Group cares for some of Fairmont's forgotten families
Aug. 5—FAIRMONT — They say it takes a village to raise a child. The same is true at the opposite end of life. It takes a village to maintain a cemetery.
Volunteers gathered last Saturday at Jones Cemetery in Belleview to mow grass, polish headstones and perform other necessary upkeep on the cemetery. Jones Cemetery is an orphan cemetery, which means taking care of it is a community affair. The cemetery itself dates back to as early as 1813, when it began as a private burial ground for the Hall family.
"There are a lot of orphan cemeteries in West Virginia, and a lot of that comes from folks that have family cemeteries," Joni Morris, AmeriCorps service member and part of the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia. "People have passed away and they just don't have anybody to care for them anymore."
Morris said that earlier in the country's history when many cemeteries were first established, perpetual funding didn't exist. Today, a permanent endowment fund can be held in trust to help pay for the cemetery's upkeep. Previously, there may have been a responsible organization, but as time moves forward the organization and the funding it provides ceases. So the cemetery becomes forgotten. In Jones's case, the Lions Club was responsible for the cemetery, but they ceased operation sometime in 2013 or 2014, according to Fairmont City Councilmember Rick Garcia.
Therefore, it's fortunate that Linda Rutherford and her brother, John Everson, do their best to organize volunteers to help maintain Jones Cemetery. They put fliers up and spread the word to find anyone who could help put in some work on Saturday. Rutherford and Everson have a personal tie to the cemetery as well. Both their parents are buried there. They began maintaining it last year. Prior to them, Garcia maintained the place by himself for 10 years. It's a job that's too big for any one person, Everson said. They come at least once a week to work on the grounds.
They even got one teenager to come out and help. Aaden Bryan, 14, said he agreed to come help because no one else was doing it.
"I'm sure all these people buried here would want it to look nice," he said.
However, taking care of the gravestones is more than an act to ensure the dead are honored. The gravestones themselves are a rich archive of people that were here at a point in time, oftentimes the only mark that someone ever existed. Names that might not be written down anywhere else exist among the rows and rows of tomb and headstones that line the grounds. That's certainly true in West Virginia, which didn't start keeping records of names until the mid-1800s. The oldest grave at Jones Cemetery dates to 1813.
Despite that, age and weather conspire to erase those names from the written record. Morris said that as flaking and chipping can make a name illegible or remove it entirely. One particular process, called sugaring, happens when the calcium in marble begins to break down, making the stone look like it's melting. Morris uses a biologic solution called D2 to reverse the effects of sugaring and make the text on a stone look cleaner and clearer. Headstones made from granite, slate or limestone are not susceptible to sugaring.
"Weather is erasing the personal data on the stones," Rutherford said. "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust as they say. So I think it's important for local and family history, and genealogy, to do as much as we can to try and preserve these people's lives. And what they gave to the generations before us and to our town."
As a practice, Rutherford said that as she goes around cleaning the stones, she says the name of the deceased person on it. She does it because as long as someone says their name, the memory is still there. "That person is still here," she said.
Allen Morris, husband of Joni, was also there helping his wife volunteer. He trimmed the grass while she polished the headstones with D2. As he walks with his weed wacker in hand, he thinks about the forgotten families that have been left behind.
"Hopefully, things like this can spark more energy in our younger generation to kick in and help out," he said.
Joni Morris is looking for more information about the cemetery's history, such as a burial plot map, any official records or even family stories or pictures of the people buried there.
Anyone with more information can reach her at VintageLadyLinda@yahoo.com. She's also hosting a workshop on how to use a digital tool to document cemeteries as well as basic cleaning and maintenance on Oct. 14 at Highland Church.
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
