Cemetery Research

Fixing stones

• Metals pins
• Mortar Infill
• Repairing Broken Tablet Stones
  • This is perfect for what we need to do in Davenport.
• Resetting a Fallen Gray Marble Headstone
  • Epoxy used. No vertical, metal pin (so it seems like it could easily tip over again since it’s so tall).
  • They sell restoration kits here—apparenlty there is one company that sells it all under one roof.
• Resetting Multi-Piece Monuments
  • Some pretty cool tricks here.
  • Very comprehensive restoration.

“Generally what we do, a great deal of the time, is we don’t have to disassemble the monuments. We do the least amount of work, with the least amount of risk to the stone, using whatever the best practical solution there is to fix the stone.”

Cleaning stones

• Local Cemetery Conservation: How to safely clean a Cemetery Monument
  • D2 is the current, proven cleaner of choice (does not damage stone)
  • 1. Wet clean water, not grey water.
  • 2. Scrap with soft, plastic scraper.
  • 3. Spray with D2, wait a few minutes
  • 4. Moisten a soft, bristle brush and the headstone with water, and scrub.
  • 5. Rinse and repeat.
• How To Reset a Leaning Tablet Headstone
• Cleaning a Headstone using D2
  • Never use bleach
  • Never pressure wash
  • Only use a wire brush on mating surfaces.

Notes on D2

• Still remains in the stone, even after the stone dries.
• Keeps cleaning after we leave
• Keeps mold from coming back for a least a year.

What we need

• Gravel
• Sand
• Buckets
• Water sprayers
• Buckets
• Hand chain hoist
• Pry bar
• Scrap wood
• Clamps
• Shovels

Cool fact

The letter “Æ” (or “æ”) on gravestones, often seen in 19th-century examples, is an abbreviation for “ævum,” meaning “age” or “years of life at the time of death”. It’s typically followed by the number of years, months, and days the person lived.

Elaboration

• “Ævum” and its Meaning: The term “ævum” is a Latin word that translates to “age” or “duration of life.” On gravestones, it’s used to indicate the person’s age at the time of their passing.
• “Æ” as an Abbreviation: The letter “Æ” is used as a shorthand for “ævum” when expressing age on gravestones.