Saving An Abandoned Cemetery
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- čas přidán 24. 05. 2024
- Sims was originally established by John S. Dean, James H. Finch, and L. S. Case, who incorporated under the name of the Agency Burying Ground Association Inc. on Mar. 16, 1855. The association purchased an acre from Pleasant W. Harris and his wife, Gemina. It was run as a private cemetery until it was given to the city in 1909.
According to tradition, the first burial was of an unidentified man who drowned while driving a team of oxen through the Des Moines River ford.
Want to learn more? Classes on cemetery conservation? How to clean, products used? Check the links below.
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Cemetery Preservation Class bit.ly/4duNlis
How To Clean A Headstone bit.ly/3OBZXd1
How To Level A Lawn Marker bit.ly/494Hmyi
Products I'm Using bit.ly/3OehszL
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As a long-time amateur genealogist and family historian I cannot overstate the importance of Cemetery Records in documenting the lives of the people who went before us. My deep and sincere thanks to you for the work you are doing.
Thank you so much!
Where do I begin to find them?
I would love a complete serie of this graveyard cleaning and fixing stone by stone.
Welcome to the start of that.
I love your channel! All my life I have been fascinated with cemeteries with the older Victorian ones my favorite. I'm 71 now and wish I knew about restoration when I was younger.
But I have educated myself with symbols and religious history. Bonaventure in Savanna is my favorite. Because of my age I research the genealogy aspect of a tombstone that I find interesting in.
I wish I were doing what you are accomplishing.
I am in agreement with Mark Twain that these are the cities of the dead. These individuals lived and worked there and the personal history tells us the stories.
I'm a little jealous of what you do.
If you ever come to a cemetery in Alabama or even better to Bonaventure to do restoration, I would love to come to watch and help where I can.
@@veraturner There is a need for many people of various skills to do a complete job. Yes, people have to physically dig up the stones and epoxy them back together, but there is also a need for researchers, the ones who do the detective work, like finding the cemetery map that Wade showed. Do what you can.
Thank you for the reply. Do you have an itinerary of what cemeteries you will be working? Or is that a security issue?
Also, I personally hope you can travel down to Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah Georgia.
Amazing monuments and history. Not all residents of Bonaventure have perpetual care and many could use your touch❤️
I have driven past this cemetery thousands of times and always wondered what secrets it held. Thank you for putting your love and attention into it's restoration.
There’s a cemetery… or the remains of a cemetery… here in Ontario where there are stones, or broken bits of stones, that are lying flat, either fallen and left in place, or fallen and broken and placed together in a corner under a tree it always sad to see them. The latter are mossy and also covered in black mold. To be fair, there are a LOT of cemeteries that are in various states of abandonment, disrepair, etc. across the province but this one makes me the saddest.
I’ve photographed it in the past but I’m no longer physically able to visit the cemeteries.
My Mom and I used to make it a point to, when we found a small cemetery, to photograph the stones and record the names and enter them on a database of Ontario cemeteries. My Mom was AMAZING at spotting the tiniest cemetery at the side of the road, from the passenger seat. Unfortunately, my sidekick is no longer with me and I can’t get out the way I once did.
I really admire you and other rescuers who are doing so much to do the repair and to advise on proper techniques for cleaning.
This is going to be one of your best series ever. Will wait with great anticipation to see the process. Please, if you could, dedicate a stand alone video on the research aspects. Not so much the genealogy, but identifying gravesites and other cemetery records - where these records exist, who has custody, access, etc. Thank you so much.
Great questions!
Thanks for your selfless work.
Bless you for doing this marvelous job caring for our forgotten loved ones. Such a huge job in front of you. I love watching you figure out each puzzle and put all the stones back together.
Thank you! You’re keeping me motivated for restoring a tiny abandoned cemetery in NY 💕
This looks like an amazing project. I'm looking forward to the series.
Thanks for following along!
The first thing that I noticed was how close a home was to a headstone and how much lower the yard was in comparison to that cemetery. I wonder if the cemetery had to have some fill dirt at some point due to erosion or perhaps when they built that road, they put the excavated dirt in the cemetery. What a shame. Thank you for taking on a project like this!
Yes it sits right in a neighborhood, kids playing nearby etc. no fill was brought in but the cemetery is on a high point and as roads and houses came much later the grade around it was lowered to make flat building sites and neighborhoods.
You, Sir, are one of my heroes. I love poking around old cemeteries. I have become a History buff since my 30s, and I always find it heartbreaking, when touring an old cemetery, to see missing and damaged monuments. They provide not just a memorial to the person, but a fantastic snapshot of a space in time. Maybe some first year Archeology students could help you - and use their trowel skills when you hit a marker. I’m always stunned by the number of babies and children in these old cemeteries. Bless you for doing this, and for preserving history. Cheers 🇨🇦
It’s a challenge we see at a local cemetery in the Hampton Roads area - Oakland Cemetery. Ran into a pretty cool volunteer Mr. Steve Harmon. He has dedicated most of the week helping maintain it. Lots of work & lots of challenges.
