Wait... You're Not Supposed to be Buried There

     According to my Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Elizabeth Meetze Hyler's,  obituary, she was buried in the Mt Pleasant Lutheran Church cemetery and was a life long Lutheran. So then, why is she actually buried in the Beulah Baptist Cemetery. And why can't I find the Mount Pleasant Church?

     The answer: hydroelectric power.

     Thanks to a fellow researcher, I now know that the land that was the Mt Pleasant cemetery is now under Lake Murray (SC).  Reviewing the wikipedia page for this lake, I see that "93 graveyards containing 2,323 graves" were moved when the area was dammed up in the late 1920s. It seems that some of my ancestors were among those moved.

     This is actually somewhat common in this area. I know that in Georgia there are no natural lakes. All lakes are man made and usually require the destruction of a populated area. The cemeteries in these areas must be moved. So, here's a tip: if you're trying to find a cemetery and can't, but there's a lake nearby, you might want to start looking for your ancestors in a different location. And there will be records of the removals, so check with the local government for the records.