Gay,
Thank you for sharing that story.
It is good to know what can be done in situations such as this one. I am happy to learn
about people who care enough to learn how to restore old headstones.
Cathy
California
-----Original Message-----
From: GAWolfe1947(a)aol.com [mailto:GAWolfe1947@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2005 1:02 PM
To: INRANDOL-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [INRANDOL] Tombstone Restoration
My family recently had a wonderful experience with tombstone restoration that
I’d like to share with those of you who are interested.
In the process of tracking down my father’s ancestors, I discovered the
identity of his great grandfather, William Wilson, and his great-great
grandparents, Henry and Jane McGrew Woods. William Wilson is believed to be a grandson of
another William Wilson who settled in Greenville, Darke County, Ohio as early
as 1809 and is written about in Beers History of Darke County. By 1831, the
younger William’s father had died and his mother was destitute, so William was
indentured to a Darke County, Ohio farmer at three years of age. The farm,
located in Wayne Twp., became his after his benefactor’s death, and he lived
there until his own death in 1883. His second wife, Mary Caroline Woods, was
the daughter of Henry and Jane McGrew Woods, mentioned above. The Woods were
among the very first settlers to what is now the Versailles area of Darke
County, Ohio.
Upon further research, I discovered that these three ancestors were buried in
the pioneer section of Greenlawn Cemetery in Versailles. This old section
was originally called the Black Swamp Cemetery. It was with great excitement
that my dad and I visited the cemetery last February to search for our ancestors’
graves. Only my fellow genealogists can understand the thrill of setting
eyes for the very first time on the 150 year old headstones of our ancestors!
But, while the discovery was very exciting, it was also depressing because of
the sad condition that the stones were in. All three were broken and lying
in pieces on the snow-covered ground. I returned home to Atlanta, GA, wishing
there were something I could do to get them put back together again.
Shortly afterwards, I read on the Randolph County, IN, Genealogy Society’s
email list of cemetery restoration specialist Mark Davis, Stone Saver Cemetery
Restoration. Aha! A possible solution to our problem! I contacted Mark and
was excited to learn that he was willing do the necessary work, even though
he was in the midst of other cemetery restoration projects.
And so it was that Mark and his partner, Helen Wildermuth, of Stonehugger
Cemetery Restoration, came from Indiana to Versailles, Ohio, and spent a chilly
fall day putting my ancestors’ stones in a condition worthy of their pioneer
history. Mark and Helen did an incredible job. Off came years of dirt and
stain. The three broken stones were cemented back together and set upright in the
ground. Henry and Jane's marble tablet stones were now sparkling white.
William's grey marble monument stood tall where before it lay split it into
several sections on its face on the ground, its inscription illegible. Mark and
Helen’s professionalism was outpaced only by their passion for honoring these
pioneers.
The reward of seeing my ancestors’ stones restored to near-original beauty
was well worth the reasonable price we paid to have the work done. I encourage
everyone who has the available means to consider honoring your ancestors in
this way. It is an extremely gratifying experience.
It is sad, however, to see the poor condition of the rest of Black Swamp
Cemetery. Many of the headstones are broken, falling over and black with dirt.
It is obvious that, even though Greenlawn is still an active cemetery, the
people who maintain it take little regard for the old section. I wonder if
anything can be done to bring this sad state to the attention of the “powers-that-be”
in Versailles. Perhaps more public interest would encourage the city to
take better care of the graves of its pioneers. If anyone has any ideas, I’ll do
what I can to help from 500 miles away. How wonderful it would be if all of
the broken stones could be mended! Of course, that would take a major
commitment from the city or some local organization, which is probably a pipe dream.
But, if the only accomplishment were to get the mowers to be more careful not
to do more damage, it would be a step in the right direction!
Gay Wolfe Oltjenbruns
Atlanta, Georgia
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