Initial Needs Assessment
The
This
cemetery is situated at 39 49 05N Latitude; 86 50 34W Longitude about 3 miles
southwest of Roachdale on the Norris Harbison family farm. The Harbison family
has been very gracious in allowing us access. They are pleased that someone is
interested in restoring this cemetery.
BACKGROUND
This cemetery contains members of the family of
James and Rachel Edwards. Their son James Glasgow Edwards, who is also buried
in this cemetery, was a member of the
The
first burial in this cemetery appears to be that of Rachel Edwards, who died in
1850. The most recent burial appears to be that of Nancy G. (Lafollette) Edwards,
wife of James Glasgow Edwards, who died in 1900.
INITIAL
ASSESSMENT OF THE CEMETERY
This
cemetery has been overgrown with yucca plants, sapling trees and other
vegetation, particularly on the east half. Mr. Harbison indicated this cemetery
has been vandalized several times through the years. The main entrance to the
cemetery is through the homestead, but the cemetery can also be accessed from
the county road to the west. Since this cemetery is secluded, it has been the
site of many parties and unauthorized gatherings through the years. All but one
of the monolith stones have been pushed off their bases. Fortunately none of
these stones were broken when they were pushed over. There are also several
slab stones that have been broken, but it is difficult to tell if this was a
result of vandalism or natural deterioration.
Mr. Harbison also indicated he wouldn’t be surprised if some of the
tombstones have been removed from this cemetery.
The
cemetery is enclosed in a stone wall made of stacked flat stones. This wall is
not mortared and is deteriorating. The north and east sides of the wall are
still standing and are in good condition. The west side is still standing, but
is leaning badly. The south side has pretty much fallen over. Mr. Harbison indicated
he remembered the wall on the south side being several feet further to the
south. He feels that vandals have knocked the wall down at various times in the
past. He also remembered there being a gate on the south side at one time which
no longer exists.
There
are about 15-20 tombstones in this cemetery as follows:
1.
John Ragland. This stone is a good sized monolith near the west wall at
the southwest corner of the cemetery. Mr. Ragland was a preacher and his stone
is shaped in the form of a pulpit, with an open bible at the top. This stone
has been pushed off its base to the west but the base is leaning a little to
the south. The stone appears to be in good condition. We should be able to
raise the base and level it by packing sand beneath the base. We then should be
able to reset the monolith stone on the base.
2.
Mary Smith. This is a slab stone to the north of John Ragland and is
leaning against the stone wall. We were able to locate the footstone for this
individual and have determined that this stone should be reset about five feet
east of where it is at the present. The stone is in good condition, but is
barely legible. We plan to construct a new slotted concrete base for this stone
and reset the stone into the slotted base.
3.
James Edwards. This is the elder James Edwards, who is the patriarch of
the Edwards family in northern
4.
Louann Miller. This is a slab stone that has been broken about half way
up which is about fifteen feet north of James Edwards. The slotted base for
this stone is still intact but has been chipped. We should be able to repair
the base then reset the stone in the slot. We should also be able to repair the
stone by connecting the top part of the stone to the bottom part and setting
with hydraulic cement.
5.
Osceola Edwards. This stone is a good sized monolith about 25 feet east
of James Edwards. This stone has been pushed off its base to the west but the
base is leaning a little to the south. The stone appears to be in good
condition. We should be able to raise the base and level it by packing sand
beneath the base. We then should be able to reset the monolith stone on the
base.
6.
Infant s/o H. M. & A. E. Edwards. This is a small monolith about
five feet north of Osceola Edwards. The stone and the base are in good
condition; however, the square stone that fits between the base and the
monolith is broken into several pieces. This stone is in poor condition and
probably beyond repair.
7.
James Glasgow Edwards, Nancy G. Edwards and Charles P. Edwards. This is
a large monolith stone about five feet north of the infant mentioned above. The
graves for these three individuals have been covered with a concrete slab which
also encloses the base of this stone. As a result, the base for this stone is
level and in good condition. This monolith has also been pushed off its base to
the west. We should be able to lift this stone and reset it on its base.
