Cemetery preservation tour to stop in Perrysville

LOUDONVILLE — Perrysville’s historic Union Cemetery, believed to be the oldest in Ashland County, will play host to a nationwide tour of historic preservation workshops for cemeteries.

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Organized by the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville, the workshop is part of the annual “48 State Tour” of cemetery preservation sessions taught by Jon Appell of Atlas Preservation, according to a news release from CRFM.

The event will be held on Tuesday, July 12 and will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – due to the nature of the tour, there will not be a makeup date in case of inclement weather. Although registration is not required, it is encouraged interested participants do so at www.crfmuseum.com/event. Perrysville Union Cemetery is located across from the Baptist Church at 118 S. Bridge St.

The workshop is free and open to the public, with no limitation for the number of participants. Participants should dress appropriately for the weather and for assisting in preservation work.

It will begin with a discussion on historic preservation and a short walk of the cemetery noting historic monuments and their condition.

Appell will demonstrate the safe and effective cleaning of headstones, including the removal of biological activity, with proper solutions and supplies.

Following the demonstration, participants will be supplied with the same materials and encouraged to adopt their own monument in which to perform the process.

Appell also will discuss common repair techniques including resetting leaning or sunken tablet stones and how to join broken stone fragments with epoxy, clamps and braces.

If time and weather allow, the workshop will employ an overhead, lifting tripod to demonstrate how to safely rig and lift monuments, as well as a review of the process involved in replacing eroded or lost stones with supplemental material.

Jon Appell of Atlas Preservation is an expert on cemetery preservation

Appell is one of the nation’s foremost experts on cemetery preservation, and his company Atlas Preservation is the primary supplier of preservation and cleaning products for headstones and other monuments.

As part of the 48 State Tour, Appell is hosting a workshop each day in a different state, throughout the lower 48 states.

Perrysville being chosen as the host site for Ohio was a victory for the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum, which has advocated for better preservation standards in the area’s historic cemeteries — especially Union Cemetery, the release said.

The museum’s curator, Kenny Libben, first nominated Union Cemetery when Atlas Preservation began accepting nominations for site locations last winter.

“Atlas is extremely well known in preservation circles, and their strong social media presence has spawned off a whole network of cemetery preservation influencers online,” Libben said in the release. “With the 48 State Tour being their largest event of the year, we knew there would be tough competition for site nominations in Ohio but were shocked to find out Perrysville was the chosen location.”

Libben said in the release that he believes the age of Perrysville’s cemetery, the poor state of the stones in pioneer corner of the cemetery and the central location to many larger cities played a role in being selected as the host site.

Union Cemetery established in 1812

Union Cemetery, sometimes known as Old Presbyterian Cemetery, was established in 1812 when Solomon Hill, one of the earliest settlers of the village and a veteran of the American Revolution, suddenly passed. When searching for a place to lay Hill to rest, the settlers discovered a clearing full of purple and white violets, with doves singing in the hawthorns.

According to legend, the funeral procession crossed the Black Fork river and proceeded to the burial site under armed guard for fear of attack from natives. As Hill was being laid to rest, a group of natives emerged from the thicket — but instead of ambushing the party, they quietly proceeded in single file past the grave and cast flowers among it.

The cemetery is the final resting place of Perrysville’s founding families, and several veterans of the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, World Wars, and other notable residents.

For those unable to attend, but interested in learning more, the museum is recruiting cemetery preservation volunteers for training and to be provided preservation supplies courtesy a grant from the Mohican Area Community Fund. Interested volunteers should contact Libben at the museum by calling 419 994-4050 or emailing info@crfmuseum.com.

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Cleo Redd Fisher Museum organizes cemetery preservation