At abandoned US cemeteries, respect for the dead at odds with financial worries of the living

Towns grapple with tidying forsaken cemeteries

MONTVILLE, Conn. — Historians say tens of thousands of family farmstead burial plots, churchyard cemeteries and other graves are abandoned nationwide.

That’s putting pressure on states and towns, whose residents say the cemeteries need to be cleaned up out of respect for the dead, but without more costs on the living.

Connecticut recently joined a number of states that let their municipalities take over land containing abandoned cemeteries. One Connecticut town, Easton, already has acquired and cleaned up three of the neglected burial grounds in its borders.

Since many of the properties were taken off the tax rolls when they were active cemeteries, chasing down today’s legal owners can be a challenge.