CHAPTER 53
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE DISINTERMENT AND REINTERMENT OF BODIES IN THE CEMETERY BELONGING TO AND ON THE PROPERTY OF THE MT. OLIVET METHODIST CHURCH IN SEAFORD, DELAWARE, AND PROVIDING THAT THE PROPERTY OF MT. OLIVET METHODIST CHURCH WILL BE USED FOR BETTER RELIGIOUS ADVANTAGE.
WHEREAS, in the City of Seaford in Sussex County, Delaware, there is a small and very old cemetery on the property of and belonging to Mt. Olivet Methodist Church of said City; and
WHEREAS, the said cemetery has not been used for burial purposes for a great many years; and
WHEREAS, the said cemetery is located apart from other cemeteries in the City of Seaford and is not under perpetual care; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Trustees of the said church that the bodies in the old cemetery hereinafter described should be removed and reinterred in an organized cemetery controlled by a cemetery corporation and under perpetual care so that proper attention can be given to the lot where re-interments are made; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the Trustees of the Mt. Olivet Methodist Church that, with the consent of relatives of persons buried in said cemetery, if any such can be located, to disinter and reinter the bodies of persons buried in said cemetery in order that the plot of ground from which the bodies are proposed to be removed will be put to better religious advantage,
NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (two-thirds of all the Members elected to each House concurring therein):
Section 1. That the Trustees of Mt. Olivet Methodist Church of Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware, be and they are hereby authorized and fully empowered to carefully and properly disinter and remove all of the bodies from the cemetery located on the property of the Mt. Olivet Methodist Church in the City of Seaford, Sussex County, Delaware, and to carefully and properly reinter the said bodies in another cemetery in the City of Seaford that is under the control of an organized cemetery company where perpetual care is proposed to be arranged and where the plot of grounds where the bodies are proposed to be reinterred can be properly kept.
Section 2. That before removing the said bodies from the said cemetery as aforesaid, the said Trustees shall first make reasonable effort to obtain the consent in writing of the relatives of the said deceased persons whose bodies are therein buried and which bodies they propose to remove; and if said Trustees are unable to find such relatives or any of them, they shall advertise in at least one weekly newspaper published in Sussex County, for three successive weeks, that they propose removing said bodies in accordance with this Act; and if, after ten days following such advertising, or as a result of such advertising, said Trustees are unable to find such relatives or any of them, and no objection is made by any known relative, then and in that event, the said Trustees shall be presumed to have secured the consent of any and all of such relatives as provided for in this Act. All expenses for disinterring, removing and reinterring the bodies now buried in that part of the cemetery hereinbefore described shall be borne by the Mt Olivet Methodist Church.
Section 3. That, after the removal of the bodies from the cemetery hereinbefore described, the Trustees of Mt. Olivet Methodist Church are authorized and empowered to use the plot of ground where the bodies in question are now interred for better religious advantage.
Section 4. That all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of the Act be and the same are hereby repealed to the extent and only to the extent of such inconsistency.
Approved May 12, 1961.