Researching, documenting, filling in info gaps, cleaning & repairing headstones in the Central Texas area, prioritizing long-standing Black Texas families, veterans, and pioneers/settlers.

Houston-born and Manchaca, TX local; been in the Central Texas area for the last 10 years. If you have any relatives buried in Central Texas, reach out & I'll clean their headstone (no charge) and assess any repairs needed. I seek and obtain permission either from the city, cemetery president or board, sexton/caretaker, or specific family members before I work on headstones.

If you learn one thing from my novel of a profile, let it be this:
NEVER use bleach, pressure washers, Dawn dish soap, vinegar or any household cleaners, household epoxies/glues, or Portland-cement based products to clean or repair headstones. To do so would be causing extensive and irreversible damage, even if it doesn't seem that way at first.

I've been suspiciously asked (rightfully so!) by many why I do this, and the short answer is that once I saw the state of these cemeteries, as a history lover with an able body, resources, time (albeit limited) and the ability to learn from online and in-person workshops and societies, it was a no-brainer.

Historical Black cemeteries, African burial grounds, and Native American burial grounds are an integral part of American and Texas history. I've seen firsthand how the injustices against these communities have extended to their resting places through vandalism, theft, lack of county and state funding, record neglect, redlining, gerrymandering, and many more historical and sociological factors influenced by our nation's prejudices. I believe it is our duty as American citizens to preserve yet attempt to repair the damage done by our nation's dark past.

I employ "do no harm" methods in memorial cleaning and repairs, and follow the current standards set by the National Cemetery Administration & Texas Historical Commission using the following specialized materials that are designed/approved for use on historic headstones:
• Soft bristle brushes (usually tampico)
• Plastic scrapers & wood skewers when necessary
• Orvus paste soap
• D/2 Biological Solution or Wet & Forget (both are quaternary ammonium compounds- the ONLY type of cleaner safe to use on historic headstones!)
• Akemi Akepox 5010 epoxy for structural headstone repairs when necessary
• Historic pointing mortar, natural hydraulic lime, or ecological mortar for base repairs and crack infills
• Releveling of bases using pea gravel, angular rocks, and sand

Reach out if you'd like to learn more about do no harm methods and where to buy these materials.
————————————————
Now for the other side of preservation work I do; research, records, and photos!

My stance on some controversial FindAGrave practices:
• Pro-posting of death certificates, they're a historical record and provide "proof" of where someone is buried. If I am making the claim that someone is buried somewhere, it is my responsibility to cite my sources. Most of the ones I post have death info covered though to be respectful of others opinions- they do have a point.
• I add the other names with no death date on double-markers, even if that person may still be alive. I have personally seen that when you don't add them and they do eventually pass away, oftentimes gravers don't notice the new inscription (or, oftentimes the DOD isn't ever added) and this can lead to their memorial never being added to the cemetery. Cemetery surveys before the existence of this website would often include these in their records, so why wouldn't we?
• Pro-"unknown burial"s- however, I don't often utilize this feature myself, if I did it means that I have exhausted every resource available to me at that time trying to find their final resting place. I see it as a request to the world for any information on where they may be buried. The only reason I utilize this feature is to be able to link known siblings memorials in the "siblings" column to each other when I have no record of their parent(s) burial location.
• Pro obituaries in the bio- obituaries, by nature, are quite literally a public announcement of a death and a record of life lived/family members. Why wouldn't it belong with their virtual memorial? Anyone can usually find the same obituary online anyways.
• I don't gatekeep memorials from their relatives, that's incredibly weird and you should probably reevaluate your motive behind doing this work if you feel it necessary to "own" a stranger's virtual memorial. If I think you're a family member (uploading family photos to a memorial, leaving flowers with a message that implies as such) I'll oftentimes just transfer the memorial to you.
• I don't give a single damn about my "stats" in any of the categories, that is not why I do this. I only care about correct info, filling in every field possible, and quality photos.

I am happy to transfer management of any memorial for people that I am not related to. I always notate my relative status on the memorials of my relatives, however the relationship isn't always correct because I apparently have more great aunts/uncles than FindAGrave allows (Catholics, man). The majority of my family descends from Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. If there is no relation status on a memorial I manage or their last name is not Bollweg, Brummel, Pickert, Feuerborn, Holloway, Ryan, Pinkerton, or Steinhoff, then I am likely not related to that person. Ask away!

I do not need photo credit for any face/portrait photos I upload. I likely didn't even know the person personally, wasn't alive when the photo was taken, and certainly wasn't the original photographer. I just have a nice scanner.

I also do not need credit for any grave photos. (Most) gravesites are open for the public to view with their eyes, all I did was happen to have a cell phone camera when I was in close proximity to a grave.

Only thing I ask is that you properly save the image by clicking "view original" and saving the image file to your phone or computer, instead of taking a screenshot or a screen capture. Screenshots destroy the image quality and the people that you're trying to share the image with won't get the full effect of the image. I'm passionate about HIGH QUALITY images using the highest possible dpi (for my own scans) and feel that everyone deserves a face to their name!

Full transparency, I'm in my twenties and am extremely good at finding people and info via unconventional yet public sources of information. Some photos of the deceased that I have uploaded may have been pulled from a relative's public social media. As I said, I feel everyone deserves a face to that name accompanied by 2 dates written on a stone. If that bothers you, please message me and I can take it down.

