pulled out of the ground. Many of the stones marked the final resting place of Civil War veterans, including a great-great-uncle of Davis.

"I decided right then and there that something had to be done," Davis said.

Davis enlisted the help of the two historical societies to raise the reward money. There's about $4,000 that can be metered out to compensate people willing to turn in people who have plundered or damaged cemeteries.

And, Summit Signs of Rapid City agreed to donate the 12-inch-by-18-inch metal signs.

Teresa Verburg and JoAnn Tibbs of the sign company say donating the signs is the least they can do for a community that has been good to them.

Both women come from small towns and are sentimental about cemeteries. Tibbs grew up in Buffalo Gap. That cemetery is dotted with little gravestones for babies dating back to the 1800s, she said.

"It's just history," Tibbs said. "We all should do something to preserve it."

Summit Signs has donated at least 75 signs, valued at about $20 each, but the women shrug off their contribution. Davis and the volunteers are doing the hard work locating the cemeteries and delivering the signs, Tibbs said.

Davis has also tackled the sometimes-cumbersome process of getting permission from the U.S. Forest Service and municipalities to install the signs.

The Society of the Black Hills Pioneers will coordinate with area police departments to make the awards available, according to board member Janice Heffron of Deadwood.

Heffron said the signs may be making a difference.

"I've been told that the vandalism has gone down since this started," she said.

Davis is optimistic that the signs and reward have prompted parents to warn their children about the consequences of vandalism or inspire others to report any damage they witness.

With the cost of replacing a tombstone ranging from $500 to several thousand dollars, vandals face misdemeanor chargers that can include stiff fines and jail time, he said.

Davis also believes that vandals should be ordered to do community-service work cleaning and maintaining the areas they vandalize.

It's better than a criminal record that will haunt them the rest of their lives, he said.

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com