Can you read these Gravestones

[Indian Steve]

Howdy All, I found a new site today with an old mill site with the house site 100 feet away and this cemetery nearby. Two of the stones had writing on them that I couldn't make out. I can make out died on the bottom left of one. Can anybody make out anything else? Thanks Steve

 

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[Indian Steve]

Here is the other one.steve

 

[Peyton Manning]

I would wet them then look at different oblique angles

 

[villagenut]

looks like it says "Jeff Gordon"

 

[Peyton Manning]

scratched by a wild band of females no doubt!

 

[ikesdad]

Or a band of wild females

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

If you can't read them live, in person and in 3-D there's not much hope for us in 2-D and 1/10th the size.

Use a carbon stick and make a rubbing.

 

[Indian Steve]

Thanks Charlie, I will take chalk or something else to outline when I go back. I just hoped that someone on here had one of those magnifying , x ray, doomaflachies that can do computer magic. Steve

 

[tamrock]

One things for sure, it ain't a Rockefeller.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Well, maybe. But my VCR still blinks "0000" and my computer still uses 3.5" diskettes.

I'm not your guy for doomaflachies.

 

[Tigger]

I've worked on documenting an old cemetery, so here's my two cents worth: first, do no harm, so - NO BLEACH! (these don't need it, but when else will I get the chance to say it). Jeff Gordon is spot on - if needed, use a soft brush that is softer than the stone - like a straw whisk broom - these are sandstone probably, so only very light cleaning if any. Bring a spritz bottle with plain water, and here is the winner: it may take multiple viewings at different times of the day to bring out the words - the angle and intensity of the light is a huge factor. Rubbings can degrade the stone, so I'd go with spritzing and taking pix. Sometimes you can see it on the picture better than with your eye. If you figure it out, let someone know so they are not lost to time. My husband's family has fieldstone headstones, but none are etched. So you have a cool find there.

 

[DCMetal]

Wow, this is a hard one. I'm stumped. I altered a photo and put in red where I saw definite marks and the yellow is for possible marks. Definitely need another picture. Gook luck and keep us posted.... Holy Grail?

Red = Definite Marks
Yellow = Possible Marks


Original Photo


Visible Marks

 

[yakker]

Got any way of finding out who owned property there? I've got an old publication called Lost Trails and Forgotten People from the Appalachian Trail Club, for instance. Tells a lot about the families around the Jones Mountain area. But that's south of you. Maybe there's another small book for more up your way. As it is, those stones are wildly hard to read. Definitely give them a brush and water. The only name I can put together from the random letters I can see on the first pic is I Edwards... and that's a long shot. Second stone looks like a B and a : (colon mark) . Then if you squint and look reeeeel close, maybe 1801. Then below that it looks like AD and maybe 1853. Below that, as you said it says died, but there are letter before that. F? H? x? o? with a strong line beneath. Let's see what happens when you clean 'er up!
Yakker

 

[outdoorfunblonde]

Best bet, and NO CLEANING needed...
put a white paper over marks, and do the crayon rub over it... the images will come thru.

 

[Indian Steve]

Charlie, We might be twins. I still end call about half the time that I try to answer my cell phone. There is a book on the cemeteries in Patrick County but I don't have a copy yet. The local museum has copies for sale but they were closed yesterday. The family that has lived on the property for over a hundred years called it the Indian Graveyard. They were very surprised when we pointed out the writing. I will be going back in a few days. I'll let you know what I find out. steve

 

[Indian Steve]

Hi Yakker, I will be going back this week and spending a lot of time there in the future. Across the creek is a 10 acre field that is a perfect spot for an Indian camp. It was just plowed for the first time in 50 years. There are at least another 50 acres of plowed fields on this property with creeks nearby. The owner told me nobody had hunted relics or metal detected on the farm before. He said that he wouldn't know an arrowhead if he saw one. Fields were way to muddy yesterday so we detected an old house site that he owned down the road and I got two silver half dollars in one hole. The farmer is as nice as can be and gave us permission to hunt on any of his land whenever we want. If we find any relics, I am going to fix him up with some. steve

 

[Indian Steve]

I just came up with some very interesting news. In 1816 Andrew Joyce was given a permit to build a mill at this location. steve

 

[Dr. Syn]

I played with the first photo too. Inverted the colors and blew it up.

Seems like you may have two sets of carving on it.
First letter (I or T?) and part of the second letter appears to be very nice work, the rest looks more like a quick job as the letters are not aligned or anywhere near as neat as the first. Almost like someone scratched crudely into the stone.