Under the Roswell Historical Societys' leadership I am now in charge of maintenance for the Sherman children graves. Families have moved away from the Roswell, leaving many graves without caretakers. Our community goal is to keep the cemetery clean, green, period accurate, and maintain it as a place people can continue to go to learn more about the local history. The social offerings for the cemetery continue to grow, with there being annual public volunteer cleaning days, scavenger hunts, history tours, and so on.
Old Roswell Cemetery was originally founded in 1846 under the name Old Methodist Cemetery and is classified as a 19th century cemetery, though current day burials still occasionally happen.
You can learn more about the cemetery project here, and donate to the restoration of one of the featured stones here.
Old Roswell Cemetery was originally founded in 1846 under the name Old Methodist Cemetery and is classified as a 19th century cemetery, though current day burials still occasionally happen.
You can learn more about the cemetery project here, and donate to the restoration of one of the featured stones here.
Sherman Children Grave Restoration
This project was started in July 2020 and is aimed to be completed by October 2020.
John Sherman (May 10, 1902 - Aug. 28, 1903, 1 year old) and Frances Sherman (Jun. 03, 1898 - Oct. 18, 1902, 4 years old) are laid next to their father, the previous mayor of Roswell in 1905, William Sherman.
The kids have matching cradles with scroll headstones. Cradle graves were a common build during the 19th century when newly established cemeteries of the time were lush, flowering gardens that became popular socialite hangouts due to lack of public green spaces- public parks as we know them today come directly from these cemeteries.
Cradles were meant to have flowers planted in the beds with intention to be cared for by family into eternity. Unfortunately, most cradles have gone bare in modern times, either being consumed by random overgrowth or having the beds filled in with gravel or pinestraw.
The Sherman children are on track to being the first cradle graves in this cemetery to be refurbished into looking the way they were originally intended. The current plan is to have the beds match each other with low-growing period-appropriate plants and color symbolism. Due to the difficulty Georgia red clay soil gives, the future planting will require intense work.
The kids have matching cradles with scroll headstones. Cradle graves were a common build during the 19th century when newly established cemeteries of the time were lush, flowering gardens that became popular socialite hangouts due to lack of public green spaces- public parks as we know them today come directly from these cemeteries.
Cradles were meant to have flowers planted in the beds with intention to be cared for by family into eternity. Unfortunately, most cradles have gone bare in modern times, either being consumed by random overgrowth or having the beds filled in with gravel or pinestraw.
The Sherman children are on track to being the first cradle graves in this cemetery to be refurbished into looking the way they were originally intended. The current plan is to have the beds match each other with low-growing period-appropriate plants and color symbolism. Due to the difficulty Georgia red clay soil gives, the future planting will require intense work.
Process, for the curious
This will be updated as the project continues.
July 29th, Primary pruning- Grave beds and surrounding area pruned in preparation for stone cleaning and planting, along with stone integrity checked. John's right curbside has fallen off its metal pegs (which attach to the headstone and footer) but is otherwise in good condition.
Integrity is checked by crack observation and gently pinching at the stone surface- if dust easily comes off then the stone may be too unsafe to scrub. In the case of fragile stones, they are usually sprayed with biological solution and left alone.
August 2nd, Primary clean- RHS keeps a cleaning record where stones do not need to be cleaned again for 5 years. John's headstone had previously been cleaned within this time frame, so only his curb along with his sister's entire grave were cleaned.
Lichen and dried clay was scrubbed away, the stones heavily wetted, and then sprayed bottom to top with an environmentally safe biological cleaner that breaks down the microbes that degrade stone but doesn't harm even the most fragile of stone faces. After the solution had been set, the entire stone is then scrubbed, rinsed, and more solution applied. This is repeated until the stone has all free build up removed, then a final coating of solution is applied and left to dry. Over a period of a couple months the solution will continue to work and whiten the marble to appear the way the stone was when it was first laid- bright white.
August 5th, Soil check- PH and soil quality of the grave beds checked for planting.
Integrity is checked by crack observation and gently pinching at the stone surface- if dust easily comes off then the stone may be too unsafe to scrub. In the case of fragile stones, they are usually sprayed with biological solution and left alone.
August 2nd, Primary clean- RHS keeps a cleaning record where stones do not need to be cleaned again for 5 years. John's headstone had previously been cleaned within this time frame, so only his curb along with his sister's entire grave were cleaned.
Lichen and dried clay was scrubbed away, the stones heavily wetted, and then sprayed bottom to top with an environmentally safe biological cleaner that breaks down the microbes that degrade stone but doesn't harm even the most fragile of stone faces. After the solution had been set, the entire stone is then scrubbed, rinsed, and more solution applied. This is repeated until the stone has all free build up removed, then a final coating of solution is applied and left to dry. Over a period of a couple months the solution will continue to work and whiten the marble to appear the way the stone was when it was first laid- bright white.
August 5th, Soil check- PH and soil quality of the grave beds checked for planting.