Old Tombstones

[GTop]

I've been researching my family history for awhile now. We hit the jackpot and discovered that my 5th great grandfather is buried somewhat local to me. When I got home from work today I went to the cemetary and found his grave. We would love to have it cleaned,repaired,and placed upright again. Anybody know anything about doing this or having it done. The date on the headstone is 1789. It has fallen over and sunk into the ground. Also,the upper left corner is broken.

 

[parcher]

Contact the cemetary offiice, As an heir (descendant) you have the right to maintain/replace the grave marker. The office will put you in touch with a monument service to do the job.

 

[GTop]

Parcher, Thanks for the info. I'll give the cemetary office a call.

 

[Skydiver]

Interesting topic.

My Great Great Grandfather and Great Great Great Grandfather's fought in the Civil war. When we were having trouble finding one of our decendents grave. We found a lady who some how knew where his stone was located. We were in at the right cemetary but the stone was weathered real bad and could not read it. She walks over to a stone with shaving cream and a large piece of card board. Covers the stone with shaving cream then makes a pass with the cardboard. You could read his name clear as day. Philip Brantly Breed.

There was a battle fought on a hill that belonged to one of our ancestors located in Massachusets. When history was first written the battle was mistakenly recorded to have been fought on Bunker Hill. Now we know it was fought on Breeds Hill.

Tim

 

[Qualey]

Congrats GTop! I own a granite fabrication company and we do a lot of this type of work. I suggest you bypass the cemetary director and call the local monument dealers instead. My bet is that you find the prices for this work will vary wildly! The cemetary is likely to send you to the shop that gives them (the cemetary) the greatest commission of the sale.



Matt

 

[Badunit]

While this wasn't a relative, I found an interesting old tombstone on our family farm a few years back. It marked the grave of one of the early settlers in our county (Page County, VA). There were no signs of the spot being a graveyard other than the marker laying on the ground and some bones that a groundhog had dug up. The marker was a slab of fieldstone with the guy's name and dates chiseled into it (John Strickler, 1762-1802). The "N" in John was backward and the whole thing is almost unreadable (probably from weathering over the years).

 

[GTop]

Qualey,



Thanks for the bit of advice. Anything special I should ask or watch out for?