Past Preservation

01/19/2025

Nevermind… TikTok is back… lol!

01/19/2025

Why… why… why….

DES MOINES, Iowa — Dozens of headstones at the historic Woodland Cemetery were damaged by vandals on Wednesday. Des Moines Parks and Recreation said about 100 headstones were damaged by the v…

01/17/2025

A few months ago I was researching a lady who died in 1885 here in Midland county and I found this poem that was written and published in the newspaper by John WH Brooks. A veteran of the Mexican war and of the American civil war, surviving a saver slash to the face (Mexican war), 3 gunshot wounds and an injury to his foot from an exploding artillery shell (civil war). The poem was so beautifully written about a young lady with whom he was obviously well acquainted.

I am sharing it here with you in the hope that a family member may see it and enjoy it.

Ellen (Hawley) Best
1864-1885

How beautiful the morning
How brightly shone the sun
When Ellinor said, I'm going
My earthly work is done
�How long I have been waiting
Slowly wasting away
Waiting to hear the summons
Come Ellen, come from earth away
�So trustingly she wasted
With brightly beaming eye
Don't cry, she said, dear mother
I'm not afraid to die
�Only one crossing now, Mother
Then I'll enter the open door
And see my own dear Savior
And the loved one gone before
�Then with sweetly beaming eye
And gently waning breath
She passed away so silently
How blessed such a death
�A poem written by Veteran John W H Brooks Jerome Township
Published in The Midland Republican June 11th 1885 page 4

01/13/2025

Here is a discount code and some information for those of you who may want to clean headstones in the near future!

01/13/2025

This is something that has been happening for a long time… I hope it doesn’t happen much longer!

01/13/2025

Alright… with the TikTok ban looming and the uncertainty of our reach as a group some friends of mine created a discord group… I am still learning how to use it but it’s another way for people to tap into a network of gravestone and cemetery enthusiasts (gravegeeks) all around the country! If you have ever wished you knew someone in your area or another area of the country that did this type of work… this is the place to be! Just click the link and if you don’t already have a discord username you’ll have to create one.

Check out the GraveGeeks community on Discord - hang out with 23 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

01/12/2025

A repost from last year… but recently I came across a story about the Garber family home in Bay City being demolished. In the story they stated “The Garbers and their nine children were the only family to occupy the house. Seven of the children were raised there; two died in infancy”. Ottie had been forgotten… or missed in the research. The Garbers had total 10 children 3 of which died in infancy.

01/04/2025

Heck out this cemetery in South Korea! So interesting!

01/02/2025

My wife got me this sweatshirt for Christmas… it was running late and just came in today! Has to be my favorite gift this year! Casi Wellness RN

01/02/2025

Here’s something different for you… an interesting topic of discussion. What are your thoughts?

01/02/2025

Someone asked about bases and foundations… so here are my thoughts and methods for making bases… let me know if you have questions!

01/01/2025

Someone asked about how this process works… so here is how I do it.

12/31/2024

You all will be the first people to see this headstone in over 40 years! Unfortunately it is in such bad shape that it will have to be replaced… but atleast we found it!

12/30/2024

I’ve been working on locating these men’s graves who served in the civil war and are not recognized as veterans in our cemetery… today I found one! Unfortunately because I wasn’t planning on looking for it today I didn’t have my shovel to uncover it… but tomorrow I will uncover it and in the spring it will stand tall once again!

12/29/2024

Believe it or not people still do this! Never… let me repeat… NEVER put broken headstones in wet concrete! It just is not a good practice!

12/29/2024

Would you want to be our next feature photo? We have decided to run a seasonal photo contest! Head on over to gravegeeks.org/gallery to upload your photos, view rules and conditions, and to see what prizes are in store!

12/26/2024

I am currently looking for information on a Benjamin Frost born around 1808 and lived in the area of Hinmansville New York in the 1850’s, Granby New York in the 1860’s and may have lived near Volney later on in life. This is suspected to be the brother of my 4x great grandfather Isaac Frost born 1805 died 1863 in Richland NY.

If anyone has any information please message or email me! I have been searching for a few weeks now but have hit a dead end. Hopefully some day I’ll be able to go to that area and search in person.