HELP SOUGHT FOR PALMDALE CEMETERY; OWNER, VOLUNTEERS URGE CITY TO SUPERVISE HISTORIC SITE.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer Seeking to preserve the 115-year-old Palmdale Cemetery cemetery, name used by early Christians to designate a place for burying the dead. First applied in Christian burials in the Roman catacombs, the word cemetery came into general usage in the 15th cent. , the graveyard's owner and volunteers are asking the city to either take it over or help form a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. to oversee its preservation. Owner Donald Jones Donald Jones (born January 24, 1932 in Harlem, New York; died November 5, 2004 in Amsterdam) was an actor and dancer. He moved to the Netherlands in 1954, where he found fame. He married Dutch actress Adèle Bloemendaal. Their son, John, (b. 1963), is an actor/comedian. of Tehachapi is offering to donate the 2.5-acre cemetery to the city. The City Council will meet in closed session Wednesday night to discuss the possible land transaction. ``It's pretty useless as dollar values go, but historically it is priceless price·less adj. 1. Of inestimable worth; invaluable. 2. Highly amusing, absurd, or odd: a priceless remark. ,'' said Trish Conley, a volunteer who is working to preserve the cemetery. Volunteers are trying to get the cemetery, at Avenue S and 20th Street East, recognized by the state as a point of historical interest. An application for the status will be prepared and ready to go once the scope of the city's involvement, if any, is determined, Conley said. The city might be able to participate in some way in the preservation of the cemetery, but taking over ownership could present problems, Mayor Jim Ledford said. ``I'm not sure that's necessarily a good thing,'' Ledford said of buying the property. ``There might be some liability issues there.'' Exactly how the city could participate is unclear. Palmdale is planning to make road improvements along Avenue S, including straightening out 20th Street East, which runs along the western edge of the cemetery and then curves to run along the southern boundary before connecting with Avenue S. Ledford said perhaps improvements, such as a parking lot for visitors, can be made in conjunction with those road improvements. The cemetery was established in 1884 by German and Swiss immigrants from Nebraska and Illinois who founded Palmdale. The cemetery's ownership changed hands several times, including at least eight sales by people who did not hold the deed deed, in law, written document that is signed and delivered by which one person conveys land or other realty (see property) to another. A deed may assure the extent of the conveying party's ownership or, if the party is uncertain of the precise extent, he issues a . County officials closed the cemetery in 1979 because no one was keeping records. It was reopened in 1981 for the burying of descendants DESCENDANTS. Those who have issued from an individual, and include his children, grandchildren, and their children to the remotest degree. Ambl. 327 2 Bro. C. C. 30; Id. 230 3 Bro. C. C. 367; 1 Rop. Leg. 115; 2 Bouv. n. 1956. 2. of the original settlers when the Palmdale Kiwanis Club agreed to keep the records. The cemetery's graves include members of pioneering Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley families such as the Ritters and the Coursons. There are 187 marked graves in the cemetery. |
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