Survey request in my great-grandparents' neighborhood

Fellow called yesterday with a survey job for me about 55 miles from my office. ?ÿHe said I had been named as the guy to hire by three people in his circle of acquaintances. ?ÿAs he described the specific need, my interest grew. ?ÿThen he explained the reason for the survey came up due to some significant theft. ?ÿThat's when I told him the building where the theft occurred is probably less than 80 feet from the perpetual home of one set of my great-grandparents ?ÿand two of my grandfather's brothers. ?ÿAnother 20 feet would get him to one of my grandfather's sisters and her husband.

The original portion of the cemetery was laid out in the early 1870's. ?ÿGreat-grandpa Silas took up permanent residence in the early 1880's. ?ÿHis death at a young age was said to have been caused by longterm health damage acquired between 1861-1865 on numerous battlegrounds. ?ÿThe only access to the cemetery near the center of the section was along a lane reaching to the east section line. ?ÿMuch later the cemetery expanded greatly into the southwest quarter of the section and now adjoins a US highway. ?ÿThe old lane is still used for normal traffic as it is a short cut to the nearby town.

?ÿRecently, some bad people broke into the cemetery shed that housed numerous riding mowers, weedeaters, fuel, tools and all sorts of things used in maintaining the cemetery. ?ÿAll but two of the mowers were taken along with nearly everything else that could be quickly removed. ?ÿIt has been decided to have a power line run to the cemetery so that numerous lights and electric-powered surveillance devices can be installed to discourage future thieves. ?ÿThe logical access would be along the lane. ?ÿThat's where the questioning began. ?ÿIs it owned by the cemetery? ?ÿIs it an easement? ?ÿIs it off of one landowner or off of two? ?ÿHow wide is it? ?ÿOne document mentions 20 feet while another mentions 40 feet. ?ÿWhere is the road surface relative to the boundaries of the tract? ?ÿThe county road crew has treated it as if it was a county road and even put up a road sign naming it.

This will be fun.