The several comments and questions I have received this evening pursuant to
the DNA conversations cause me to think that a general rule for genealogists
relating to the application of the law is appropriate.

Many have been the great thinkers, philosophers, judges and lawyers who have
believed and written that the law is a measure of the desires.needs of our
society, and is equally a reflection of our vision of how we are and should
be.

The result is that across the centuries there have been but precious few, if
any, commands or prohibitions of  our law, no matter the source, that have
not been debated, violated, amended,  confirmed or overturned.  As the views
of our people have changed, so too has the law been adjusted.

Thus it is that, as Langdon has noted, the VA Legislature (and most other
States, as well) has rather recently set forth procedures by which we may
move to and fro cemeteries located on private land.  Doubtless there are but
few variations in those procedures that have YET occurred, but we may be
sure that as our attitudes in such matters change, so too will those rules.

As researchers we must always assume that what we think was the conduct and
the prevailing law of the deep past likely was often violated and then
confirmed, amended or simply abandoned.

No better example may be found, I suspect, but that of the laws of VA of the
middle half of the 17th Century that required attendance at church every
Sunday, the punishment for violation of which often being harsh fines and
even jail time.

But, notice how few courts' orders or other records reveal prosecutions for
violations of those edicts.  Considering that there were likely something in
excess of 300,000 folks in the VA Colony in the period 1665-1685, the
absence of such reports can only reveal that many were the violations that
went unnoticed or ignored.

In short, without specific proof,  do not presume that the conduct of your
ancestors was in accordance with "the letter of the law".  It often was, but
surely always was NOT always.

Genealogy without documentation is nothing.
                     Paul Drake JD
       Professional Genealogist & Author
            <www.DrakesBooks.com>



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