8.
Base only?
9.
Flora M. Akers. This stone is a good sized monolith about 10 feet east
and a little north of Osceola Edwards. This stone has been pushed off its base
to the west but the base is leaning a little to the south. The stone appears to
be in good condition. We should be able to raise the base and level it by
packing sand beneath the base. We then should be able to reset the monolith
stone on the base.
10.
John and Melvina Britton. This is a large monolith about 20 feet north
of Flora Akers. This stone is the only monolith that is still standing on its
original base and is in good condition, except for the fact that an ornamental
piece at the top of the stone has been broken off. The stone is the farthest
north in the cemetery and can be seen from
11.
Base only. This appears to be the base for a small monolith about 30
feet east of Flora Akers and a little south. We have not been able to locate
the stone that fits on this base.
12.
Ollie M. Edwards. This is a small monolith a few feet north of the stone
mentioned above. The monolith is in good condition. The base needs to be pulled
up and reset. We should be able then to reset the monolith on its base.
13.
Infant Crader. This is a small monolith a few feet north of Ollie
Edwards. The monolith is in good condition. The base needs to be pulled up and
reset. We should be able then to reset the monolith on its base.
14.
Willie Porter. This is a small monolith a few feet north of Infant
Crader. The monolith is in good condition. The base needs to be pulled up and
reset. We should be able then to reset the monolith on its base.
15.
Epha Edwards. This is a small monolith a few feet north of Willie
Porter. The monolith is in good condition. The base needs to be pulled up and
reset. We should be able then to reset the monolith on its base.
16.
Infant Son of F. & D. Edwards. This is a small monolith a few feet
north of Epha Edwards. The monolith is in good condition. The base needs to be
pulled up and reset. We should be able then to reset the monolith on its base.
17.
Gilbert Edwards. This is a small monolith a few feet north of the Infant
Son Edwards mentioned above. The monolith is in good condition. The base needs
to be pulled up and reset. We should be able then to reset the monolith on its
base.
Note
that the above mentioned small monoliths are tombstones for children set in a
row near the east end of the cemetery.
MAP
OF CEMETERY
After
we located these stones, we mapped the cemetery, marking the location of the
stones with a GPS devise. This is done so that the location of the stones can be
marked where we found them. Because of vandalism or natural deterioration, it
may be difficult to locate the old tombstones in the future. We also took
digital photos of the area and of the individual tombstones, so that a
permanent record will be available.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The
trees should be cut and treated to retard their regeneration. The yucca plants
should be cut at ground level and thinned out a little. The rest of the
cemetery can be mown and cleaned as deemed necessary.
We feel the monolith stones can be reset on their
bases. We plan to lift the bases and reset them level, after packing sand below
them and then lifting the monoliths onto their bases and resetting them level.
We also believe we can reset the slab stones in slotted bases and repair the
stones as needed.
The Harbison family agreed to the restoration of
this cemetery.
Restoration of
April 2004
Sheila Morrison and Larry Tippin began restoration
of the
We
spent most of the morning cutting the sapling trees and mowing the cemetery.
The east side of the cemetery was extensively overgrown with yucca plants. We
cut most of these yucca plants at ground level and thinned them out a little. We then mowed the rest of the cemetery and
trimmed the low-lying limbs from the trees along the perimeter of the cemetery.
We then chemically treated the stumps of the sapling trees to retard their
regrowth.
After
cleaning the vegetation from the cemetery, we performed another assessment of
the cemetery. We found several tombstones which were obscured by the thick
undergrowth. As mentioned in our initial
assessment of this cemetery, there are six or seven small monoliths set in a
row near the east end of the cemetery. We were able to locate footstones for
most of these stones. But the initials on the footstones do not all match the
inscriptions on the corresponding monoliths a few feet west of the footstones.
