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United Methodist reveals past by cleaning tombstones

Jul. 26, 2005

NOTE: A UMTV report and photographs are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

By James Melchiorre*

NEW BLOOMFIELD, Pa. (UMNS) - The dates and words on a tombstone serve as
a snapshot of a life, but only if they can be read.

Five years ago, most of the markers in the Snyder United Methodist
Church Cemetery in New Bloomfield were unreadable.

"When we first started, I would say there were 80 stones," said Miles
"Mike" Beaston. "And out of those 80 stones, you might have been able to
read 5 percent of them."

That's when Beaston decided to make restoration of those tombstones his
life's work.

With help from his wife, Ethel, he has cleaned more than 30 grave
markers of mildew, moss and accumulated dirt.

Each time he does, Beaston opens a window to the past.

On a hot and humid summer day, Beaston knelt in the cemetery, armed with
a battery-powered sander and a wire brush, patiently working on each of
the four sides of a small obelisk.

"Now we got the writing over here," he announced. "So we'll see who this
is."

The marker on the obelisk identified the resting place of two sisters
who died before their first birthdays.

The Snyder church cemetery dates back to 1814, when it was established
by a German shoemaker named Johannes Schneider. After arriving in the
United States, he became a circuit rider, an itinerant preacher of the
Gospel in lightly populated rural areas from Maryland, through
Pennsylvania, north to New York and west to Ohio.

Schneider eventually settled in the area that is now New Bloomfield,
about 25 miles northwest of Harrisburg.

He organized the United Brethren congregation (United Methodist since
the merger of the Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren
denominations in 1968), bestowed on it his anglicized name and served as
its first pastor.

Snyder died in 1845, and his body rests beside that of his wife,
Katharina, in the center of the graveyard.

Beaston became a member of the church in 1957 and said his lifelong love
of history provides much of the motivation for his tombstone restoration
work.

"One has to respect, when you look back and see how and what the
forerunners of our faith went through to promote the Gospel," Beaston
said. "I do have tremendous respect for that."

Deteriorating tombstones are not unique to his community.

John Walters, a tombstone restoration expert from Connersville, Ind.,
said he gets plenty of phone calls asking for help. His nickname is the
"Graveyard Groomer."

Walters estimated that he has worked on almost 10,000 tombstones that
have become unreadable. "I quit keeping track after 3,000," he said. He
blamed lichen, a growth formed by the combination of algae and fungi,
car and truck exhaust, and commercial weed killers.

Simply washing a tombstone's surface with ammonia and water can often
improve its condition significantly, according to Walters.

Grave markers made from granite are "practically weather-proof," Walters
said. But granite did not come into widespread use until after 1900.
It's the marble and limestone tombstones of the 19th century that are
most likely to be found in critical condition.

"Somebody is going to have to take responsibility for these pioneer
cemeteries," Walters said.

Throughout the two and a half centuries since the beginning of the
Snyder church, New Bloomfield has remained a small community.

On the same late June afternoon when Beaston labored to reveal details
on the oldest tombstones, two church members strolled through the
cemetery with maps and historical documents, looking for their own
family names.

"I can remember many years ago when I would come by the cemetery here,"
said Bob Rathfon. "It was always a sad feeling to see it in such a
deteriorating condition."

"I'm thankful we have somebody like Miles," he said. "We could never
repay him for what he's doing here."

Beaston came to tombstone restoration relatively late in life. After
working as a mechanic, a nurse, and a barber, he clearly has a new
passion.

With his 77th birthday approaching in November, Beaston admitted to a
deeply personal interest in the condition of Snyder cemetery: someday,
he said, it will be his resting place.

Between now and then, there's work to do.

"I want to be remembered that I made a difference," Beaston said, "that
my community was better because I lived in it. And the biggest
difference it can make is if someone will follow after. Hopefully, some
will."

So far, nobody has volunteered to join Beaston in what will surely be
his legacy.

He's still waiting, still hoping and, especially, still working on
tombstones, to unveil their windows to the past.

*Melchiorre is a producer and writer based in the New York area.

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5458
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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