http://www.albrojournal.com/cemetery.htm#CemTop Working in Graveyards A. Cleaning and "Restoring" If you are working on your family tree, you are almost certainly visiting cemeteries. "Visiting" may not be quite the right term: inhabiting may come closer for those of you who spend more time trying to read old, worn gravestone inscriptions than you spend at home! In any case, sooner or later you are going to encounter small, possibly private, cemeteries that have had no care in decades. They may have been vandalized, overgrown, made practically inaccessible. The stones may be sinking out of sight, broken, fallen over, covered with moss and/or lichen, worn, faded, nearly or actually illegible. You, a group from your church, the Boy or Girl Scouts, your family, or everyone who owes you a debt, may want to clean up that cemetery and repair the monuments. You need to know that there are many people who believe very strongly that you should NOT touch that cemetery, on the grounds that if you don't know what you're doing, you can make things much worse! Our opinion is that cl! eaning the grounds, clearing brush, pulling weeds, and the like are not nearly as controversial as trying to repair gravestones. Don't pull trees out by the roots if the roots may have grown into the coffins and other remains. Have respect for the dead while cleaning up. Take pictures before, during, and after everything you do in there. Don't remove any rocks or stones - they may have been all the markers that families could afford! That about covers all anyone can say about cemetery site cleaning, except for the obvious fact that you must get permission from the owner of the cemetery (there always is one somewhere) before you do anything whatsoever! When it comes to repairing gravestones, the commonest advice is go get an expert. That typically means someone from out of town who charges money for advice. How does one get to be an expert in repairing gravestones? By having somehow successfully repaired gravestones. This is how one becomes an expert at anything! Can YOU learn all that is known about the successful repair of damaged gravestones? Most assuredly. There are no degrees in it, and it does not have certification agencies. One warning however; the REPAIR of gravestones and the RESTORATION of gravestones are two different things. The common or garden variety genealogist will neither have the knowledge nor be able to obtain the highly specialized equipment and materials that would be needed to RESTORE a damaged or worn out gravestone, as that term implies "returning it to approximately its original condition". Don't claim to the owner that what you are going to do is "restore" the cemetery. So if (and only if) you find that the owner of the cemetery, or the organization responsible for it (which could be the town or county) neither intends nor has funds for its repair or cleanup, yet would like to have it repaired/cleaned, and if you receive clear permission to provide this service, then we suggest you do the following: a.. Make notes of any limitations, restrictions, or requirements associated with the permission you or your group was given. You absolutely must follow them. b.. Have your browser go to the following links, where you can learn how to repair grave markers as well as anyone anywhere knows how to do. Detailed Instructions #1 Successful Projects What the Government Learned The Most Important One [Return to top]