Restoration
of Priest/Claver Cemetery
September
2003
We
performed a partial restoration of the Priest/Claver cemetery. This cemetery is
located about a mile south the intersection of US 36 and 231 and contains the mortal remains of the family
of Fielding and
This
cemetery consists about ten tablet type tombstones which are lying at or below
ground level along a fencerow at the edge of a cultivated field. It is likely
these tombstones were originally set in the field itself and have in the past
been moved to the fencerow. The area had become overgrown with sapling trees
and undergrowth.
With
the permission of the property owner, we cut the sapling trees and undergrowth
around the tombstones. We then surveyed the area for tombstones and found eight
legible stones and several that were illegible. We cleaned and photographed
these tombstones and documented the inscriptions. Since we do not know where
the tombstones were originally located, we laid the tombstones face down on the
ground where they were originally found. Laying the tombstones face down
preserves the inscriptions much more than if they were laying face up exposed
to the elements. If someone can determine the original location of the graves,
these tombstones could be repaired and reset.
View photos
of partial restoration of Priest/Claver cemetery:
Looking
west before cutting trees (if you
look closely you can see tombstones)
After
restoration looking north
After
restoration looking northwest