WESTFIELD—The Old Burying Ground has seen several more stones restored, continuing the efforts of the Westfield Historical Commission to get the city’s oldest cemetery improved even more.
A total of seven headstones, including an obelisk and table top stones, were done during the latest round of work in the Old Burying Ground. According to Cindy Gaylord, Westfield Historical Commission chairwoman, this work wraps up phase two of their three-phase project in the cemetery and helps improve safety within the Old Burying Ground.
William Moseley obelisk before (photo provided by Walter Fogg)
“We are trying to address more serious needs from a historical view and a safety view,” Gaylord said during a historical commission meeting earlier this week. “We feel now, with this last phase, all the dangerous stones have been repaired.”
William Moseley obelisk after
According to Gaylord, about 20 stones have been repaired or restored so far in the cemetery. The most recent phase included restoring the stone for Daniel Fowler, Jr., who owned Fowler’s Tavern, a Westfield location listed in the National Register of Historic Places and has its original front door in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
And while this number includes those that were potential safety hazards, there are still many more than need work, she said.
“Hundreds of stones still need to be repaired,” Gaylord said during the meeting.
According to Ta Mara Conde, owner of Historic Gravestone Services based out of New Salem and the person who worked on the stones, the work included repairing many different broken stones.
Daniel Fowler, Jr., headstone before (photo provided by Walter Fogg)
“Most of the monuments I worked on were sandstone or marble and a lot of them we had to consolidate because the sandstone is kind of crumbling,” she said. “I’ve done several, what are called reverence tables or tabletops, sandstone slabs with legs and I put together several broken stones for them, as well.”
Gaylord said that the most recent stones fixed cost the commission about $9,800, with funding coming from both the successful ghost tours at the Old Burying Ground and community preservation grants. Each phase, she said, is under $10,000.
Daniel Fowler, Jr., headstone after
The next phase for the restoration project, according to Gaylord, will be to repair and restore cast-iron fencing around two family plots within the cemetery, as well as two stones. The funding for this final phase will come from the ghost tours, as well the final community preservation grant the commission will receive, according to Gaylord.
Gaylord said that the Old Burying Ground is estimated to have been in the city since about 1668, just eight years after it was settled and one year before it was incorporated. The last burial occurred in 1934 for a descendent whose family was buried in the cemetery, as well, according to Gaylord.