I am right now trying to put together an old cemetery that was private owned and when there was no more money coming in they abandoned it to the city and now the city just doesn't do anything with except mow. I have 70+ broken or knocked over stones. I am disabled and living on disability but am doing what I can.
This is important work you’re doing for the community. You gained my subscription and I look forward to watching the transformation.
What a challenge and a great job you're doing. If that were any of my ancestors, I would be so grateful to you.
This is the largest undertaking I’ve ever saw in my entire life. This makes awesome videos. But oh my the work.❤❤
So much for "perpetual care" ... Great work bringing these monuments And the history back!
These would have been totally lost to time & lack of care, if not for you. What you do is so Amazing, but this is a massive job!
Thank you for saving this cemetery & these graves. 💙💙
Thank you! 😊
I really enjoyed the video about the Sims Cemetery in Des Moines. Looking forward to more videos about the progress you are making with the project. After watching this video, I was curious about historical information about the cemetery history in Des Moines newspapers. To my surprise, there were multiple news articles that included obituaries and general articles about the cemetery. What a great project you have. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for checking it out! Yes lots of great info.
Wow! Your compassion and knowledge inspires so many. God bless you for your hard work and restoring the gravestones of all those people. You're amazing!
I am amazed at your knowledge, skill, enthusiasm, and commitment! You are exceptional. And I am strangely grateful for all your work... I guess because you are restoring history... or restoring dignity to those who lived. Thank you!
I can not wait to see more from this project. Your work does not go unappreciated. This greatly interests me, and I may need to look into what I can do to help restore and conserve my local cemeteries
What a great thing you are doing. I hope your work can be supported for years to come. I really like watching you work. Thank you
Thank you!
Good job Wade.
Stunning job as always 👏
Watched all the video, so I'm up to date. Thanks for the work you do. Okay I'm turning the bell icon on now. Have a great day.
I quite enjoyed imagining tge ghosts of the stones hanging around anf hopefully feeling so much happier now tgat their stones have been found and are being repaired after such a long time.
Thank you for sharing this process of the whole cemetery with us! I enjoyed seeing the process of finding the lost & buried markers. Looking forward to more.
This is such a cool project! Can’t wait to see more!!!!!!!!
I would surmise that where the key way is found, would indicate the actual head of the grave, no matter where the tablet might be located.
Yup it’s a blessing to be able to find remnants like that below ground as you know they wouldn’t have moved and can pinpoint where it needs to be reset
Excited to watch this series. And excited for the final results. Blessings.
Just found your channel love what you are doing. I worked at a cemetery for ten years, my brothers would come out and help me lift and straighten head stones. God Bless you and keep up the good work ❤
Super excited to watch this project.
Love your videos keep up the wonderful work😁😁😁
I just discovered your channel. Love the work you do.
good luck and much patience. keep us posted.
I really enjoy your channel; a recent new subscriber.
Fascinating work.
Wow! That's a lot of hard work you are doing there! Great job!!
Thanks!
If you continue this work, I would suggest aquiring a ground penetrating radar device which looks like a lawn mower but scans whats beneath the grass/soil. They have become less expensive and are easy to read.. some have an app you can use a tablet. combined with strategic probing.. you should be able to map the cemetary with relative ease. You can rent them.. but long term might be easier to purchase. Or you contact a local university/college archaeology department willing to let you use theirs.
I’m watching all these and then you have patience of a saint. And God bless you what you do but so you have to have patience and I’m amazed. You’re the only one there well, I’m gonna keep watching these and see what happens and I hope I see some other people helping you, God bless you and what you do✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🥰
I just found your channel and you rock! I hope to do the things you do someday 🌻🙏
My hometown is Monmouth Illinois they have a pioneer cemetery close to the west side of North 6th Street near the college. I remember looking around it when I was younger.
It is a good thing that you do
I have a tip for you. Put a sharp edge on your shovel. It makes it a lot easier.
Hello again from your admirer in Oregon. That cemetery is a wonderful project and is going to be a challenge for sure. I sure hope you'll be posting more videos as you progress. I'd so love to spend a few days working with you as I'm sure I (an old coot whose been doing this kind of work for fifteen years) I could learn some new things and approaches.
Carry on - we're all out here watching.
Hey there! Yeah I’ll be putting out an entire series on this one, it will be a lot!
