OldGraveyardNews

New Hampshire

THE NEW HAMPSHIRE OLD GRAVEYARD ASSOCIATION

Fall 2013

2013 NHOGA OFFICERS &COMMITTEE CHAIRS

PresidentRichard Alperin

PO Box 526, Newmarket NH 03857ralperin@gmail.com

Vice PresidentIngrid Smith

72 Smith Farm Lane, Center Harbor NH 03226253-6997

Recording SecretaryVacant

Corresponding Secretary / NewsletterBea Jillette

PO Box 1016, Goshen NH 03752863-2788 / beajillette@gmail.com

Treasurer/MembershipRichard Maloon

117 Amherst Road, Merrimack NH 03054-3820424-5621 / richard.maloon@att.net

Carpool CoordinatorLaurie Drury

225-7913 / MomHecate@comcast.net

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May 11, 2013 NHOGA Meeting

NHOGA met in Newport, NH on May 11 in the ball-room of the Richards Free Library. The beautiful roomand generous refreshments were arranged by host Ken

Dennis, who serves as the Supervisor of Buildings and Groundsfor Newport. Approximately 20 people attended.

Ken explained that three years ago responsibility for the careof Newport’s cemeteries was added to his job (Newport does nothave a Cemetery Commission). He listed large trees and stonesthat need repair and cleaning as current problems in the oldgraveyards. The Newport meeting was specifically designed tofocus on graveyard restoration and repair.

A brief NHOGA business meeting was conducted by IngridSmith who substituted for absent President Richard Alperin.

Richard Maloon, NHOGA Treasurer, presented a brief historyof NHOGA, and said that the locations of 4,365 private burialgrounds are currently listed on its website. He stated, “We cur-rently need a webmaster who can do data mining! We alsoneed new people and officers to ‘keep NHOGA alive.’” Threemeetings are held each year in different locations, and officersmeet once a year.

Richard urged NHOGA members to use the websiteFindAGrave which lists about 2,000 family burial grounds. Thiswebsite is staffed by volunteers who submit photos, names anddetails about people who are buried there. Volunteers alsoresearch specific requests for information.

Graveyard Restoration and RepairRichard Maloon gave a PowerPoint presentation on graveyard

restoration and repair. His interest in this began with a purchaseof property in Farmington which he and his partners planned todevelop. They discovered the remnants of a small burial groundon the property. As a result Richard attended his first NHOGAmeeting and was told they “did not own the burial ground – thedescendents did.” He contacted the Waldron family descen-dents, got involved with NHOGA, read the NHOGA handbook “AGuide to the Preservation and Conservation of Graveyards” andtook on restoration of the small burial ground. He showed dra-matic “before” and “after” photos of the project which involvedthe removal of many large trees and roots, digging up buriedstones, and cleaning and repairing broken stones. He subse-quently helped to restore the Cheswell Family burial ground inNewmarket and the Maloon graveyard in Deerfield, NH.

Cleaning of StonesDO NOT power wash or use bleach on stones – both of these

are destructive to the stones. Cleaning should start with thegentlest solution possible, which is water, and a soft brush(which should not hurt when tested on the skin). It is commonto find a buildup of algae on old stones, and it is easier toremove this after rain on damp, cloudy days rather than on a

(MEETING continued on page 3)

COVER: Pine Street East Cemetery, Newport NH

The New Hampshire Old GraveyardAssociation was organized on April 10,1976. It was incorporated as a voluntaryassociation with the New HampshireSecretary of State on April 12, 1977.

The Association’s mission is “to discover, restore, maintain, map andrecord inscriptions in the old burialplaces before they become completelylost.”

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sunny day. If more cleaning is necessary, the cleaner of choice should havea pH as close to the stone as possible. Richard uses Simple Green in the second step ofthe cleaning process. If this is still not sufficient he then uses the biocide D-2 whichkills algae by getting behind it and pushing it off the stone. D-2 should be used in fullsun to be effective. It is expensive, but easy to use as it can be sprayed on the stoneand left to do its work. One gallon cleans about 20 stones, and can be found atgravestonecleaners.com.

Broken Stone RepairRichard generally uses Locktite Epoxy 0151 to repair broken stones. He

first cleans the broken edges of the pieces and then applies epoxy to justone of the broken pieces, leaving ¼ inch clear around the edges. When thepieces are placed together the epoxy hardens under pressure. It may oozeout from the mended area, but will not stick to the stone. Barre Pak Epoxyis another option. It is sold in small packages suitable for cleaning onestone. The cleaning and repair of gravestones is covered in detail inNHOGA’s handbook, which was updated in May 2013 and reprinted. (Seepage 7 of this newsletter for order details).

Following a break for lunch, Ken Dennis gave participants a tour of thePine Street East and Pine Street West cemeteries in Newport. There weremany lively discussions with Richard Maloon about big trees, leaningstones, broken stones and other cemetery problems.

