Cemetery Clean Up

Cleaning up a cemetery is not a matter of simply showing up with power tools and starting to cut down trees, mow grass and use a trimmer next to gravestones. This can actually do more harm than good. Your first course of action is to do research on the cemetery that you wish to rescue.

First, find out if there is a cemetery association in charge of the cemetery. Find out if there is anyone who receives mail for the cemetery; a relative of a deceased, a funeral home, a neighbor. Check with local historical associations to see if they know of any local residents that may have ancestors buried there.

Check with the local funeral homes, newspapers, and libraries to find out information on any burials at the cemetery. If it has been a long time ago, there may not be any information available. If there is available access to the cemetery, write down names of those buried there, and check local telephone listings, land records, or speak to local historical association personnel to see if descendants live nearby.

In my research on the Shiloh Cemetery in San Saba County, Texas, I found that there was no association involved. The local newspaper had been sold and went out of business over 15 years earlier, and I have not been able to find any historical copies of the newspaper. I was unable to find nearby residents who descended from anyone buried in Shiloh. One local resident had heard from a now deceased long time resident of the area, that the last burial there was in 1934. The newest marker we found was dated 1926.

If there is no public access visible, you will need to research who owns the surrounding property or properties. Those land owners, in most states, cannot bar you from access to the cemetery, but they can direct you on how to access the cemetery during reasonable hours. Check your local and state laws, where you live, to learn the specific regulations regarding access to cemeteries. After access is secured, you may need to recruit local historical association members or neighbors to help with the actual clean up.

Before using any motorized equipment, do a survey of the cemetery. Create a map, marking the location of any stones, fences, curbs, walks, urns, mounds, depressions, non-native vegetation, and significant landscaping or trees. Use landscaping flags if needed to indicate where low lying stones or significant landscaping may be so that they are not damaged by machinery. Take photographs as evidence of the significant elements of the cemetery.

Trim next to any of these cemetery artifacts with hand tools so you do not damage the artifacts. Many 18th and 19th century markers are made of marble, sandstone, or limestone. Each of these are relatively soft stones. Modern, mechanical tools can easily damage these. Once the trimming of materials adjacent to the markers is completed, power mowers can be used to clean up the remainder of the insignificant ground vegetation.

When it comes to trees, less is more when trimming. Try to elevate the canopy of significant cemetery trees so that people can move under the trees, but remove only that material that is necessary. It would be best if you could recruit a local landscape or tree trimming company to donate time and equipment for this process. They have the training and equipment to do this work correctly.

When cleaning headstones, NEVER use modern chemicals. When I am cleaning stones, I use clean water and a natural fiber, wooden handled, deck brush to lightly scrub dirt away from the surface. I then rinse the cleaned surface with clean water. The natural fibers and wood handle prevent modern chemicals in plastics from staining the stones.

Never clean a stone that has a surface that is extremely soft, like sandstone, or has evidence of a surface that is flaking! Your cleaning efforts could cause irreparable damage.

This type of cleaning should be left to stone conservators. Also, one should never try to repair old burial stones, especially with modern cement. The new materials are much harder than the original stone. These newer materials will not swell and shrink with heat and cold like the original stones and will cause greater damage to the original stones. Repairs should be left to specially trained stone conservators.

If you have trouble reading the inscriptions on the stone, try reading them in the early morning. Most stones face to the east and the new sun can make reading them easier. If early mornings are not an option, you might carry a hand mirror and use that to reflect the sunlight onto the stone to help read the engravings.

Once the clean up work is done, you and your volunteers should return to your map and ensure that any "new" items be included on the map. You will be surprised how many field stones or flat markers can be hidden by tall grass, weeds and briers.

Do a complete survey of each marker in the cemetery. Items to include would be the type of marker or associated objects, such as head stone, foot stone, crypt, slab, curbing, etc. Record the material, such as granite, marble, limestone, wood, etc. record the orientation (which way the marker faces), overall dimensions of the marker, which surfaces have carvings. Record the condition of the carvings (mint, clear but worn, mostly readable, etc.) then write a description of design. Note the overall condition (soiled, stained, delaminating, graffiti, etc.) Record the inscription of the stone, any repairs made, or work performed. Then attach a picture to the recording. This information should be provided to a local custodian, who will be a future caretaker of the cemetery.

