Charles W. Canney Camp #5 - Rochester, New Hampshire

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

HELP US RECOVER AND REPLACE

STOLEN GAR GRAVE MARKERS

Once Charles W. Canney Camp No. 5, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War learned that Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) grave markers are being sold on eBay, antique shops, flea markets and yard sales, they immediately responded by  putting programs in place to stop the sale of these historic items.

 

When a Civil War Veteran who belonged to the G.A.R. died, a grave marker was placed near the head stone and in May a flag was placed in the holder for Memorial Day.

 

Charles W. Canney Camp along with a Camp in Massachusetts has been working to stop the sale of G.A.R. grave markers on eBay.

 

The Sons of Union Veterans is the legal heir to the Grand Army of the Republic. The U.S. Congress has enacted a law regarding the selling of items that belonged to GAR Posts.

 

Camp 5 has been collecting New Hampshire G.A.R. grave markers to be placed back on the proper graves. Anyone having these markers can contact the Camp.

 

 

EBay’s policy:

 

Historical graves, tombstones, or related markers
These items may not be listed on eBay. While we recognize that some historical grave markers may be privately held within families and legal to sell, eBay is concerned with vandalism that has occurred in graveyards across the world.

 

 

The following is from the NH RSA's regarding cemeteries:

 635:5 Penalty. – Any person who is found removing, defacing or destroying any sign, poster or property of another shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

 

635:7 Unlawful Possession or Sale of Gravestones and Gravesite Items. – No person shall possess or sell, offer for sale or attempt to sell, or transfer or dispose of any monument, gravestone, marker, or other structure, or any portion or fragment thereof, placed or designed for a memorial of the dead, or any fence, railing, gate, plot delineator, or curb, knowing or having reasonable cause to know that it has been unlawfully removed from a cemetery or burial ground.

 

The governing board of the municipality in which the burial plot lies shall not grant approval for the removal or disturbance of a tomb, monument, gravestone, marker, or plot delineator without first giving 30 days' notice, along with a report of the full circumstances, to the division of historical resources, that such approval has been requested. The governing board of the municipality shall maintain a record of the date, circumstances, and disposition of the request for removal or disturbance.