Beatrice Jillette,Corresponding Secretary

A New Direction for NHOGABy long-standing tradition NHOGA meets three times a year on the secondSaturday of May, July and September.

This year there was no July meeting. Instead, hands-on Graveyard Preservationworkshops were offered in Newmarket, Canterbury and Alton. NHOGA officersdemonstrated how to clean, repair and raise fallen stones. The workshops werewell attended and received enthusiastic reviews.

NHOGA’s mission is “to discover, restore, maintain, map and record inscriptionsin the old burial places before they become completely lost.” Today’s computersand internet make widespread data collection possible by volunteers who aremapping and recording graveyard locations and gravestone inscriptions.

However, human hands must still maintain and restore old gravestones. This reali-ty has prompted NHOGA to replace one annual meeting with workshops ongravestone preservation and repair.

NHOGA needs historical societies or cemetery commissions to host two meetings

in 2014, and seeks more Graveyard Preservation workshop locations. If you are

interested please contact one of the officers listed on the inside cover of this

newsletter.

Here lies the body of SusanLowder

Who burst while drinking aSedlitz Powder.

Called from this world toher heavenly rest,

She should have waited tillit effervesced.

1798

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NHOGA held two PreservationWorkshops this summer – one atthe Cheswell burial ground inNewmarket on July 13 and theother in Canterbury on July 20. Athird workshop is scheduled inAlton on August 24.

The first workshop in New-market had six in attendance andRichard (Alperin) and Richard(Maloon) teamed up to demon-strate that water only would in factgive satisfactory cleaning results onsome stones.

For more stubborn and dirtierstones, Simple Green was used butto be honest did not do much better

than water. D/2 was used to treatstones that had Lichen like growthand was the preferred cleaner. In allcases the stone is kept wet and oneuses a soft brush in a circularmotion, starting at the bottom andscrub and scrub. We used aportable spray to rinse the stone.We did straighten one leaningstone, using only the soil on site.

The second workshop inCanterbury on July 20, 2013 hadfifteen in attendance. NHOGAmembers Robert and Linda Fifeorganized this event.

The Canterbury workshop con-vened at 10 a.m. on the porch of

the Elkins library and after about ahalf hour presentation by RichardMaloon, we proceeded across thestreet to the Center cemetery. See

http://www.nhoga.com/sites/oga_C05.htm - 019.

The Canterbury cemeterytrustees have recognized that theirlocal graveyards may provide theonly source of primary documenta-tion that records a person’s birthand death. They have made it easyfor local residents to “adopt” agraveyard and help preserve it.

In what turned out to be a nicesunny hot morning, the fifteen or soattendees walked over to the Centercemetery and proceeded to cleanseveral headstones, again usingwater and then D/2.

We also tackled a good-sizedleaning stone and used pea stonesto stabilize the base and used alevel to check that the stone wasupright. Only the original compact-ed soil and pea stones were used,using the technique outlined in theNHOGA guide on repairing leaningstones.

By Richard Maloon, NHOGA

Preservation workshops inNewmarket and Canterbury

The NHOGA encourages the use of professionalsto do conservation work, where the goal is to restore anartifact to its original condition. Preservation efforts, on

the other hand, attempt to reduce future damage due to age,handling or outside elements. Volunteers and non-professionalscan do simple preservation repairs such as cleaning head-stones, raising fallen stones and simple repairs as described inthe Guides produced by NHOGA. See the 2004 Guide on ourwebsite:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nhoga/preservation.htm.

Cheswell Burial Ground, Newmarket, NH

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Canterbury’s Center Cemetery isone of the oldest cemeteries intown and the section that was usedfor this demonstration dates back tothe Revolutionary War or before.

Approximately fifteen partici-pants showed up for the demonstra-tion and then volunteered to gettheir hands and knees dirty whilescrubbing away years of accumulat-ed dirt, grime, lichens, moss, andmold. Participants also had anopportunity to learn the basicsregarding proper methods forstraightening up and stabilizingsome of the old leaning headstonesthat were precariously headedtowards taking a dirt-nap.

Seven to ten headstones receivedsome attention and attempt at acleaning as various products andtechniques were demonstrated.Some headstones cleaned up quitenicely and suddenly became legiblefor the first time in many years; stillothers will need another round ofefforts.

Four or five sagging headstoneswere straightened, stabilized, orreceived some improvement effortby the different teams of volun-teers. Fueled by homemade dough-nuts, nice weather, and the cama-raderie of the day, some goodnatured ribbing and impromptuscrubbing competitions broke outamongst the participants vying forthe ‘most improved’ headstone.