At least, this information should be compiled and donated to the local library and/or historical group. A great sample Cemetery Survey Form can be found Texas Historical Commission website, in the document Preserving Historic Cemeteries Texas Preservation Guidelines.

Cleaning a cemetery can be a physically taxing endeavor. Be sure to wear a brimmed hat, long sleeves, long pants, sturdy shoes, sunscreen and have plenty of drinking water on hand to protect yourself. Make sure you have a first aid kit as well, since many cemeteries in need of rescuing are in rural areas. Take breaks and make sure you have plenty to eat and drink.

Enjoy your work, be diligent and be respectful of those who reside in the cemeteries as well as their ancestors.

Shiloh Cemetery, San Saba County, Texas

I am at best, an amateur genealogist. I began my search for information about my family in 1984. I have made many mistakes, learned correct ways to verify and document information, even started over a couple of times. But I still chase the elusive information about my ancestors.

I began my search when I realized that our family only knew the basic information that my great grandfather, William Meredith Brown, was from Jackson County, Tennessee, that he was blind, and he had a younger brother George.

I am happy to say that as of December 2009, I have 'proven' and documented over 750 relations on both my parent's genealogical lines. I have another 800 or so relations to prove as I can find time to work on this project, around life and other interests.

One of these 'other interests' is old cemeteries. On a couple of recent trips to Jackson County, Tennessee, I was disheartened by the condition of the two cemeteries where some of my ancestors were buried. Family has apparently moved away from the local area, and other who live nearby have either forgotten them or are too busy to do anything about the overgrown conditions. Because I live hundreds of miles away, in Texas, I cannot do the work on these cemeteries myself. But I can help rescue the burial grounds of someone else's ancestors.

One such burial ground is Shiloh Cemetery. Shiloh sits along a dusty, dirt road about 5 miles to the north of Richland Springs, Texas, in San Saba County. It is near a farm where my father grew up. He told me about the cemetery and how it was overgrown when he was growing up in the area in the 1940's and 1950's.

In discussions with a few local residents, it appears that no descendants of those buried in Shiloh are living in the area. It appears that on two occasions during the past 30 years, there have been small efforts to clean up the cemetery. When new owners of the ranch land around the cemetery came along, they placed a new barbed wire fence around it to help keep cattle out.

It was reported that another nearby neighbor thought to clear out some of the undergrowth and "trash trees". He decided to bulldoze those areas "where there weren't no graves". It is my fear that several or perhaps many sandstone field stones used to mark the graves were removed during this process.

It appears that someone may cleared more trees and undergrowth in last year or two, as there were debris piles still visible. Sadly, there is evidence of vandalism to some of the markers in the cemetery. It appears that at least on, and probably two cement markers were smashed to bits and only small pieces with cryptic hints to who was buried are all that remains.

The week before Christmas, 2009 I performed a limited search for information regarding any cemetery association or any local individual who might be in charge of Shiloh Cemetery. Many new where it was, but no one knew of anyone responsible for the cemetery. I then recruited the help of my father and mother in clearing the undergrowth of trees, dense briars and chest high native grasses from the hallowed grounds of Shiloh.

On day one, my mother and I walked the throughout the cemetery, placing marker flags at each field stone or formal marker we could find. We then wrote down names from the formal markers and headed to San Saba to do research. We found very little information on Shiloh Cemetery, did find a little information on some of it's residents.

The following day, my father and I began the process of clean up. We raised the canopy of old growth trees, removed saplings and began mowing the grasses and briars. About midway through the work, Roy Shannon, a nearby resident, came to inquire about what we were doing. He indicated that he wanted to do something to help and would return after feeding his cattle. With Roy's help, we managed to clear about 3/4 of the cemetery of 60 years of neglect.

The following day, my parents and I arrived early in the morning and completed the cleanup process. I then began mapping the cemetery, measuring the perimeter and laying out the graves on paper. In all we identified 11 rows of graves encompassing 63 known graves. Three of these were unmarked depressions which are most likely graves. There was a large area void of graves where we were unable to locate markers of any type.

I have put together a book documenting our findings in text and pictures. I will be sending a copy of the book Come Home to Shiloh, to the Rylander Memorial Library in San Saba, the week after Christmas. I am also offering copies of the book, for a minimal charge, through this blog.