Restoration
of
April
5, 2003
On
April 5, 2003, Susan Huber, Lee Creed, Sheila Morrison and Larry Tippin
participated in restoring the
We met at 10:00 at the cemetery. After assessing
the condition of the cemetery we documented the area by taking photographs and
mapping the location of each visible stone. We then started cleaning the
grounds. It took about three or four hours to complete the cleanup. The area
contained about half a dozen mature multaflora rose bushes, a good sized honey
locust (thorn) tree and a lot of scattered brush and briars. We treated the
stumps and brush with Tordon. This will greatly inhibit the regrowth of these
undesirable species.
We then made a diligent effort to locate as many
tombstones as possible, and to ascertain their original location. Several of
the stones were broken in two or three pieces, and many were difficult to read.
We cleaned the stones to the extent possible. As always, cleaning was done
using only water and a soft brush. This method helps restore the face of the
stone, while causing the minimum amount of distress.
After cleaning the stones, we performed a careful
examination of names, dates and other legible markings. We also attempted to
match up the stones that were fragmented. We then compared our readings to the
listings made by Bill Boatright in 1956. We were able to match several dates to
the proper name that Mr. Boatright had not been able to do. For instance, we
were able to come up with an age for Telithia Rice, but we were not able to
read the date of death as the stone was cracked right at the dates.
We
were also able to locate one stone Mr. Boatright had not read, that of Cary A.
Moyers. But we were not able to locate the stones of James and Prudence Athey.
This is disappointing, as it is believed that this is the same James Athey
mentioned on page 12 of the 1879 Atlas of Putnam County. It is stated that
James Athey erected the first house in
We did find fragments of stones with dates that
match Mary J. Athey w/o Henry Athey. Those fragments were about 90 feet west of
the main part of the cemetery. We also located a stone fragment that appears to
have the date 1878. This date does not match James or Prudence Athey. It may be
possible that this fragment is from an entirely different stone. We speculated
that it might be that of Henry Athey, as it was very close to the fragments of
the stone of his wife.
We mapped the location of the stones, and also
documented our estimation of location of the stones that were not set. We also
updated the names and dates from Mr. Boatright’s readings. We also photographed
the area at this stage of the restoration process and took photographs of each
individual stone.
We performed our restoration efforts in accordance
with generally accepted standards for cemetery restoration, such as those
advocated by the Indiana Pioneer Cemetery Project. Our goal is to locate,
restore and preserve the pioneer cemeteries in such a way they will be in good
condition for future generations. We were especially pleased that members of
the family participated in the restoration process. They will certainly visit
this cemetery for many years to come.
Our exhausted, but happy, group left the cemetery
around 6:00 in the evening. Plans were made to return to the cemetery the next
weekend to repair and reset as many tombstones as possible.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Restoration
of
June
21, 2003
On
June 21, 2003, Lee Creed, Sheila Morrison, Phyllis Brown and Larry Tippin
returned to the
We
had performed preliminary restoration on April 5, 2003. At that time we mowed
the thick underbrush and located sixteen tombstones. In that two months time
the weeds had grown to a height of about four feet. It took over an hour to get
the weeds mowed down.
After
mowing the weeds, we reset the stones for Carey and Susan Moyers. These two
stones are monolith type stones. For these two stones we dug a square hole
eighteen inches across and eighteen inches deep. We put about six inches of
sand and gravel mix in the bottom of the holes and poured about eight inches of
concrete on top of that. Later in the day, after the concrete dried, we reset
the stones. The bases were chipped, so Lee repaired them with mortar mix. We
then set the stones on the bases. These two stones are a little bit into the
power line right of way. We decided it would be a good idea to set a tall post
near these stones so future mowing crews can see the stones and hopefully avoid
hitting the stones.
We were able to locate the bases for Ellsan and
Michey Johnson. Their stones were just west of their parents. The footstone for
Michey was Michey was located about six feet northwest of her father Henry
Johnson. Since she was two when she died we thought it would be logical her
headstone would be about four feet west of her footstone. We searched the area
and found an intact base with a piece of a tombstone broken off just above the
base. The bottom edge of Michey’s stone fit perfectly. We then looked about six
feet to the south of this stone and found the base for Ellsan’s stone. It also
had a bottom piece broken off just above the base and the stone fit perfectly
into the base as well. We repaired the crack in the stone and reset it in its
base.
We then matched the base for Caroline Matkins. This
stone is a very large tablet stone. It was broken off below ground level about
three feet north of the stump where many stones had been piled, and about 25
feet west and a little south of the stones of Henry and Elizabeth Johnson. We
dug a hole and set the base in sand and gravel. We then repaired the stone at
the break.
The
stones for William Webster and Telethia Rice were repaired and reset at the
location they were found. That still left six more stones piled against the
stump. It looks like someone had picked these stones up from their original
location and piled them against the stump, not realizing how important it is to
keep the stones at their original location. We wanted to set these stones as
close as possible to their original location, rather than to leave them leaning
against the stump. We left most of the decisions to the descendants of the
family who were working with us. We felt it proper to let them decide where to
reset the stones of their ancestors. Here is the logic we used to determine the
location of the stones.
The stone of Maria Matkins was one of those leaning
against the stump. We felt it would be best to set this stone about three feet
north of the stone of Caroline Matkins, her mother.
The stones for Margaret Webster and infant s/o S.
& M. Webster were also leaning against the stump. We felt it would be
proper to locate these stones near the stone of William Webster, which is about
25 feet west of the stone of Caroline Matkins. We set the stone of Margaret
Webster north of William Webster and the stone of the infant son south of
William Webster. Both of these stones are slap stones in good condition. We set
these stones by digging a hole and packing the bottom third of the stones in
sand and gravel. This may or may not be the original location for the stones,
but we felt they were probably originally near where we reset them.
This left only the stones for Jasper, Malissa and
Mary Rice leaning against the stump. We felt it would be best to set these
stones near the stone of Telitha Rice. We marked with surveyor’s flags where we
intend to set these stones. We intend to set the stones for Jasper and Malissa
north of their mother Telitha Rice, and the stone for Mary J. Rice south of
that stone.
We worked until almost dark. Since this was the
longest day of the year, we were able to work until after 8:00. We could have
finished setting the last few stones, but we ran out of sand and gravel mix. We
marked the location for the remaining stones and went home tired but happy. We
plan to return in the next several weeks to finish setting the last few stones.
The area looks like a cemetery now.
View photos of restoration of the
Athey cemetery before
restoration
After trees cut and before
mowing
Athey cemetery
after restoration
View
information on individuals buried in the Athey cemetery
View
information on all Putnam County cemeteries
