The Bishop Hill Old Settlers' Association continues its efforts to improve the looks of the Bishop Hill Cemetery.
In past years, they have provided funds to clean and straighten headstones. And when needed, to mend those that were so old and in such bad shape that they actually had broken into two or more pieces.
Last year in addition to the repairs, a new marker was added to honor those whose names were almost lost - the victims of the Cholera epidemic and those buried in the Potters Field section in the oldest part of the cemetery.
This year another marker has been added. It's a small stone with a bronze plaque that sits in front of Eric Janson's grave.
Even though Janson has a tall tapered memorial that sits on the highest spot in the cemetery, some people still have a difficult time finding it. Also, time and weather have left the inscriptions, both the Swedish and the English, very faint.
The Old Settlers took the English inscription as the basis for the text of the new plaque.
"We used that same spelling of the name," commented John Anderson, a member of the committee that oversees cemetery work for the organization.
"I did some research on the Internet on the preservation of old monuments," he stated. "There were all kinds of suggestions, but I went with the one that said 'don't touch it.'"
That's why Harvey Ponder and his crew from Lacky and Sons Monuments carefully scraped the moss and mold from the stone, gently sprayed the surface clean and then went on to work in other parts of the cemetery.
Ponder explained that he could provide a method where low-pressure hot water could be sprayed on tombstones to do an effective cleaning, enough that they might be readable again. The equipment is fairly bulky and it would be best to do as many as possible at one time.
As always, there is the matter of expense. The cemetery hasn't had enough income from investments or donations to cover its most essential expenses. That's why the volunteers that give of their time and money are so important.
There are other needs of the cemetery that go beyond the physical. Robert Mitz, village treasurer and keeper of cemetery records, commented that he would like to see some kind of effort made to improve the quality of those records and find a way to make them more readily available.
"I get phone calls and I can't always help people," Mitz said. "There are gaps in the records that may have always been there. Things didn't always get written down and sometimes there's conflicting information."
After this day's work, one can stand by the Janson markers, survey the surroundings and see how much has changed in the past few years. Fallen stones are pieced back together while others are standing straight once again, but the wish list for the future is still a lengthy one.
