Editor
After a lot of research by the Washington Township trustees, especially Dennis Cooper, the Old Calvary Cemetery is being restored.
“The cemetery is one of the oldest, if not the oldest cemetery in our area,” said Robin Brewer, assistant administrator.
The founders of the township, the Buchanan family, are buried in the cemetery, so out of respect for them, township officials felt they should work on the cemetery.
“The stones were in deplorable condition,” Brewer said.
Washington Township contacted Mark Morton, owner of Gravestone Guardians of Ohio, late last year for the project. He started about five weeks ago and will spend about another three weeks working, if the weather is good, he said.
“He is just a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the restoration of older cemeteries,” Brewer said.
Morton, who typically works in Ohio, said the highlight of working at Old Calvary has been finding numerous old, roughly carved stones that someone scratched out in their barn or on their porch.
“It’s history to me. I view it just like restoring old buildings,” Morton said.
He is working in the oldest section of the cemetery, where there are mostly tablets in the ground or in a base. The oldest death date he has found so far is from a Revolutionary War veteran who died in 1803.
Sometimes when Morton finds what looks like a stone in the ground, there ends up being a date on that stone. He would not be surprised if he finds a date even earlier than 1803.
“That’s the best part,” Morton said. He feels that he gets to know the people buried in the cemetery by reading their gravestones.
Morton uses D/2 Biological Solution to clean the stones. It is an environmentally friendly solution that does not harm the stones and is recommended by organizations like the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training.
“It’s about the best product out there,” Morton said.
The solution kills the bacteria in the stones, which makes the stones whiter.
He also sets up stones that are tipping or have fallen over and he repairs broken stones. The most important thing, Morton said, is that he uses the right methods to do this.
Morton has not been working alone. A former Felicity resident, David Nicols, spent some time helping out in the area he grew up in.
Nicols, who now lives in Connersville, Indiana, was born in Cincinnati and raised in Felicity. He lived in Felicity from 1947 to 1975 and is a Felicity-Franklin High School alumnus. He began working on gravestone restoration after he retired.
Nicols and his wife, Cindy, went to classes by known conservators to learn how to clean and repair gravestones. Now they work on gravestones in Fayette County, Indiana, at pioneer cemeteries, of which there are more than 100 in the county.
“I feel like by working in these pioneer cemeteries I’m giving back somehow to our communities,” Nicols said.
The couple had been working on gravestones for more than four years when they met Morton. He agreed to give a class at one of the cemeteries the couple works on.
When Morton found out he was going to be working in Felicity, he let them know because Nicols had asked to come and help Morton.
Nicols’ mother worked at a bank, his great-grandfather used to be a cobbler and his grandfather worked at a garage, all in Felicity, so Nicols has many ties to the area.
“We have a family plot there in the Felicity Cemetery so me and my wife will be buried there someday,” Nicols said.
The couple spent a day working there a few weeks ago, and then Nicols came back the next week to spend another two days working there.
He hoped to make another trip back to help for another day. It means a lot of Nicols to work on a cemetery in the place he grew up in.
“I drove by there millions and millions of times,” Nicols said, although he never realized how big the old part of the cemetery is because there used to be so many weeds. The township has cleaned it up a lot.
“It’s nice to see that,” Nicols said.
He also enjoys seeing how the gravestones look once they get cleaned up.
“To see something go from tar black to a bright white is really something,” Nicols said.
He added, “It’s very rewarding work.”
In addition to helping out his hometown, this is also important to Nicols, who, along with his wife, is a Vietnam veteran, because some of the people buried in the cemetery are also veterans.
“It’s a way to give back to our veterans,” he said.
Nicols wishes that more people would spend time working in cemeteries, and is happy to pass on anything he has learned. To contact Nicols, email [email protected].