Deterioration
Time has not been gentle to many of the old headstones. If survivors chose a stone soft enough to carve with rudimentary hand tools, in doing so they chose a stone susceptible to erosion. Some of the more "modern" gravestones were cast in concrete - which deteriorates much faster than stone. One cemetery historian we know speaks of headstones that had readable inscriptions just twenty years ago, but not today.
Preservation must happen now, while there is something to preserve. We need to interview the few remaining old-timers who can still identify the unmarked graves. Organized cemetery preservation associations have been placing new permanent markers on the graves within their jurisdictions - but we need similar energy applied to the dozens of cemeteries that have no such organized and methodical maintenance.
It is easy to have righteous indignity on seeing on old gravesite overgrown in weeds and underbrush. Easy to miss the point that weeds can be cut at a later date, but the record of who lies beneath these stones cannot be postponed much longer.
Sadly, in compiling this web page, we had hundreds of photos to choose from. It came down to: just choose a few examples and go on. The deterioration of the old headstones is not an isolated occurrence. It is commonplace. Who knows what legacy will remain for our grandchildren.