God bless you ❤❤❤
be A Blessing and Be Blessed for All-❤️🩹🤟💫🤲
That soil may be hard to you in some areas but where I live in the mountains of Arkansas, it’s such a rocky and hard soil that ours usually don’t sink, and if they do it’s in an area that’s like digging boulders out. I’ve had several that the D-2 has had problems trying to get those stains out
Your respect for the passed is very comendable and the work you do is impressive. I had a question that may be insensitive but for these graves that are more than 100 years old. Is there anything remaining of the individual in the ground? The movies would have us believe everyone was berried in wooden coffins and if that is true then I wouldn't imagine the remains lasted very long under ground. I appreciat your insight.
Thank you for all that you do❤ I’m just asking cause I don’t know when you hit hard dirt like that could you not fill it full of water to soften it or would that damage anything that’s left in the hole I know this sounds morbid, but I’ve always loved to walk through old cemetery and the old headstones and think about how that family lived was so much history
I am curious if you thought about renting one of those sound imaging machines to go over the whole cemetery, there would be a lot less digging and mistakes and I figure a lot less time consuming. A Ground Penetrating Radar [GPR] . Back in the day I knew the local Colledge had one that they at times rented out for a good cause. Being there is bound to be x military buried there could they help at all?
I Need someone like you in my area. There’s an entire cemetery that is very loved but a lot of graves are sinking and they need help but I don’t know how to do it.
It seems unusual that these markers were buried so far down. We see stones from the 1600s that don't sink this deep. Is it something about this soil? Was it a fill area maybe?
I use a spade it’s easier to use with
I believe that traditional cemeteries need to be a thing of the past. Thankfully, my community has a natural cemetery. The deceased are placed in the earth in a cloth shroud and nature does the rest.
My family hasn't buried anyone in over 60 years with the exception of my great grandmother in 1970 because it was her wish. We have chosen cremation all of these years. My mother always said she wished to be placed in a simple, unlined, pine box so when I discovered green burials were a recent possibility 20 years ago, she, my daughter and I all thought it was the perfect solution. Sadly, when my mother died in 2015, there is no green burial where she lived, so it was back to cremation. Since I'm now living in her home, cremation will be my final choice, too.
@@Lucinda_Jackson
The cremation process may go away in the future because I believe that natural gas is used. I was all in for cremation until I found the natural burial site. Less pollution....more environment friendly.
My parents went with traditional burials and spent $30,000. on their end of life expenses. Unbelievable!
Cemeteries are a really great example of changing and evolving traditions. When you study them you see that they constantly evolve over centuries and what you’re describing with cremation and natural burials are evolutions to traditions that are always taking place.
Curious if there are markers (metal pipe/stake, concrete-ceramic-clay) marking the plots.
Never mind.
Can you set a new pin in the head stones?
Take a drink everytime he says keyway.
I visit multiple cemeteries often to pray for the Holy Souls in purgatory. I see lots of things and love it.
Are you a Catholic as well ? How do you earn a living if this is a volunteer passion of yours ? Do you have a family or do you do this as a single person with more time on your hands ? How can this become a profession ?
What are your suggestions for monument style headstone for the longest possible lasting remembrance? Or is it simply about proper care ?
Could you address, briefly, the pros and cons of technology, such as ground penetrating radar - when it is useful, cost and expertise issues, availability, et cetera.
In short gpr is great but expensive, the benefit tells you something is there but clearly it can’t tell you who it is and many times that is ultimately what people are after. I’ll have a few technology related videos as a part of this series including mapping so stay tuned.
You're gonna get haunted by like a dozen spirits but like, you're gonna get haunted good. They're gonna help you in your day to day life.
Please look after your back doing this work…you can get so engrossed, and starting to lift a very heavy stone, you. Can slip a disc so easily…. So take your time and DONT LIFT AWKWARDLY!!! Please….this coming from one who slipped two discs doing this!
But I’m very proud of you taking on such a big job and a puzzle to boot. Pity you can’t have a volunteer to come help!
I’m in the U.K. so sorry I can’t, but maybe someone watching could offer ? “Many hands make light work as the saying goes!”
👩🦳👍🫶😘😘😘💕💕👏👏👏👏👏👏👏💐🕊️🙏😇❤️👍👍
💯🙏🕊️
What is key way?
The key way is the piece of stone that sits horizontally on the ground, and has a slot in it for the head stone to sit in so it is sticking up out of the ground.
If you volunteer your time, how can you devote so much time to one GIANT cemetery project? How long will this project take you?
Yes this is a volunteer project. Tons of nights and weekends. It will take a long time but it needs to be done.
This is abandoned? It looks like it is cared for. I find abandoned cemeteries in the woods and those are abandoned.
I think it’s a sin to move people from the resting place so you can have a road. No grave should ever be moved. I hate it when they do that.