Restoration
of
During August and September, 2005, Sheila Morrison and Larry
Tippin of the Memorial Menders of Putnam County restored the
This
project began when Mr. Dale Terhune, the owner of the property, contacted us
about this cemetery. He has been interested in restoring the cemetery for quite
some time, but was not sure how to proceed. He heard about our work and
contacted us. After meeting with Mr. Terhune, we agreed to restore the
cemetery.
This cemetery is situated well off the road on the Terhune
farm northwest of
We began the project by cutting all the tress in and around
the cemetery. Since there were many mature trees, this portion of the project
took quite some time. We generally cut the trees at ground level and then
chemically treated the remaining stumps to inhibit future growth. Mr. Terhune
was kind enough to pile the fallen trees in an adjoining wooded area with his
backhoe. This helped the project tremendously.
After the trees were cut and removed we made a survey of the
condition of the stones and the area. We determined there to be about 15-20
visible stones, all of which were in need of attention. Most of the stones were
either lying on the ground, or were badly leaning. Five or six stones were
damaged and in need of repair. Of particular note was the stone of John
Newgent. This is a tablet type stone that had been broken into four pieces and
was found lying about ten feet east of its base. Since the break was in the
middle of the stone, we speculated that the top of the obelisk stone of
Harrison and Nancy Nutgrass might have hit this stone when it fell, or possibly
the stone was broken by a tree limb falling. In addition, the stones of
Margaret Newgent, Frances Wiley and Frances Wright were all broken, some in two
places. These are also tablet type stones designed to rest in a slotted base.
All the bases were located and we were able to use them again, after making
repairs to a few.
We began the restoration of the cemetery itself by cleaning
the stones properly with water and nylox brushes. This procedure allows the
stones to be cleaned to near their original condition without damaging the
stones. We were able to clean almost all the stones to the extent that no
visible lichen remained on the face of the stone. A few of the smaller tablet
stones, however, had lichen growing fairly deep into the stones. We were able
to clean the face of these stones to the extent they are easily readable, but
took care so as to not damage the stones.
We then reset the bases for the monolith stones. There are
three monolith type stones in this cemetery. We lifted the bases for these
stones and reset them at the appropriate depth and made sure they were sitting
level. We spread a layer of sand and small gravel below these bases before
resetting them. This should help ensure the bases will remain level for a long
time. We then reset the monolith portion of the monolith stones onto their
bases.
The stone of Harrison and Nancy Nutgrass is a large obelisk
type stone in the northwest corner of the cemetery. The base for this stone had
been lifted completely out of the ground by the nearby tree roots. Mr. Terhune
helped us set this stone by removing the surrounding tree roots and by digging
the area under the base with his backhoe to the appropriate level. We then
spread a thick layer of sand and small gravel. After properly tamping and
securing the aggregate, we reset the base at the appropriate level. After
ensuring the base was level, Mr. Terhune helped us reset the stone with his
backhoe. Due to the size of the stone this was a difficult job to perform.
The tops of stones for Sarah Webb and her daughter Mary,
which are located near the middle of the cemetery, were barely above ground
level. This was due partly to the stones sinking since these are long tablet
type stones designed to be placed directly into the ground. In addition, a
couple of trees were growing a little west of these two stones and had lifted
the ground considerably. Mr. Terhune removed these stumps with his backhoe and
leveled the ground to the extent possible. We also pushed a little loose dirt
to the north since the graves in that area had sunk a good bit. We then
properly reset these two stones by placing them into the ground and packing the
hole around the stones with a mix of sand and small gravel. This procedure
allows the stone to give a little if stressed, but should keep the stones
upright and level for a long time. This is particularly important since these
stones have visible evidence of stress cracks beginning to form near the bottom
of the stones.
We then reset the stones for David Hovermale and Martha
Newgent. These are tablet type stones set into a slotted base. The weight of
the bases had caused these stones to sink into the ground about a foot each.
These stones were both still firmly attached to their bases, so we reset the
stones by carefully digging the area around the stones and lifting the stones
out of the ground, base and all. We were especially careful to only lift the
base of the stones and not the stones themselves as it would be quite easy to
break or otherwise damage a stone of this kind by handling the stones. After
filling the area with sand and small gravel, we reset these stones at the
appropriate level.
