Jackie, Congratulations on finding your ancestor's headstone - you are lucky! I suggest taking a spray bottle with water and wetting the stone as that will sometimes make it easier to read. Also, try reading it from different angles. On one headstone we couldn't read, we carefully dabbed some damp dirt (which can act as an abrasive if rubbed) into the engraved sections on a stone making the words darker so they stand out more. Afterwards the dirt can be washed out using the spray bottle of water. On stones that are flaking, I would avoid using any sort of a brush or anything that touches them (besides water). On studier stones, a very soft brush might not hurt them to clean them up a bit. Taking pictures of stones at different angles and in different lighting (bring a flashlight or mirror) then enhancing them on the computer also helps. Awhile back I read where headstones can now be photographed using thermal imaging which is nondestructive and does an amazing job in making the illegible become legible! Unfortunately, not a piece of equipment we can throw in our bags, yet anyway! Good luck, Kathy