Old cemetery poses grave dilemma for buyers of Vt. farm

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There was, however, one wrinkle: The property included a small family cemetery with the grave of a War of 1812 veteran surrounded by a fence on a scenic knoll.

His proposal to move the graveyard so he can build a house and barn has set off protests. The town has passed a resolution aimed at blocking the move, a descendant of one occupant of the graveyard is trying to fight him in probate court and opponents including military veterans have asked the town to take over the cemetery and keep it where it is.

"We're looking for some precedence setting, because we've never heard of such a heinous thing," said Tom Giffin, president of the Vermont Old Cemetery Association.

Cemeteries have been dug up for public good before, to make way for roads and buildings, but "there's never been the case in the state of Vermont for somebody to move a cemetery to put a house up," Giffin said.

Opponents say it's about honoring the dead, and respecting the graveyard as a historical site.

For Guite, it's about property rights.

"I've got nothing against any of those people," he said. "I'm only going to buy this if a judge says `This is now your land, it's your private property, you're allowed to do whatever you want with it. We hope you look after it well, God bless you for it, and nobody has any right to go on your property than they have to go on every other Vermont farm's property.'"

Guite, 62, of Springfield, Vt., and Greenwich, Conn., signed an option to buy the land in December contingent on being able to move the graves.

Among other things, he doesn't want the graves around his three young children. "I feel that it's improper to have a reminder of the sadness of life so near where children are playing," he said in February.

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