Old cemeteries let us touch the past, says cemetery sexton Terrell Weaver.

"It brings history to life," said Weaver, who oversees the city of Cape Girardeau's three cemeteries. "You read about the city of Cape and the area and then you actually see the name of this person that actually did those things."

Cape Girardeau's oldest graveyard is Old Lorimier Cemetery, which sits on hilly ground overlooking the Mississippi River.

The cemetery was laid out in 1806 by Cape's founder, Louis Lorimier. The oldest marked grave in the five-acre cemetery is that of Lorimier's first wife, a French-Indian halfblood, who died March 23, 1808.

The city's historic preservation commission recognized the cemetery's importance last spring, designating it as the first local landmark.

"It just seemed fitting that the oldest site be selected for the first landmark," said John Schneider, commission chairman. "There is so much history there."

But vandalism and time have taken their toll on the cemetery. Many stone markers have been damaged beyond repair.

It's estimated there are about 1,200 tombstones in the cemetery, but Weaver believes about 7,500 to 8,000 people are actually buried there.

Many markers have disappeared over time. "Some markers were carried off," said Weaver.

"I count 728 stones not showing any damage or very little if any," said Weaver. The rest have been damaged to some degree.

The local genealogical society currently is documenting information about who is buried in the cemetery. In addition to grave-marker information, the genealogists have research mortuary records to come up with the names of others buried there for whom there is no tombstone.

Cape Girardeau County has its share of cemeteries, many of them nestled in out-of-the-way spots on farms.

It's estimated there are about 170 cemeteries in the county, said local genealogist Jean Adams, who heads the genealogical society.

In many cemeteries, the old tombstones are in terrible shape. "The stones have deteriorated so much, you can't read the dates, even the names," she said.

For some cemeteries, urban development has left them with some strange bedfellows.

The Koehler family cemetery, which dates back to around the mid-1800s, is now in the middle of the Bent Creek golf course.

The Hanover Lutheran Church cemetery was established near the congregation's log church on the farm of Daniel Bertling.

Bertling, who was a farmer and cabinet maker, is buried there. So are some other pioneer Lutherans, about 225 in all.

The church building is long gone, but the cemetery at Melrose and Delwin remains. Only now, instead of farm land, it's surrounded by homes.

"At one time, it was totally out in the cornfields," said Elroy Kinder, Hanover Lutheran Church archivist. The cemetery was vandalized.

Only about 35 recognizable stones remain in the cemetery, said Kinder. The cemetery is now maintained by a few members of the Hanover Lutheran Church.

As to the Koehler family cemetery, it's situated near hole 13 at the Bent Creek golf course.

Maggie Smith used to visit the cemetery regularly. Her father and mother, Henry and Marybelle Koehler, are buried there, along with her grandparents, great-grandparents and other relatives.

The cemetery was a part of the family farm before it was purchased by Jack Litzelfelner of Jackson, who developed the golf course.

"It was just a little piece from the (farm) house. It was in the field that adjoined the house," said the 89-year-old Smith.

The Koehler family's roots are in Germany. "My grandfather was 5 years old when they came to this country and his parents settled on that farm," said Smith.

These days, she said, one has to take a golf cart to reach the fenced-in cemetery.