Most of these footstones are at ground level or a little bit below. Since most
of the monolith stones are small and easily moved, we feel that some of these
small monoliths might have accidentally been placed on the wrong bases. We feel
the initials on the footstones are more indicative of the location of the
graves of these children. When we reset these tombstones, we will set them
based on the initials on the footstones.
We
then began resetting the larger monolith stones. We were able to reset the
bases for all the monolith stones by lifting them off the ground and packing
sand under the bases until they were level. At about this time, Bruce Harbison,
a member of the family that owns the farm where the cemetery is situated
arrived to survey the work done. Mr. Harbison
was pleased with our efforts up to that point. With his generous help, we then
reset all but two of the monolith stones on their bases.
Mr.
Harbison also indicated he remembered a row of slab type tombstones to the west
of the row of small monolith stones at the east end of the cemetery. There is a
fairly large area at this point, with just about the right amount of space for
another row of graves. We searched for evidence for tombstones in this area,
but found none.
This
concluded the work done on this day. Plans were made to return and continue our
restoration efforts in the near future.
CONTINUATION OF RESTORATION OF
Sheila Morrison and Larry Tippin finished
restoration of the
We began this day by fixing the base for Louann
Miller. This slotted base was in good condition, except portions at the top of
the base were chipped off an inch or two deep. We repaired these chips with
concrete and repaired the slot so it would hold the tombstone.
We then set the slotted base for Mary Smith. We had
previously made a new slotted base for this stone from concrete, using the
measurements of the dimensions of the stone we had made in our previous trip.
After that, we located the footstones for James M.
Tucker and Rachel Edwards. These individuals were listed in a previous reading,
but we have not been able to find their tombstones. Since these footstones are
clearly legible, and because we have found all the other stones listed in the
previous reading, we are confident these footstones represent the location of
the graves of these two individuals. Further, the footstone for Rachel Edwards
is located just north of her husband James.
We then set the bottom portion of the stone of
Louann Miller in its repaired slotted base using a proper slot mix solution.
This stone had at some point in time been broken in the middle. After the
bottom portion of the stone properly dries and sets in the slot mix, we will
repair the top portion of the stone.
We then set the two monolith stones for Osceola
Edwards and for James, Nancy and Charles Edwards. These are large monolith
stones, particularly the latter. To ensure we didn’t scratch or mar the base of
the stone or the monolith, we placed a piece of plywood against the base while
lifting the monolith. We were able to get these stones set good and level.
After that, we reset the footstones that were
leaning or just above the ground at the west end and middle part of the
cemetery.
We then reset the tombstones for the children at
the east end of the cemetery. These stones are all small monolith stones;
however, their bases have settled and have been pushed up unevenly by the
profusion of yucca plants at this end of the cemetery. This was a much larger
job than had been anticipated. Not only were the yucca plants difficult to work
around, the ground was covered with vines, making it extremely difficult to dig
around the stones. We lifted all the stones from the ground, filled the holes
with sand and dirt as appropriate, and then reset the bases level. We then set
the stones on the bases. We reset these stones in the proper location by using
the inscriptions of the footstones and by matching the type of stones to their
respective bases. We are confident we have all these tombstones set in their
proper location. We had not been able to locate just one tombstone, that of Roy
Edwards. We knew this stone was missing, because there was a base without a
stone and because he was listed at an earlier reading. We were about to give up
on this one, when as walking to the truck, we ran our foot across what looked
like a stone. Sure enough, this was the stone for Roy Edwards lying below
ground level. After resetting this stone, we felt we have set all the stones
properly and in their original location.
At the end of the day, we repaired the top part of
the tablet stone for Louann Miller. Since the break in this stone was irregular,
we were able to get a real nice set. This stone should be in good condition for
many years.
We finished by taking a number of digital photos.
We had also taken many photos throughout the process, so we have many before,
during and after photos of our restoration of this cemetery.
View Photos of Restoration of the
Before
restoration looking east
Before
restoration looking north
Restored
looking east from middle
Restored
looking east from outside
List
of individuals buried in this cemetery
List of all
Putnam County cemeteries