Susan, you are so thoughtful. I know the Veterans cemetery where my in-laws are buried keeps the graves mowed and removes flowers, balloons, potted plants, etc on a regular schedule, but they don't go so far as to clean the headstones. Keep up the good work, and keep posting your photos. I find them fascinating!

I had never thought of that. Thanks for mentioning it Susan.

Good hint. What beautiful writing on that grave stone.

The issue of cleaning headstones can be somewhat of a "hot topic". Headstones can be damaged by aggressive methods, certain cleaning compounds, and even using treated city water instead of distilled. Also, one is suppose to get permission before doing any cleaning. Make sure you know the type of material the marker is made of and that you are not removing any sealant put on the marker, or paint that was put there to highlight engraving. (That may not be 'dirt' in the lettering.)

I never heard of this myself until I learned about it on FindAGrave, as it was part of advice to contributors to that site. I certainly wasn't suggesting that one be aggressive--a light brushing with the cloth is advised, as opposed to scrubbing.

Alisande, I know you are doing proper research. My statement was more of a general nature in case anybody reading the thread got the idea of running to their local cemetery and cleaning up the stones in the family plot.

Even on genealogy sites no one can ever agree on the issue of headstone cleaning. Remove lichen because the feet damage the stone? Or leave it as it protects from the elements? Will removing it spread spores and make the problem worse? Is the lichen one of the ones on the endangered species list and should be left alone? Are old headstones more beautiful with the "patina" of moss and lichen? People fight about these things on genealogy discussion boards all the time.

Dilly Dally, you know a lot more about these things than I, and I say that sincerely. I'll bet they argue about such issues on the FindAGrave forums, too.

Your comments on the "Junior" thread make me realize that I could have simplified things for future tracers of my family tree if I'd given my son another name. But I'm not sure it would have been worth upsetting my husband. :-)

When I went to the Pomerania area of Europe on an organized genealogy search tour, I was surprised at how callous some of the old church records were treated by the owners. In some places cotton gloves were worn and pages turned by tweezers. Masks were worn and the place was ventilated to keep exhaled carbon dioxide from doing damage. Of course researchers had to protect themselves from breathing in harmful molds and fungus too. In other places the proctor just tossed out the books and let everyone ruffle through them.

Lots of people did headstone tracings and there were some that told everyone they "were doing it all wrong" and causing damage. Lots of drama. Probably no real "right" answer to many of the methods. Everyone was using one of the many approved methods and there were few amateurs in the group. Some persons were extreme preservationists when it came to headstones.

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If anyone has ever tried to research family history from some of the Scandinavian countries they are stymied by the fact that 'last names' change with every generation. So, Jacob Simonson would be Simon Thomson's son. And Simon would be Thom Olson's son. Try following that. LOL. A relative married a person with a Scandinavian history and they tried to research it. What made it even more complicated is the custom of giving a last name as the father's name with 'son' added began to die out in some areas so you just don't know.

We have some good friends, the wife having come to the US from Norway with her parents as a tiny girl just before WW2. When she asked if I'd look into an aspect of her genealogy in the old country, couldn't find anything that worked.

THEN she told me that the family name originally was something totally different. It seems her father & brothers used to often climb a mountain near their home in Norway as kids & got to be well- known by the "(name of the mountain) boys". So when it was time for confirmation, the minister asked if they wanted to be confirmed with their family last name or the other, They chose the other, and after that they continued to use the mountain's name as their last name & came to the US as such, bringing the confirmation papers with them.