Canterbury has at least 33 ceme-teries and old burying grounds scat-tered throughout the town, many ofthem quite small and often contain-

ing only a small handful of graves.In an effort to deal with tight budg-ets and the neglect that these smallgraveyards were facing, theCanterbury Cemetery Trusteesimplemented a volunteer programthat recruits residents that live nearthese small graveyards and thenencourages them to perform smallmaintenance chores such as rakingleaves, weed whacking, picking uplitter, and watching out for vandal-ism in these often overlooked bury-ing grounds. The recruits from thisvolunteer program made up thebulk of the participants at thisdemonstration and severalexpressed plans to take what theyhad learned back to “their” assigned

graveyard and improve the condi-tions of the headstones in theiradopted burying ground.

Cemetery Trustees Mark Stevensand Kent Ruesswick were in atten-dance and indicated that they werepleased with the headstones thatwere cleaned, fixed, or improvedand also at the enthusiasm of thegroup.

Hopefully the knowledge thatwas gained will spread forward andmore of these old headstonesthroughout town can be improvedand better maintained. TheTrustees recognized and thankedRichard Maloon for demonstratinghis expertise and donating his timeand material for this class, NHOGAmembers Bob and Linda Fife ofCanterbury for their efforts inorganizing and coordinating thisdemonstration, and Ella MaeCochrane for providing the volun-teers with her homemade dough-nuts, a treat indeed.

By Mark Stevens, Canterbury Cemetery Trustee

Dirty Headstones and HomemadeDoughnuts

On Saturday July 20th, the Canterbury CemeteryTrustees volunteered to open up their Center Cemeteryat the village center and provide the venue for a

demonstration of proper headstone cleaning techniques lead byRichard Maloon from NHOGA.

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NHOGA Visits Newport, NH

Pine Street East Cemetery (above) and Pine Street West Cemetery (below)

Richard Maloon (right) discusses problems in thePine Street East cemetery with Ken Dennis.

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New Hampshire Old Graveyard Association

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION / DUES PAYMENT

Name: Date:

Street or PO Box:

City: State: Zip Code:

Telephone: Email:

DUES $10.00 / GRAVEYARD RESTORATION HANDBOOK: $4.00

Make checks payable to NHOGA and send to Treasurer:Richard Maloon, 117 Amherst Road, Merrimack NH 03054-3820

Dues are paid from May to May of each year, and are used to coverthe cost of the newsletter and various NHOGA projects. If “2013” is onyour mailing label you are up to date!!!

Justin Bennett, currently servinga sentence of three to seven yearsin state prison on a previouscharge, pleaded guilty to the gravemarker charges.

On two of the charges, PresidingJustice Brian Tucker sentencedBennett to three to six years inprison. Those two sentences willrun concurrently with his previoussentence. On the third charge,Tucker sentenced Bennett to threeto seven years in state prison. All ofthe minimum and all of the maxi-mum sentences were suspended butcould be brought forward by thestate within six years and ninemonths should Bennett fail to com-ply with the conditions of the sen-tence.

The markers were removed fromthe graves of Ronald Parker, HaroldJ. Wiggins and Benjamin Burr.Bennett was also ordered to makerestitution in the amount of $759to the Town of Croydon in the Burrcase.

No restitution was ordered toreplace the markers on the gravesof all three veterans as the govern-ment will provide new markers atthe request of the funeral home andwill not accept restitution, accord-ing to the sentencing information.

The cost of a new marker is inthe range of $600 to $800, accord-ing to a funeral home official.

Bennett was ordered by thecourt to participate meaningfullyand complete any counseling, treat-

ment and educational programs asdirected by the correctional authori-ty or probation/parole officer.

According to New Hampshirestatutes, the maximum sentence ineach case is three to seven yearsalong with a $4,000 fine.

Excerpted from an article by ArchieMountain, Eagle Times, 3-13-12

Newport Man Sentenced for theft ofgrave markers

A 26-year old Newport man has been sentenced to NewHampshire State Prison for his involvement in thetheft and destruction of metal markers from the

graves of military veterans buried in North Newport Cemetery.

New Hampshire Old Graveyard AssociationPO Box 1016Goshen NH 03752

Visit our web page at www.nhoga.org

NHOGA Meeting – September 14, 2013Unity Town Hall, Unity NH

892 2nd NH Turnpike

From Rt. 11/103 in Newporttake the first left after theShaws/Ocean State Job Lotsplaza onto Unity Road (whichbecomes Unity Springs Road).Go about 9 miles to the 2nd NHTurnpike and turn right at theLempster/Unity sign. Go about3 miles to Unity Center. TheUnity Town Hall is beyond theFire Station. It was a BaptistChurch so has a steeple.

9:30am: Registration & coffee.

10:00am: Business meeting and program.

12:00: Bring a bag lunch. Drinks and desserts offeredby host.

1:00: Tour of several Unity cemeteries.

Unity Town Hall