The Union County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society held its meeting at the Marysville Public Library on May 18.
Steve Lowe, Vice President, introduced speaker, Krista Horrocks, a professional archaeologist and Projects Review Manager with the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) with the Ohio History Connection. She is a member of the Association for Gravestone Studies and co-runs the Ohio Chapter and specializes in historic cemetery research. She is working on the Old Fredericktown Cemetery Preservation Project in her home of Fredericktown.
She shared pictures of stones being restored at the Fredericktown Cemetery and invited the group to attend the upcoming Association Gravestone Studies 2019 Conference, June 25-30, in Gardner-Webb University at Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
There are 14,637 documented cemeteries in Ohio, but as of June 2018 only 4,182 are registered, leaving 10,455 unregistered cemeteries in the state.
Gravestones materials used are granite, marble, limestone, sandstone or brownstone. Alternative types are slate, metal, concrete or folkart materials.
Recognizing stone deterioration are by leaning, declamation (separation of stone layers), exfoliation (peeling or scaling), spalling (breaking away) and sugaring (gradual erosion or melting away).
Safe Gravestone Cleaning Techniques include using soft bristle brushes, toothbrushes, small wooden skewers or popsicle sticks, plastic or rubber scrapers, eye protection, plastic gloves, water and D/2 Biological Solution by Atlas Preservation. D/2 continues to kill biological growth after cleaning and may be ordered online. Do not clean with Nya lox brush on a power drill, metal or wire brushes, power washer or alternative cheaper cleaning products such as bleach as damage could be done. The National Park Service (NCPTT) is a tester of preservation materials and has used D/2 at Historical sites successfully.
Horrocks suggested taking picture of the gravestone before and after work is done. To begin, wet the stone down well with water and then spray D/2 on the stone and work from bottom up with the soft brush and using the tooth brush of popsicle sticks in the lettering, before rinsing.
She gave some tips for unique situations such as fertilizer staining turning the stones orange. In a graffiti situation there is a gel product on the market is called Elephant Snot. She said to never use shaving cream, flour or chalk as they can damage the stones.
Rubbings may be done but she suggested covering the stone with paper so crayon or chalk rubs off on the stone. She shared a page of references and further research. The Wisconsin Historical Society has free webinars on gravestone cleaning that are free to watch.
Horrocks answered many questions from the group and she gave a door prize of a gravestone cleaning kit.
At the next meeting on June 15, Kay Adams will present the program on “Wikitree.com.”
Those attending the meeting Lynn Baldwin, Marie Bouic, Steve Lowe, Virginia Smith, Marty Scott, Bill Thompson, Sharon Parrott, Kermit and Ruth Ann Morse, Eva F. Schooley, Leona Gustafson, Nina Boerger, Nancy Katzenbach, Patricia Croy, Stephen and Linda Davisson, Connie Simpson, Darlene Shull, Jim and Anne Scheiderer, Sara Halley, Terry Nawman, Annalee Webb, Lisa Carlyle, Cynthia Westover, Cheryl Prinster, Avanelle Oberlin and Nina Lee Hampton.