Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-03-24
BURKEyILLE.
! novxr Law SUIT INVOLVING THE
QUESTION OF sEpuLcREE'
: oours Case that Excites Great Interest
Claims OF the Pars;os-A eena-
inc Boycott.

MARCH ~, 1000,
when your correspondent reached
Asrs ( few days ago he found Common
veslth's-Attofrey John NJ. Morton, OF
Burkeyille, and Colonel j. +. Fitz-
Gerald. Of Farmyille, engaged in taking
dispositions in very strange suit wnicn
IA exciting much interest in this com
munity, aud lawyers tell me that .
similar case was never tried IN tne
courts Of this State. The style OF the
suit Is Bradshaw rs. The Burke
vile Town Company e. efs'' asa
the issue involved is the fign'
of plaintiff to put stop 10
further intcrmeDts in the buryins-
Ground Of the Presbyterian church.
~h;ch Is adjacent to his dwelling.
AZ the case will perhaps for years DC
cited as precedent will state the
S.css for tho benefit especially Of your
To-, readers. The Burkeyille Town
Comnany is an Improvement ASSOCIATION
- this place, and has allowed the Pres
hyteria,s to erect q church on one OF
sSeir lots, having front oil 20 ieet,
,uup;rc back lS5 feet. The property
not having been paid for, the Town
Company still holds the title. The re.
mains Of Colonel Samuel Mclean ana
eleven other bodies have been buried IN
the chnrch-yard in rear OF the building
Mr.J. ID. Bradshaw, well-knoFn
merchant OF this place, having purchased
the adjoining let, upon which mouse
vas built before the church was, ne en-
deayoret to dissuade the friends oil those
already buried in the church-yard from
mak;pg any further interments there,
hut WAS unsuccessful. lie then sued
ont an Injunction to stop the burying.
vhieb was granted by Judge Irwin, OF
the Third circuit, and thought the mat.
Tor was settled, but in contempt OF
The Injunction ex-State Senator WI
linn \. Gaines buried his wife there
last October. Dir. Bradshaw does not
propose to let the matter rest here, but
has taken steps to have the validity OF
Inc Injunction tested before Judge Han
cock. of the Nottoway Circuit Court
and the case will be argued April the
LIST. Able counsel have been engaged
on both sides, Colonel j. p. Fitzgerald
and Captain p. II. Mckinney represent
ing plaintiff, and Judge William H.
Mann and j. NJ. Morton the defendants.
The plaintiff in his bill does not
ask that the dead bodies shall be re-
moved. but that the court shall enjoin
any persons from burying any more
bodies in the church-yard, alleging that
il will be deleterious to the health o.
his family. His dwelling is only
thirty.two feet from the dividing-lIne
between his lot and the church-yard,
and his well, which is only twenty
three feet deep, is just three feet from
the line. There is evidence to sho"
that two veins of water come into the
we'll from the church-yard, and tins
plaintiir insists that it is possible, and
even probable, that the graves are no"
over the veins which supply his wei,
and that if bodies are inferred near MS
lot or between the church and him Ms
water will certainly be contaminated
The soil is light, sandy, and porous
and the dispositions elicit the fact thai
a few years since grave was dug near
one hat had been occupied seyera
= wears ago and water Of very offensive
character broke through into the new
ly-dug grave. So the case will involve
the discussion Of the germ theory o
disease, the effects Of decomposed' hu
man remains on water in the earth AM
atmosphere near burying grounds.
The defendants, who wish to con
tinue to bury their dead near their kin
claim that the graves are not nea
enough to the plaintiff to contaminat
the water or atmosphere, and they d
not propose to make any others nearel
or to get beyond slight ridge who
divides the church gard into two slopin
surfaces-one inclining towards IL
plaintiffs premises and the other in Il
opposite direction; but plaintiff is nj
satisfied. Hence the suit, which ca
only find q precedent in q North Gar
lima case, and the issue Of which Is az
ticipated with much interest in tn
community.
At Chula the other day l m
young English gentleman, n
Arthur st. John Boycott, OF IN
place, from whose family-name
term boycott, now so commO
originated. There are many per;so
who have forgotten and others perna
who have never heard that Charles "a
nipeham Boycott, who is an uncle
this Young man Of Chula, was empi'
ed to collect the rents Of Lord Erne
his Irish estate in 1880, and the La
League would not let any one work
him or permit merchants to sell lal
10 him. thus and by other persecutiC
compelling Mr.. Boycott to reiinqu
his undertaking, and making n
word for the English dictionary.
Young Boycott has recently return
from bridal trip to England. He v
At his uncle's, in Ireland, since Chr
mas, and reports that he is made v,
much Of by the English people, and
lately been made agent for Lord '
verley, Of Suffolk, with salary of G.
and a residence, equivalent to alb
a2,5v0 /. ;ear, Casss1;,,s; s Cunningh
Boycott is now about tifty-four ye
ofsge. VoX
Petersburg AND VICINITY