My copy of the Code of 1860 refers (ch. LXV, §4; 1852, c. 149) to
cemeteries.

4.  "At any time hereafter five or more persons, who shall be desirous to
form a company for the purpose of ... the establishment of ... cemetery ...
companies, ...may make, sign and acknowledge, before the circuit court of
the county in which the operations of the company are proposed to be
conducted, a certificate in writing, in which shall be stated the name of
the company, and the object for which it is formed ...the amount of land
proposed to be held ... the officers who for the first year shall manage its
concerns; and the place in which the operations of said company are to be
carried on.  The said court in its discretion may grant or refuse to said
persons the charter of incorporation.  If the said court grants the same,
then the said company shall also file with the secretary of the commonwealth
a copy of such certificate, attested by the clerk of the circuit court ..."

5. [upon filing, the persons signing the certificate are "a body politic and
corporate, by the name stated in such certificate" and are governed by the
general corporate law

6.  "The officers and directors of any such company, after the first year,
shall be such as may prescribed by its by-laws, and shall be appointed or
removed, as the said by-laws may provide."

7.  [cemetery company may not hold more than 30 acres]

8.  [implies power to encumber]

9.  [books subject to review by general assembly]

This statute does NOT pertain to churches, but includes both for-profit and
non-profit, stock and non-stock  --  telegraph companies, water companies,
gas light companies, hotels, as well as orphan asylums, hospitals,
acadamies, libraries, literary and building associations; but excludes
banks, insurance and roads.

The constitution of 1852 prohibited the incorporation of churches.  Art. IV,
Sec. 32.

On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 10:29 AM, Langdon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> --- On Sun, 1/11/09, Robert Browne <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> Just what is meant by "the proper authorities of any such association or
> society?"... Is this provision derived from a similar one governing
> the appointment of church trustees?...
> 2. Because this statute goes back to at least 1919, could it mean
> "authorized" to appoint?  Or does, it mean that circuit court confirmation
> is not required....
>
> *Proper Authorities* are those chosen by the society or organization when
> it was created or updated.  People creating the organization determine how
> it will operate. If there is a problem, the Circuit Court has the authority
> to intervene, *if* petitioned.
>
> Yes, Chapter 57-23 falls under the chapter of the Code on Freedom from and
> freedom of religion, [53-et seq.] and describes how the state will deal with
> church-state issues.
>
> I doubt if there is much cemetery law prior to 1919, the year Virginia did
> a major codification of the laws in Virginia.  Citing 1919 doesn't
> necessarily mean there was any major revision of the laws governing
> cemeteries, which largely fell under common law.  In fact, today the state
> has very little control over cemeteries. Most of the "control" is in
> supervising a corporation or society.
>
>  There is a set of reference books, the name of which elides me, at the
> Library of Virginia that describes the changes made in the revision of 1919.
>
> Any law library, and some reference departments of community libraries, can
> easily help you trace the history of the law, at least back to a certain
> point in time. Most libraries don't have staff who are expert in older laws,
> which was mostly common law, especially in the 19th century and earlier.
>
> Langdon Hagen-Long
>
>
>
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