Volunteers lead headstone up-righting effort

MILLERTON — In glorious sunshine, on Saturday, Oct. 25, a group of 13 volunteers gathered to up-right by hand some of the fallen grave-stones in a cemetery on Merwin Road.

The volunteer team was led by Jim Campbell and advised by experts George Beneke and Stan Scott who have carried out similar preservation maintenance projects in their own local cemeteries.

Armed with shovels, tampers, buckets and brushes, the team was able to up-right thirty stones in three hours and uncover many inscriptions that had been buried or lost over time. Bob Stevens from the Town Garage donated the special grit that was used to set around the stones once holes had been dug and the stones straightened.

Friends of Spencers Corners Burying Grounds, founded by Ralph Fedele of Millerton, has already created a grid map of the entire cemetery courtesy of Millerton’s Laurie Kerr. Using this, plus archival lists of those interned, the group will be able to match missing names and inscriptions with actual stones.

Going forward, it is hoped to assemble the team for an encore up-righting effort, possibly before the end of the year if the weather holds.

Friends of Spencers Corners Burying Ground are looking for more volunteers — especially those with muscle and tractors — to assist with the project. Applications are also being prepared for state and county grants to fund more extensive preservation work, especially on some of the larger obelisks and stones where heavy machinery will be required.

Please contact Claire Goodman for more information: wynnego741@gmail.com