Resurrected tombstones restore history
04/05/09 16:35 Filed in: archaeology
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St. Nicholas grave markers were buried as base started up
Friday, April 3, 2009
By JOANNE MALENE
Staff writer
When Scott Lawrence began looking for his ancestors in the cemetery of St. Nicholas Church at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, he not only found his grandfather — he found dozens of grandfathers belonging to other people.
"I knew from family stories that I had relatives buried at St. Nicholas cemetery," said Lawrence. "I first petitioned the Navy in late 2001 and again in 2002 because I wanted to restore the cemetery. I knew the tombstones on the graves had been turned over during World War II and I thought it was important to restore the headstones and the information on them. I didn't want to just go out there and grab my ancestors and leave the rest alone."
Lawrence said after he partnered with the St. Mary's County Genealogical Society, he received permission from the Navy to recover and repair the burial markers of 13 veterans, from the Revolutionary War through World War I, who were buried at St. Nicholas. Lawrence now is authorized to restore all the grave markers.
"The base has been very cooperative with us working at the cemetery," Lawrence said. "I've had to get a number of permits to do this job, but now I am working on the whole cemetery. There are at least 700 known graves, but there is enough ground out there that it could be well over 1,000 graves."
Subsequent research, Lawrence said, has shown there are also two African-American soldiers who fought for the Union in the Civil War.
"We have two spots with GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) markers," he said. "But, we don't know the names of the individuals."
St. Nicholas Church was founded in 1795 by Nicholas Sewall, the owner of the Mattapany-Sewall plantation at Cedar Point, which is now part of Pax River. When the air station was built in 1942, the Navy began using St. Nicholas Church as the base chapel.
Jim Gibb of Gibb Archaeological Consultants, who is working with Lawrence at Pax River and at other sites in the area, said he has an idea why the tombstones were buried at St. Nicholas.
"I think it was the Navy's way of saying to the people in the communities around the base, `There is no reason to come back,'" Gibb said.
"The Navy gave the descendents a chance to uncover the stones and exhume the bodies and they had a surveyor come out there and map every grave," he said. "But, after awhile, they covered over the stones and people couldn't come back to the base anymore.
"You have to look at things in context," Gibb added. "It was World War II. There were sightings of German U-boats and submarines and people and the military were worried about sabotage. Compared to 9/11, everyone was learning how to identify enemy ships and airplanes. And, they didn't want unauthorized people on the base. In terms of security, it was a very sensitive time."
Lawrence calls himself an avocation archaeologist. During the workday, he is a configuration manager for Booz Allen Hamilton at Webster Field. But, his passion for archaeology is evident when he talks about the various headstones in the cemetery.
"Most of the stones out there at St. Nicholas are marble," he explained. "There were marble quarries in Western Maryland and the stone was brought down here from Baltimore by way of ferry boats. You could also order a headstone from the Sears and Roebuck catalog, which had pages of gravestones. You could go to the catalog, pick your headstone, order it and it would be sent down here to St. Mary's County."
Lawrence and Gibb have unearthed, cleaned up and restored about 60 percent of the cemetery. Many of the stones unearthed have needed some kind of repair and Lawrence is gradually working through them.
"I drill holes in the pieces of marble and, using a special epoxy, I put in a stainless steel rod or pin and put them back together," Lawrence said. "I am certified by the National Park Service for tombstone restoration. To me, a cemetery is a religious place. I respect my ancestors and the dead. And, I think headstones are historical artifacts and need to be preserved."
The restoration of tombstones is both time consuming and expensive.
Loranna Gray, treasurer of the St. Mary's County Genealogical Society, said that each rod used in a restored tombstone costs $50. The initial survey of the cemetery, done before the restoration could begin, cost $10,000. "Scott Lawrence had to work with a nonprofit organization to raise funds for the headstone restoration," Gray said. "He has $28 in the restoration account right now so he obviously needs to raise more money to continue."
Lawrence said St. Nicholas cemetery reflects the history of St. Mary's County. "For example, I found my great-great-grandfather who was a Confederate soldier," Lawrence said. "I have a record that his mother is buried there. His father was a Revolutionary War soldier and I believe he is buried at St. Andrew's [Church] cemetery. Before the American Revolution, Catholicism was repressed down here in St. Mary's County. Many people converted to the Protestant church, but his wife chose to be buried at St. Nicholas."
Gibb said there is a lot of work still to be done.
"What you see of the lawn at St. Nicholas is the extent of the cemetery," he said, "although there is supposed to be a cemetery that is under one of the runways that belongs to a different church. We are not going to dig up that one any time soon. We are just focused on re-erecting and recovering the stones at St. Nicholas."
jmalene@somdnews.com
To learn more
To see the list of names at St. Nicholas cemetery or other cemeteries in St. Mary's, go to the Maryland Tombstone Transcription project at www.usgwtombstones.org/maryland/maryland.html. Scott Lawrence can be reached by e-mail at info@historicalgraveconcerns.com. Donations toward the St. Mary's County Genealogical Society's effort to restore tombstones may be sent to P.O. Box 1109, Leonardtown, MD. 20650.
