Graveyard Restoration

[N.J.THer]

I'm a member of St. Peter's Epicopal Church in Perth Amboy, NJ which held its first service in 1685. A while back I wrote that I was doing some graveyard restoration work at my church and someone asked to see some pictures. Sunday I had some time so I took a few pictures to share....unfortunately I don't have any before pictures.

Over time between ground shifting and the elements some of the old grave marks start to lean, sink or fall over. Once a marks starts to lean then gravity takes over and pulls it down. If it starts leaning back then the engraving gets exposed to direct rain/snow fall and the inscription wears at a faster rate then normal. We try to raise up the ones that sank, straighten the ones that are leaning and fix the ones that are broken.

The first few pictures are of older brownstones. Some have been straightened and raised up so you can read the full inscription. If you can only read part of the inscription it has not been worked on yet. These stones usually have around 40% buried underground. While raising some of the stones we found that the craftsman or apprentice that worked on the stones practiced on the parts that were being buried. Apparently they did this so they would not have to waste good stone for honing their skills.

Here is a Civil War vetrans grave marker:

The legend behind this marker is that during the Revolutionary War they had a small cannon at the old church building that they used to fire at British ships in the bay. When the ships returned fire a cannon ball hit this gravestone. I'm not sure if that is true but it makes for a good story.

Here is a small group of stones that we have not worked on yet but it gives you a feel for the type of things we are fixing.

This stone was in the same condition as the one in the previous picture. We had to reset the base then add lead spacers to reset the top of the stone. This stone was lying face down so we had no clue it was a sea captain that died in 1874 and his wife until after we reset it.

This stones base sank into the ground and the tablet had broken in half. We reset the base and used an epoxy to attach the top of the tablet. The engraving is so worn we could not make out who is buried at this location.

Here are some interesting markers and tombs. The first one is for Thomas Mundy Peterson and his wife. Mr Peterson was the first black man to vote under the 15th amendment.

Here are some other interesting items in the graveyard.

If you are ever in Perth Amboy make sure you walk through the graveyard and check out what the town has to offer. It is like stepping back into the past. Perth Amboy just celebrated its 325th anniversary.

They have the only remaining Royal Governer's Mansion in the original colonies. The place that William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin, was arrested in 1776. The City Hall building was built in 1685 as a courthouse and is the oldest city hall in continuous use in the United States. The waterfront section has around six or seven historic sites within a block or two. Makes for an awesome walking tour by the Raritan Bay when the weather is nice.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

NJ

 

[jeff of pa]

Nice work !

Cool Pics & History !

 

[pjroo33]

Great post! The work you are doing should be admired and very much appreciated. Keep it up and thanks for sharing.

 

[Saturna]

The artwork of some of those is fascinating.

 

[dahut]

I find the lack of both Christian symbols and sentiments on the earliest stones to be interesting. Almost exclusively, they are simple markers to identify the deceased to those still living.
They are devoid of verse or icon, other than an image of the Angel of Death. This is seen mostly as a winged skull, a universal symbol of human demise. The one example shown with a human visage is depicted as frowning, a celestial grouch going about his dreary task.

Todays "death belief" has evolved from that of elder time, and centers around the concept that the soul lies in wait, against the Day of Judgement. So, many forms of entreaty and testimonials accompany the deceased. We the living, place a kind of "curriculum vitae" with the body, along with our prayers, all etched in stone. This comes from the ancient Hebrew practice of the living praying for the dead, whose prayers are of benefit to the departed... a sort of afterlife endorsement, if you will.

But in times passed, the soul was believed to have been whisked away by the Death Angel, a hold over from earlier Christian and pagan rituals. We, the living could do little about it, in effect, and so pragmatically we accept the fact. With that thinking, pleas or comments about a person's worthiness were unneccessary, since there was "no one home," so to speak.
There was little point in doing any advertising on their behalf... they were taken away and that was that.

These concepts originated in the Middle Ages, as a result of the many Black Death scourges. They held on, long into the art and literature of the Renaissance. Eventually they became practice, and your early stones reflect that.

But, oh dear, I have rambled, haven't I?
Very neat pics and good work you're doing. Thanks for sharing.

 

[whitesPA]

nice history

 

[sniffer]

awesome history, thanks

 

[fossis]

Great pic's of the 'old stones', & Great job in your restoration efforts.
A few years ago I cut the underbrush & trees off of an old cemetary, & put up a new fence, some of these have no living
descendants to keep them in good shape, so someone has to do it.

Fossis..............

 

[crazyjarhead]

Wow, thats amazing how far down those can sink. You are to be commended for your efforts as well