Indiana Historical Society

We just completed the Indiana Historical Societies two day seminar on cemetery restoration and preservation at the Southport Cemetery in Southport Indiana, which is located directly south of Indianapolis.  The class part of the work shop, was on Friday; we had a great time learning about symbols, legal issues and maps.
On Saturday our day started out a little rainy, which passed rather quickly and led to a beautifully sunny day.   Our presenters for the day was Walt Walters, his wife Mickey, Randy and Bird.  Walt has been restoring "yards" professionally for the past 16 years.  He is a master craftsman in his field.  The passion he has for restoration is evident in the way he explains his craft.  He first took our group on a walk of the yard,  to identify the various different kinds of damage the stones have endured. The most prevalent damage is from mowers.  Mower damage is very obvious, and is totally preventable with causes caretakers.  He also took us to a "honeyhole" that was uncovered the day before.  Someone had moved fallen over stones at some time in the past; and buried them in a corner of the "yard".  There were over 20 foot and headstones found in the site, because the stone had been moved no one knows where their burials were actually positioned. A great deal of research is going to have to be undertaken to uncover the puzzle left by the stones. As you walk around the yard, you can see the depressions were bodies obviously lay, but no tombstone or footer exists.  After this overview Walt moved on to how to pour an new foundation when needed.  These new foundations are not used if an existing base can be found and repaired.
Our next presenter was Professor Vincent Hernly;  from IUPUI,  he gave us a overview of what types of stone were used in cemeteries, and in which time period.  The single sandstone stone in the cemetery was the highlight for Ray and me.  Rayke being a ten year 4-H geology project member is very capable of identifying the stones for our project.
We then broke for lunch, which was wonderful.  We got to chat with each other and the presenters.
After lunch, Walt gave us an overview of cleaning the stones.  Plus the importance of cleaning the areas that are going to be fixed, to make sure that the fix will last.  He talked about the type of brushes, cleaning products and techniques used in yard restoration.  Micki gave a presentation on probing and the do's and don'ts of this invasive technique.  Probing is usually the last step in a cemetery restoration, it can be done to identify stones that are completely buried under the ground, as in the south west void area of Howard Cemetery.  We saw how Walt and his crew worked on different stages of restoration, from straightening a tablet stone to hoisting a large stone into a existing  base that was leveled and reset.
Rayke and I had a really good time, even with my tumble backward down a hill, while trying to sit in a chair.  That tumble down the hill wasn't far; but it did make my back seize up. So physically I was done for the day after that.   But I had to laugh, I didn't believe that my legs were even capable of flying over my head in a backward somersault.  It would have been smart to look before I sat.
A big Thank You to Indiana Historical Society for sponsoring this event, and to Jeanette Rooney, Jeannie Regan-Dinius, Shelia Riley, Kevin Combs, John Walters, Micki Walters, Randy Jones, Dennis Brewer and Vincent Hernly for a informative two days.