FindAGrave Volunteer Accidentally Damages Tombstones

Damaged Tombstones Scrubbed With Wire Brush

One of Tennessee's oldest church cemeteries had several tombstones permanently damaged recently. A FindAGrave volunteer is suspected of damaging several historic graves with a wire brush  at the New Providence Presbyterian Church on Stoney Point Road in Surgoinsville

When questioned the man told police he wanted to get a better photo of the inscriptions on the tombstones for people who had requested photos. After scrubbing the stones and taking his photos, he uploaded them to the FindAGrave website.

The dark stain that builds up on tombstones over time was scrubbed clean in streaks over the engravings, and in some cases the engravings were rubbed almost smooth — to the point that the words are no longer legible. The cemetery reports that the damage cannot be repaired.

This was an incredibly thoughtless act by a volunteer. It was done out of good intentions but it was a serious error in judgement, and the results were disastrous. But has FindAGrave made it clear to volunteers how tombstones are to be treated? I went to the FindAGrave.com website to see what warnings or instructions are online for those taking photos. In their FAQ page there is a link to an article "How do I clean a headstone or grave marker?" under the topic Cemetery Preservation. However the link to that article is six screens down the page! Most people are not going to scroll down and read that far. 

Had this volunteer read the article, he would have seen "Unless you are related to the interred on the headstone in question, DO NOT do anything to the headstone. Gravestones should never be cleaned with anything but water and a soft brush. Slate gravestones from the Revolutionary era and Pre-revolutionary era are best left alone due to their delicate nature and tendency to erode. Never apply bleach, ammonia, shaving cream, chalk, flour, baking soda, cornstarch, firm pressure or use anything abrasive." [this is part of the article from FindAGrave.com]


I personally think their instructions give a mixed message and are confusing. The first sentence says don't do anything if you aren't a relative. Then it goes on to provide information on how best to do something! (cleaning).  Far better to keep these instructions simple and placed prominently on the website where volunteers will see them. The instructions should, in my opinion, be better worded.

I might have said  "Do NOT attempt to clean headstones. Leave all tombstones untouched"

K.I.S.S. is always a good practice to follow.

 
Read the rest of this story at 'Person of interest' identified in case of damaged historic gravestones at Hawkins church

Challenge: Donate 15 Minutes of Your Time Each Month

Lorine in Cemetery

Did you know that in 15 minutes you can photograph 30 to 45 tombstones? That's right. 15 minutes. Yesterday hubs and I impulsively decided to stop and photograph tombstones in the United Church Cemetery in Hillsdale Ontario.

It was a frigid day - 3' C (39' F). It was windy which made it feel even colder. We weren't sure we could stay out long enough to photograph the entire cemetery even though it is small with only about 150 stones.

Hubs is much faster than me. I have some mobility issues and I use a cane. I can't walk as fast. But in 30 minutes we took 164 photos.  That's an hour for one person. That's almost 3 photos every minute.

Just think how many cemeteries could be photographed and put online if every genealogist donated 15 minutes of their time each week or even once a month! How many of us, no matter how busy, can't find an extra 15 minutes a month?

The Challenge

So here is my challenge to you:  

*Before October ends, drive to a local cemetery and spend 15 minutes photographing tombstones*

If you want to email them to me (olivetreegenealogy @ gmail . com)  I will create a Cemetery Walk video of your photos on the Olive Tree Genealogy Channel where everyone can view them. If you have another site you want to donate to, that's great too!  Find-A-Grave and a few other sites accept uploads of such photos.

If you haven't walked a cemetery to take photos of the tombstones, try it. You'll like it! Maybe you'll donate another 15 minutes of your time in November. And December. And January and..... you get the picture (pun intended)