WOODSTOCK, Vt.—A man's plan to move a cemetery to make room for a new house is under fire from a veterans group and others who say it's disrespectful of the dead.
J. Michael Guite, 61, of Springfield, the proposed buyer of a 150-acre Hartland farm that contains a small 19th-century cemetery, wants to move the remains of three people buried there. They are Noah Aldrich, a veteran of the War of 1812 who was buried in 1848, and his granddaughters, Louise and Martha Aldrich, who were buried in 1850.
Guite, who has three young children, wants to build a Colonial-style farmhouse and barn on the site, said he doesn't want the graves there.
"I feel that it's improper to have a reminder of the sadness of life so near where children are playing," he said.
He wants to exhume the bodies, remove the headstones and put them elsewhere on the property.
Under state law, the spouses, children, parents or siblings of the dead can object to relocation of human remains, but apparently that doesn't cover people related to those who died in the 1800s.
"The statutes are silent about a lot of these details," said state archaeologist Geovanna Peebles.
The property is owned by the Unified Buddhist Church. Guite has an option to buy it that's contingent on relocating the 40-by-20-foot cemetery, and a church representative says it supports the cemetery move.
"This will be done with the utmost professionalism and dignity," said Guite's attorney, George Lamb. "We know we can't please everyone but I think we can please most of the people."
It didn't appear that way at a Probate Court hearing that drew a standing-room-only crowd Thursday.
The hearing began with two American Legion members standing at attention, holding flags, as Judge Joanne Ertel opened the proceeding, saying she'd never had a case draw so much interest.
Charles Marchant, secretary for the Vermont Old Cemetery Commission, said Guite's request was unprecedented.
"I've been doing this for 40 years and I've only moved three graves and they were all at the request of the family members," Marchant said.
Jim Bulmer, an American Legion member, said he opposed the move.
"I am a World War II veteran and I am a member of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association and for all those reasons I have a really hard time with the idea of moving the remains of people who have been laid to rest for eternity.
"I think the idea of moving a cemetery for the construction of a house is the most absurd idea I've ever heard," he said.
Jerome King, of Hanover, N.H., whose parents owned the property for more than 20 years, buried their cremated ashes in an urn in the cemetery and is opposed to relocation of the graves. But Guite says he doesn't plan to move the King remains and that as a result, King doesn't have legal standing to block the move.
Ertel made no decision on the matter.
"I'm not sure this situation falls neatly in the statutes," Ertel said. "It refers to bodies, not a good portion or an entire cemetery, which is what you're talking about. I think the statute contemplates there will be living immediate family and there aren't, theres no one to protect or respond to any interest of the family."