Researching, documenting, filling in info gaps, cleaning & repairing headstones in the Central Texas area, prioritizing long-standing Black Texas families, veterans, and pioneers/settlers.

Houston-born and Manchaca, TX local; been in the Central Texas area for the last 10 years. If you have any relatives buried in Central Texas, reach out & I'll clean their headstone (no charge) and assess any repairs needed. I seek and obtain permission either from the city, cemetery president or board, sexton/caretaker, or specific family members before I work on headstones.

If you learn one thing from my novel of a profile, let it be this:
NEVER use bleach, pressure washers, Dawn dish soap, vinegar or any household cleaners, household epoxies/glues, or Portland-cement based products to clean or repair headstones. To do so would be causing extensive and irreversible damage, even if it doesn't seem that way at first.

I've been suspiciously asked (rightfully so!) by many why I do this, and the short answer is that once I saw the state of these cemeteries, as a history lover with an able body, resources, time (albeit limited) and the ability to learn from online and in-person workshops and societies, it was a no-brainer.

Historical Black cemeteries, African burial grounds, and Native American burial grounds are an integral part of American and Texas history. I've seen firsthand how the injustices against these communities have extended to their resting places through vandalism, theft, lack of county and state funding, record neglect, redlining, gerrymandering, and many more historical and sociological factors influenced by our nation's prejudices. I believe it is our duty as American citizens to preserve yet attempt to repair the damage done by our nation's dark past.

I employ "do no harm" methods in memorial cleaning and repairs, and follow the current standards set by the National Cemetery Administration & Texas Historical Commission using the following specialized materials that are designed/approved for use on historic headstones:
• Soft bristle brushes (usually tampico)
• Plastic scrapers & wood skewers when necessary
• Orvus paste soap
• D/2 Biological Solution or Wet & Forget (both are quaternary ammonium compounds- the ONLY type of cleaner safe to use on historic headstones!)
• Akemi Akepox 5010 epoxy for structural headstone repairs when necessary
• Historic pointing mortar, natural hydraulic lime, or ecological mortar for base repairs and crack infills
• Releveling of bases using pea gravel, angular rocks, and sand

Reach out if you'd like to learn more about do no harm methods and where to buy these materials.
————————————————
Now for the other side of preservation work I do; research, records, and photos!

My stance on some controversial FindAGrave practices:
• Pro-posting of death certificates, they're a historical record and provide "proof" of where someone is buried. If I am making the claim that someone is buried somewhere, it is my responsibility to cite my sources. Most of the ones I post have death info covered though to be respectful of others opinions- they do have a point.
• I add the other names with no death date on double-markers, even if that person may still be alive. I have personally seen that when you don't add them and they do eventually pass away, oftentimes gravers don't notice the new inscription (or, oftentimes the DOD isn't ever added) and this can lead to their memorial never being added to the cemetery. Cemetery surveys before the existence of this website would often include these in their records, so why wouldn't we?
• Pro-"unknown burial"s- however, I don't often utilize this feature myself, if I did it means that I have exhausted every resource available to me at that time trying to find their final resting place. I see it as a request to the world for any information on where they may be buried. The only reason I utilize this feature is to be able to link known siblings memorials in the "siblings" column to each other when I have no record of their parent(s) burial location.
• Pro obituaries in the bio- obituaries, by nature, are quite literally a public announcement of a death and a record of life lived/family members. Why wouldn't it belong with their virtual memorial? Anyone can usually find the same obituary online anyways.
• I don't gatekeep memorials from their relatives, that's incredibly weird and you should probably reevaluate your motive behind doing this work if you feel it necessary to "own" a stranger's virtual memorial. If I think you're a family member (uploading family photos to a memorial, leaving flowers with a message that implies as such) I'll oftentimes just transfer the memorial to you.
• I don't give a single damn about my "stats" in any of the categories, that is not why I do this. I only care about correct info, filling in every field possible, and quality photos.

I am happy to transfer management of any memorial for people that I am not related to. I always notate my relative status on the memorials of my relatives, however the relationship isn't always correct because I apparently have more great aunts/uncles than FindAGrave allows (Catholics, man). The majority of my family descends from Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. If there is no relation status on a memorial I manage or their last name is not Bollweg, Brummel, Pickert, Feuerborn, Holloway, Ryan, Pinkerton, or Steinhoff, then I am likely not related to that person. Ask away!

I do not need photo credit for any face/portrait photos I upload. I likely didn't even know the person personally, wasn't alive when the photo was taken, and certainly wasn't the original photographer. I just have a nice scanner.

I also do not need credit for any grave photos. (Most) gravesites are open for the public to view with their eyes, all I did was happen to have a cell phone camera when I was in close proximity to a grave.

Only thing I ask is that you properly save the image by clicking "view original" and saving the image file to your phone or computer, instead of taking a screenshot or a screen capture. Screenshots destroy the image quality and the people that you're trying to share the image with won't get the full effect of the image. I'm passionate about HIGH QUALITY images using the highest possible dpi (for my own scans) and feel that everyone deserves a face to their name!

Full transparency, I'm in my twenties and am extremely good at finding people and info via unconventional yet public sources of information. Some photos of the deceased that I have uploaded may have been pulled from a relative's public social media. As I said, I feel everyone deserves a face to that name accompanied by 2 dates written on a stone. If that bothers you, please message me and I can take it down.