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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
A repository of morbid curiosities:
Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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Graveyards of Chicago:
The People, History, Art, and Lore of Cook County Cemeteries
By Matt Hucke And Ursula Bielski. Discover a Chicago That Exists Just Beneath the Surface - About Six Feet Under! Take a tour of Chicago's permanent residents! Please visit the Lake Claremont Press website to purchase your copy of Graveyards of Chicago today!
Green-Wood Cemetery Arcadia Publishing announces the release of Alexandra Mosca's historic account of one of New York's most famous cemeteries. Aracdia Publishing's Images of America series has an extensive catalog of many cemetery publications! Please visit Arcadia Publishing to purchase your copy of Green-Wood Cemetery and to browse other available titles!
Men of Mortuaries Calendar
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Epitaphs: The Magazine for Cemetery Lovers By Cemetery Lovers
For information regarding subscriptions, single issues, submission guidelines, deadlines, classifieds or advertising for future issues, please visit The Cemetery Club.
Guardians of the Soul: Angels and Innocents, Mourners and Saints, Indiana's remarkable cemetery sculpture
with photography by John Bower and foreword by Claude Cookman is now
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West Springfield Massachusetts: Stories Carved in Stone by Rusty Clark features information on early New England gravestone carvers with more than two hundred photos and illustrations. Please visit the Dog Pond Press website.
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Beleaguered Carver cemetery sells for $200,000 |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Saturday, 05 June 2004 |
SUFFOLK — The long-beleaguered Carver Memorial Cemetery has been sold.
And the city, which had been scheduled in March to sell Suffolk’s largest historically black cemetery for back taxes, had nothing to do with the sale.
Two Chesapeake businessmen, W. Mike Robinson and William E. Mann Jr. , handed over an estimated $200,000 directly to the Applewhite family. Of that amount, about $113,000 paid the taxes, Suffolk Treasurer Ronald H. Williams said Thursday.
Under the scrutiny of the state Cemetery Board, ownership of the cemetery has gone back and forth between Paul C. Applewhite and his son, Abraham Applewhite.
The elder Applewhite originally bought the property from the city in the 1970s. He managed the property until he handed it over to his son.
That’s when many of the problems started. People who owned lots there complained about poor maintenance, unkempt lawns and bad roads. There was even one lawsuit alleging that Abraham Applewhite had buried a woman in the wrong plot.
Eventually, the state board pulled his cemetery license. When Paul Applewhite went to the board last fall to say that he was going to take over managing the cemetery, he was unlicensed at the time and could no longer sell lots. Only those who already owned lots could continue burying their loved ones in Carver.
By that time, the city had filed suit for back taxes. And, until a number of people with relatives buried there complained to City Council, the cemetery was scheduled to be sold at auction.
Meanwhile, Robinson’s was just one of a number of inquiries that Williams, the treasurer, said he received about the cemetery, where nearly 5,000 people have been buried.
Robinson said Thursday that all of Carver’s problems are in the past. Robinson and Mann have hired Vincent D. Newby , a man who worked for the city of Norfolk in its cemeteries for more than 30 years, as vice president and director of operations for the new company: DD & B Carver Cemetery LLC.
“We’re going to fix all of the problems,†said Robinson, who also owns a Chesapeake mortgage company, D&D Home Loans Inc. “All concerns will be met. We want to beautify the place, and we’ve hired a contractor to maintain it in a professional manner.â€
Robinson and Mann said they plan to rededicate the cemetery to mark a new beginning. Meanwhile, Robinson said, they also plan to fix the roads immediately.
“We may not pave the roads right away, but we’ve already got plans in place to fill the holes and re-gravel,†Robinson said.
The goal is to “change the negative public perception of Carver Memorial Cemetery,†the partners said in a press release.
“We are extremely excited about working with the community at large and offering personalized services for families during their time of need.â€
Carver had a city-assessed value of about $300,000 , Williams said in March. The cemetery has about 800 lots remaining in the developed section and another undeveloped 15 acres.
Robinson said that he, Mann and Newby will go to the next state Cemetery Board meeting to apply for a license in the new company’s name, and that cemetery lots in Carver may soon be sold again.
T.C. Williams, president of the Rosemont-Lloyd Place Civic League and a proponent of the city taking over Carver, said he wasn’t surprised by the sale.
“Anything has got to be better than what the Applewhites did with it,†Williams said. “But the future of Carver is still unsettled.â€
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=71287&ran=184683 |
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” Helen Keller
Shirtless and Sculpted
The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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