Next we reset the stones for the four Webb brothers. These
stones were found in a pile at the south end of the cemetery near their sister
Rachel which was standing but leaning badly. Mr. Terhune indicated that these
stones had at one time stood in a row along the east side of the cemetery,
south of the stone of David Hovermale but had been moved to their present
location by a previous property owner. We never could ascertain the exact
original location for these stones. We felt it would be best to reset these
stones in a row next to each other near the location Mr. Terhune felt they had
originally came from. These stones are all smaller tablet type stones designed
to be set directly into the ground. We lined these stones together side by
side, with the oldest death date to the north and the most recent to the south,
and set them by packing a sand and small gravel mix around the stones. This
should enable those in the future to realize these stones are near, but not
exactly at, their original location. And in the very unlikely event someone
comes along in the future with information to determine the exact location for
these stones, they can be easily removed from the ground and reset.
We then
repaired and reset the broken tablet type stones. After properly resetting the
bases for these stones we placed the bottom portion of each into their base and
secured the stone with a proper slot mix. After verifying the bottom portion of
these broken stones were level and properly secured in their base, we repaired
the broken pieces of the stones by joining them together with Mastico. This
product is made for this type of application and is designed to repair broken
stones as near as possible to their original condition. We then filled in the
remaining cracks of these stones with a void mix.
Near the end of the project Mr. Terhune was able to locate a
tombstone that had not been listed in any previous reading. This stone was that
of Robert Z. Webb, brother of Rachel Webb and her four brothers. This stone was
located just north of Rachel's stone. We were able to locate the slotted base
for this stone, but the base was deemed to be broken beyond repair. We thus made
a new slotted base for this stone and, after setting the base, reset the stone
properly in this new slotted base in the area the stone was located.
We also located three unidentified stones near the north
center portion of the cemetery. These stones are flat stones that look like
they had come from a nearby waterway. They had clearly been placed into the
ground standing up to mark a burial. These stones were in appropriate locations
in the rows of nearby legible stones. We felt that someone had used these
stones as temporary markers but for whatever reason had not replaced them later
with a proper tombstone.
We also found a base for a small monolith type stone just
south of that of Nancy J. Nutgrass. That particular stone is just south of the
large obelisk of her parents Harrison and Nancy Nutgrass. The base found south
of this stone is of the identical size and shape of the base of the small
monolith of Nancy J. Nutgrass. We are almost certain that a small monolith type
stone had rested on this base at one time, but we were never able to locate the
stone itself.
We researched the family to determine their relationship to
each other. This is always a fun part of a restoration project like this. The
result of our research is included in another section. Briefly, the cemetery
was set aside by Harrison Nutgrass in his will. His sister Frances Wiley is
also buried in this cemetery, as are many of his children, grandchildren and
other relatives. We also found that the Nutgrass family came to
We finished the project by mapping the location of the
stones and by taking digital photos of the cemetery and of each individual
stone. We also took many photos of the project as it progressed, some of, which
are included in this book.
We are pleased that Mr. Terhune intends to maintain this
cemetery in the future. He will sow grass seed in and around the cemetery and
plans to mow the cemetery on a regular basis.
Remember
that at one point in time, usually 100 -150 years ago, loved ones stood at
these grave sides and cried for the loss of their loved one as their remains
were being consecrated to eternity. For most of these pioneers, their tombstone
is the only tangible reminder of their existence. We owe a lot to these people
and should treat their memory with due respect.
We hope
you enjoy viewing this book as much as we enjoyed restoring the cemetery.
View will of Harrison Nutgrass
Information about
individuals buried in the Nutgrass Cemetery
View
photos of restoration of
Note:
the photos are listed one at a time so that those with dial up connections may
view one photo at a time. After viewing a photo, hit the return button on your
browser to return to this page to view another photo.
Nutgrass cemetery before
restoration looking east
Nutgrass cemetery
before restoration looking south
Within the cemetery
before restoration
During
restoration looking south
During restoration looking
southeast
During restoration looking north after trees cut
John S. Newgent stone before
restoration
Frances Wiley stone
before restoration
Frances Wiley
stone during restoration
During restoration looking
south
During restoration looking
southeast
John S. Newgent
stone being repaired
After restoration looking
east
