GRAVESTONE PRESERVATION 101

1. Enlist Help 

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After searching for months, I found Robert Dewey, Sr., a descendant of the first Dewey setter and neighbor of John Ingersoll in 1656 by the "little River" in Westfield, MA.

2. Find the Location 

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After hours of searching with the metal detector, Dewey found the base of the Ingersoll stone next to his son Thomas and the stone of John Root (image below) who died in 1687.

3. Get Permission

After the location was marked, I wrote to and met with the Westfield Historic Commission to get permission to do a replacement memorial stone.

4. Design the Stone

After 2 years, permission was granted and I drafted a representative drawing of the stone using the John Root stone (image below) as a model. The Root and Ingersoll stone would have been of similar stone design used in the late 1600's.

5. Find a Stone Mason

I approached the local Smith Monument company who suggested a mountain rose collared "saw side" granite similar in color to the original soapstone headstones common at the time.

6. Finalize the Details

    Lettering: "V-groove" in a historic lettering style to be determined 

    Material: stone native to Massachusetts 

    Size: 2 feet tall, 4 inches thick and twenty inches wide, comparable to the root stone

    Date of installation: August 2019

    Cost:  $2000 for replacement + installation of a granite stone created in the traditional 17th century style