1896-01 Annual Report of the Trustees of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn, for 1895, Together with the Reports of the Treasurer and Superintendent. Sixty-Fourth Year.

14 ANNUAL REPORT.

TO PROPRIETORS.

INFORMATION.

The following statement is presented in answer to the question frequently asked in regard to the title to a lot when the proprietor dies.

By the original act of incorporation, lots are held as real estate. The proprietor can convey, or by will devise, his lot; but if he dies intestate it descends to his heirs-at-law, who are (Pab. St., ch. 125, § 1) :—

Title to lot held as real estate. If proprietor dies intestate.

1. Children, and issue of any deceased child.

Heirs-at-law.

2. If no issue, then his or her father and mother.

3. If no issue nor mother, then his or her father.

4. If no issue nor father, then his or her mother.

5. If no issue, and no father nor mother, then his or her brothers and sisters, and children of any deceased brother or sister.

6. If no issue, and no father, mother, brother, nor sister, then next of kin.

A. widow has, in common with the children of her deceased husband, the possession, care and control of his lot during her life; and if he leaves no children, she has the sole possession, care and control of the lof during her life. She has also a right of interment therein, of which she cannot be deprived except by her own release. Acts of 1885, ch. 302.

Rights of widow in lot.

MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY. 15

Provisions of will,

If a proprietor in his will makes no devise of the lot, it becomes a part of the residuary estate; or if not devised, and no bequest of the residue is made, it descends to the heirs-at-law.

Representative to be designated.

Pub. St., ch. 82, § 3, and sect. 8 of the Charter of the corporation, provide, ‘‘if there be more than one devisee or heir-atlaw, the Board of Trustees may designate which one shall represent the lot.”

Representative no control over title.

This designation does not affect the title. They (the heirs or devisees) are tenants-in-common; no sale can be made unless all sign conveyance.

Petition for representative. Importance of prompt return.

It is IMPORTANT that the petition for representation (furnished by the Secretary) should be PROMPTLY returned with the names and residences of the heirs, and signed by a majority: otherwise delays may occur at the cemetery in ascertaining whether the order for interment is properly signed.

Lots indivisible. No record of part ownership.

Lots are indivisible, and ‘‘no record of any person’s interest in a lot, less than the entire ownership, shall be made on the books of the corporation.” (Rules and Regulations, Art. vii.)

L. G. FARMER, Secretary.

Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn.

Office of the Corporation, 6 Tremont Street, BOSTON, Jan. 28, 1896.

The Annual Meeting of the Proprietors of the Cemetery of Mount Auburn will be held at the Horticultural Hall, Tremont Street, Boston, on Monday, Feb. 3, 1896, at 3 1-2 o’clock P. M., to hear the Annual Reports, choose Trustees, and transact any other business that may legally come before the meeting.

L. G. FARMER, Secretary.