Service in the Cemetery

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today, Brother May and I had the opportunity to fulfil a photo request for Find A Grave.   We have blogged about this service opportunity before, but we thought we might go into a bit more detail on how we do it. The reason we are bringing it up at this time, is that we were impressed with the thought, that we have the opportunity to do this kind of service in our own family history research.   It is a great service project that the entire family can get involved with.  Even toddlers can help!  In addition, you can just take photos, do some cleaning, or go all out and clean the headstones to spit-shine and then photograph.  It is up to you. 

So what is our procedure?  We clean the headstones to the best of our ability before photographing.  Over the years we have collected the items we keep in our “cemetery kit”.  It started with a 5-gallon bucket and two Home Depot tool aprons tied around it to provide pockets on the outside of the bucket.  Included in the pockets and inside the bucket are the following (items we had laying around.  You can add more appropriate cleaning tools if you like):

            grass cutting scissors                      brushes:  vegetable, scrub and old toothbrushes               

an old chisel and an old large flathead screwdriver 

kneeling pads and/or knee pads

an old fashioned can opener (with a pointed end)                             several old towels

an old long drill bit (used to clean out some engraving – just the bit not a drill)                    

a collection of plastic grocery bags                             a large garbage bag or two                                          

            several pair of garden gloves (some leather, some with rubber palms)                     

            water bottles (we have one large one – 2 liter – plus we carry extra in the car)

It is also a good idea to have an umbrella with you for shade on the headstone if the sun is particularly bright

Once we have located the headstone, we start to clean it up.  We have had the opportunity to clean off ice, water, grass and old clippings, thistles, ants – you name it.  We just do the best we can to ensure the headstone is shown in its best condition possible. 

We start by cleaning out the grass around the base.  In most cases all that is needed is a simple clipping.  Sometimes, however the grass has overgrown the base and we use the chisel and screwdrivers to clean it out. 

After we have cleaned out the grass around the base, we clean out the engraving.  If it is packed with dirt, we water the engraving down, let it soak to soften it, and then carefully use the drill bit or screwdriver to clean out the dirt.  If they are too large to fit the engraving, we use the brushes.  If the headstone is metal, do not use the tools or any harsh brushes. Use only water and a soft brush and towel. 

We use the grocery bags to take out all the debris from cleaning.  Today we filled two grocery bags cleaning out 3 headstones.  They were not in terrible shape but did have a lot of grass growing over the base. 

         

                                                                    Headstone before cleaning

                                                                  Headstone after cleaning

 Old headstones may also have bird droppings or algae growing on them.  Be particularly careful when cleaning these stones.  They are very fragile.  In most cases, we use a soft brush and clean them the best we can with gentle cleaning then photograph them as they are. 

Always remember to take care when cleaning the headstones so you do not damage them in any way.

When you are ready to photograph, check out several different angles.  You want to show all the details of the headstone.  In most cases straight on for upright headstones and directly overhead for those that lay flat is best.  However, the sun and shadows may not cooperate.  Today, I had to photograph the flat headstones from the top so I did not cast a shadow across the headstone as I photographed.  Then I just rotated the photographs in the camera so they were ready to edit.

The engraving on some types of marble is very hard to read, even when extremely clean.  In this case, we use our water to wet the headstone.  It usually will darken the engraving enough to be able to read it better.  If the water casts a gloss over the marble, use a towel to wipe off the excess water, leaving the water in the engraving. 

  

                                                              Headstone is hard to read

 

                                              

                                                                              Headstone after adding water

If you are encountering really bright sunlight, you might want to cast a shadow over the headstone when photographing it.  Be sure to cover the entire headstone with the shadow.  Umbrellas work wonders for this but our experience is that colored ones generally cast a color on the headstone as well.  Black, or a very dark one, is best.

Sometimes the opposite is the concern.  The headstone is already in a deep shadow from a tree or some other obstacle.  In this case, using the flashlight from your cell phone may be the answer.  Ensure the entire headstone is illuminated when you use this technique.

When you are satisfied with your photo and have edited it to your satisfaction, it is time to upload it to your FamilySearch account.  Please refer to the blog posting from March that covers adding documents and photos.

We hope these tips will help you as you research your ancestors and add their headstones to your FamilySearch.  Have a wonderful week!  Brother and Sister May