Friday, November 27, 2009

Warren County, Missouri Group Forming

There will be an organizational meeting of our potential “spin-off” group, of the Warren County Historical Society on Thursday, December 3 at 6:00 p.m. at the Warren County Historical Society Museum in Warrenton (one block south of the courthouse).

Update of Happenings

Just a quick update on the happenings of the Franklin County Cemetery Society.
At our meeting Tuesday we set one work date: Saturday, January 9 at 9:00 a.m. at the Vitt-Burckhardt Cemetery near Campbellton. We will be removing one fairly large tree and burning it in the field. We also plan to reinstall the section of iron fence which has been repaired. Some weed-eating may be needed there as well.

Directions to Vitt-Burckhardt Cemetery: From Washington take Highway 100 west to KK. Turn left onto KK and go several miles to Sunny Road. Turn left onto Sunny Road and go to the first driveway on the right. Turn into the drive and go to the end (next to the house). Park there and walk out into the field on the right. You will see the cemetery as you enter the field.
Froehlich Cemetery in New Haven is finished. The New Haven Preservation Society will plant grass there in the spring and maintain the site hereafter. An added bonus of our last work day there was the removal of all of the tree stumps in the cemetery and the brush along the back fence line. The place really looks great and thanks to everyone who helped on that project.


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

HELLING Cemetery


Here is a potential upcoming project.  It will only require tombstone cleaning and in one case, using stack mix to reattach the pieces.  This is the Helling Cemetery, about five miles south of New Haven.

There are four marked burials and possibly one unmarked burial. The descendants are interested in cleaning it up and will handle all brush removal, and they will decide what to do with the fence, which is partially down. Thanks to Susan W. for taking the photos.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

November 4 Update

Finney Cemetery was visited on November 3, hitting it head-on with weed-eaters, chainsaws, etc. The crew got the weeds down, cut a few stumps a bit shorter and removed a couple of small trees.

The new sign was installed at Union Church Cemetery (Germantown) this past Monday.

At the History Fair in Union Sunday, we gained two new memberships in the Franklin County Cemetery Society and handed out at least a dozen of our brochures. Quite a number of folks took a look at our display, so let’s hope we get a few more members.

Reminder: Saturday November 14 at 9:00 a.m. we will be working at the Froehlich / Poese / Pruessner Cemetery in New Haven, with plans to finish the project. We especially need “cleaners” that day as some will be absent. There are two medium-sized obelisk type stones that need cleaning. One stone, in three pieces, needs to be glued together. This, plus maybe a little minor ‘landscaping’ should take care of it. Please join us to see this project completed.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

FALL PROJECTS REPORT

Froehlich Cemetery in New Haven: Work day on Saturday, November 14 beginning at 9:00 a.m.

Union Church Cemetery: The sign will be installed at a mutually agreed upon time.

Finney Cemetery: “Weed-eating” the cemetery will take place in the next couple of weeks.

Vitt-Burckhardt Cemetery: Date to be selected for a winter work day to remove and burn the dead tree.

Ebenezer “Stone” Church (old) Cemetery: Possible project for next year.

Griswold Cemetery, Marthasville: The one broken stone to be re-glued.

Ming Cemetery: Essentially finished, but one stone needs void mix.

Pleasant Hill Cemetery: Board member is satisfied with the overall appearance. One or two large stones may need adjusting by the monument company.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Froehlich Cemetery update

A brief report on our accomplishments at the Froehlich Cemetery.

We had a small turnout, and one descendant of those buried at the cemetery was present and helped as well. In all, there are eight marked graves at the site. Three headstones are standing, including a modern military stone marking the grave of the Civil War veteran Augustus (a.k.a. Gustave) Froehlich. The other two standing monuments were obelisk style and had been re-set by descendants several years ago.

The original stone of Froehlich was badly fragmented and since it had been replaced, the fragments were buried atop his grave. The two obelisk style stones were unstacked and then restacked using our stack mix. A finial was glued back on top of one stone; the other finial remains missing.

All of the stones except the two obelisks and the modern headstone were thoroughly cleaned. All bases were located except for one. All bases were reusable, one being in fair condition and may be ‘improved’ by the descendants. The base of Froehlich’s original stone was utilized for the headstone of his infant grandson, whose base was not located. Genius! All but one headstone is reinstalled. This stone was in three pieces and we have the bottom third in its base, but need to epoxy the remainder. Two footstones were located and reinstalled.

The NHPS will level out the ground and plant grass in the spring next year. They will handle the ongoing maintenance.

We will plan another visit to complete the repairs on the one headstone and also to clean the two obelisks. Overall, the appearance of the cemetery was improved greatly yesterday. The weather was absolutely perfect. Everyone’s help was appreciated!

Our Thanks to the New Haven Preservation Society, who were on hand to help and they also provided coffee and coffee cake, and later chili with all the trimmings, and soda for lunch.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Directions to Froehlich Cemetery

Highway 100 to New Haven. Turn right onto Douglas Street (between the Boondocker Inn and the New Haven Care Center). Turn left onto Raintree Drive. Turn right onto Walnut. The cemetery is on the right hand side of Walnut between two modern houses. Park on Walnut Street.