St. Nicholas grave markers were buried as base started up
Friday, April 3, 2009
By JOANNE MALENE
Staff writer
When Scott Lawrence began looking for his ancestors in the cemetery of St. Nicholas Church at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, he not only found his grandfather — he found dozens of grandfathers belonging to other people.
"I knew from family stories that I had relatives buried at St. Nicholas cemetery," said Lawrence. "I first petitioned the Navy in late 2001 and again in 2002 because I wanted to restore the cemetery. I knew the tombstones on the graves had been turned over during World War II and I thought it was important to restore the headstones and the information on them. I didn't want to just go out there and grab my ancestors and leave the rest alone."
Lawrence said after he partnered with the St. Mary's County Genealogical Society, he received permission from the Navy to recover and repair the burial markers of 13 veterans, from the Revolutionary War through World War I, who were buried at St. Nicholas. Lawrence now is authorized to restore all the grave markers.
"The base has been very cooperative with us working at the cemetery," Lawrence said. "I've had to get a number of permits to do this job, but now I am working on the whole cemetery. There are at least 700 known graves, but there is enough ground out there that it could be well over 1,000 graves."
Subsequent research, Lawrence said, has shown there are also two African-American soldiers who fought for the Union in the Civil War.
"We have two spots with GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) markers," he said. "But, we don't know the names of the individuals."
St. Nicholas Church was founded in 1795 by Nicholas Sewall, the owner of the Mattapany-Sewall plantation at Cedar Point, which is now part of Pax River. When the air station was built in 1942, the Navy began using St. Nicholas Church as the base chapel.
Jim Gibb of Gibb Archaeological Consultants, who is working with Lawrence at Pax River and at other sites in the area, said he has an idea why the tombstones were buried at St. Nicholas.
"I think it was the Navy's way of saying to the people in the communities around the base, `There is no reason to come back,'" Gibb said.
"The Navy gave the descendents a chance to uncover the stones and exhume the bodies and they had a surveyor come out there and map every grave," he said. "But, after awhile, they covered over the stones and people couldn't come back to the base anymore.
"You have to look at things in context," Gibb added. "It was World War II. There were sightings of German U-boats and submarines and people and the military were worried about sabotage. Compared to 9/11, everyone was learning how to identify enemy ships and airplanes. And, they didn't want unauthorized people on the base. In terms of security, it was a very sensitive time."
Lawrence calls himself an avocation archaeologist. During the workday, he is a configuration manager for Booz Allen Hamilton at Webster Field. But, his passion for archaeology is evident when he talks about the various headstones in the cemetery.
"Most of the stones out there at St. Nicholas are marble," he explained. "There were marble quarries in Western Maryland and the stone was brought down here from Baltimore by way of ferry boats. You could also order a headstone from the Sears and Roebuck catalog, which had pages of gravestones. You could go to the catalog, pick your headstone, order it and it would be sent down here to St. Mary's County."
Lawrence and Gibb have unearthed, cleaned up and restored about 60 percent of the cemetery. Many of the stones unearthed have needed some kind of repair and Lawrence is gradually working through them.
"I drill holes in the pieces of marble and, using a special epoxy, I put in a stainless steel rod or pin and put them back together," Lawrence said. "I am certified by the National Park Service for tombstone restoration. To me, a cemetery is a religious place. I respect my ancestors and the dead. And, I think headstones are historical artifacts and need to be preserved."
The restoration of tombstones is both time consuming and expensive.
Loranna Gray, treasurer of the St. Mary's County Genealogical Society, said that each rod used in a restored tombstone costs $50. The initial survey of the cemetery, done before the restoration could begin, cost $10,000. "Scott Lawrence had to work with a nonprofit organization to raise funds for the headstone restoration," Gray said. "He has $28 in the restoration account right now so he obviously needs to raise more money to continue."
Lawrence said St. Nicholas cemetery reflects the history of St. Mary's County. "For example, I found my great-great-grandfather who was a Confederate soldier," Lawrence said. "I have a record that his mother is buried there. His father was a Revolutionary War soldier and I believe he is buried at St. Andrew's [Church] cemetery. Before the American Revolution, Catholicism was repressed down here in St. Mary's County. Many people converted to the Protestant church, but his wife chose to be buried at St. Nicholas."
Gibb said there is a lot of work still to be done.
"What you see of the lawn at St. Nicholas is the extent of the cemetery," he said, "although there is supposed to be a cemetery that is under one of the runways that belongs to a different church. We are not going to dig up that one any time soon. We are just focused on re-erecting and recovering the stones at St. Nicholas."
jmalene@somdnews.com
To learn more
To see the list of names at St. Nicholas cemetery or other cemeteries in St. Mary's, go to the Maryland Tombstone Transcription project at www.usgwtombstones.org/maryland/maryland.html. Scott Lawrence can be reached by e-mail at info@historicalgraveconcerns.com. Donations toward the St. Mary's County Genealogical Society's effort to restore tombstones may be sent to P.O. Box 1109, Leonardtown, MD. 20650.