Abandoned Cemetery Puzzle Failure

[@CalifgalCindy1]

I wish there was a way to keep the videos in an order so I can follow each restoration. You’ve got my interest peaked

[@Puddleduck1]

I keep thinking about how Mr & Mrs Barnes would feel if they knew you were here in 2024 taking care of their babies stone ❤😢🥹

[@siobhancosgrove7277]

I BELIEVE that Mr and Mrs Barnes know what this VERY good natured man has done even the babies know as well. Although we can’t see our loved ones I BELIEVE that they walk and protect us and They see everything.

[@Azoreanislandgirl64]

I really wish there would be more folks like you to be caretakers of the old stones. It's important to keep our ancestors alive. Building my tree, I am very interested in your work and endeavors to maintain the headstones. Thank you for such care.

[@HocicoFreak]

Good progress! The second, thicker “nail” you found is a coffin lid screw.

[@DonnaMSchmid]

I don't think this is a failure! It's more of a "to be continued!"💗💗💗

[@Puddleduck1]

I LOVE this so much! Donna you're such a positive queen ❤

[@AllenHolland-rj3is]

I'm thinking how did this stone get so damaged. Thank you for saving it . Wishing you a wonderful day ❤️

[@YTmama-c1o]

Imagine how long that sweet gravestone has been hidden to the world! And now it's out in the sun again! I love this work in progress! I can hardly wait to see what comes next! Even if no more pieces are found this is such a sweet gravestone as it is ❤

[@jazzquebec2847]

You have the kind of videos I have been looking for a long time. Excavations of ancient funerary steles or others, disappeared under the earth over time. I have been doing genealogy for many years and I was wondering if there had been markers in the cemeteries because there is a lot of empty space between some existing locations. Thank you a lot for your curiosity that you share with us.

[@relicrecoveryspecialist16]

Are you using a certain ratio of D2 blend with say water or straight D2. I’ve been doing this for years and started at the Congressional National Cemetery where my 4th great uncle who was a Cherokee Delegate in Washington during the Removal and wrote our first Cherokee Constitution for our new home(Oklahoma). I’m a Cherokee Nation preservationist and conservator on all the older and historical items

[@Dirty_Squirrell]

May I make a suggestion? Try doing a charcoal etching of the stone on paper. That may bring out lettering and numbers for you.

[@deettekearns9092]

The lamb goes on the right (your right)!! On top of the other small piece. But I could be wrong. Thank you for the work you do. It's just lovely.

[@GenealogyKristen]

Ooo, I agree! There’s a shape to the bottom of the lamb piece that looks very close to the shape of the top right broken edge.

[@GenealogyKristen]

And maybe there’s a second missing lamb that goes to the left, mirror it.

[@danellabarnes-penman1118]

When you read the last name, my heart skipped a beat. Most of my people were in OK and AR by that time, so I doubt there is a relation. Still… Made me pause. Hope you find more pieces to this puzzle. You’re doing so well!

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

Such a generous labor of love.

[@johnstiteler4088]

The large piece you're placing at the upper right in the puzzle looks like the classic "shaking hands." Looks like it's got a curved top and should go top center. Except that's where the lamb goes. Could you have pieces of two separate stones? Or could this be an even larger stone with shaking hands at top center and the centered lamb below that?

[@GenealogyKristen]

Just looking at the pieces a few minutes in, that looks like at least two different stones…

[@scw.cheryl]

@millennialstonecleaner the object you were unsure of looked like a key

[@tnasir4903]

Love what you are doing! You are honoring the departed and their history and that they mattered. God bless! ❤

[@carolavw]

You should be able to use ground penetrating radar to locate parts and pieces of stone to be able to reconstruct those stones. I love your vids!

[@dotcassilles1488]

He has explained that there are so many large tree roots and areas of gravely dirt that the whole area would show up as having artifacts in it. They can't take a layer of dirt off the whole area with machinery without risking the artifacts that are already crumbling. They also can't dig every inch of the area to see what is there.

[@SandiMoore-c8i]

Thank you for doing this, very interesting! Bless you and the people working with you! Take care and be careful 💜🦋🙏

[@lauralake7430]

You should never have to bury your own babies, as the saying goes. But now, thanks to your good work we can witness the Barnes’s family grief, and spare a thought for them.❤

[@jacquelinek5036]

My guess is that it reads " winding sheet," not wandering steel. Winding sheet was another name for a shroud.

[@ruadhscottygirl2480]

Yes, winding sheet is correct. A phrase used quite often in that era to denote a shroud.

[@brandon7482]

My great uncle is buried in an old abandoned cemetery in Arkansas. Caleb Davis fought in the Mexican American War, and in the Civil War. He’s was a Company commander in the 15th Arkansas Infantry and briefly served as the regimental commander. I visited his grave while driving through Arkansas a month ago. The cemetery is completely abandoned and his grave had two trees growing out of it. His headstone is still upright but it’s very weathered.

[@mariarichmond4179]

You need to get a table and chair your knees will thank you xxx loving the video 😊😊😊😊

[@cmg6848]

I hope you find more parts of the stone but to be honest, there is more there than i thought there would be.

[@c.o63]

I believe the second one is a coffin lid screw.

[@dotcassilles1488]

Yes. It certainly had the key like shape and size

[@relicrecoveryspecialist16]

Wade, I’ve asked several times in multiple videos about the mixture ratio and type of epoxy you use for marble cracks after you’ve set it with Akepox. I’ve been doing this a very long time, and the mixture consistency is way different than mine. Yours looks more granular almost like it’s just marble flakes that are larger than marble dust

[@katenickels617]

amazing work

[@sophiegeorge2816]

Definitely not a failure More of a part 2 coming soon

[@DustPuzzle]

! ! ! I was thinking to balance the stone in the keyway. Mind you the way folks thought of life everlasting it was for the children to remember their father was a builder.

[@ado-yz9rb]

it was probably used to level and plumb the tablet in the keyway

[@sinclari1]

Where is this? I'd like to do more research on the family.

[@rodgercgreen411]

You are the first one to ever read that description on that Toom Stone in over 100 years

[@therichlife8657]

You could make your videos longer. We would watch if they were a hour long.

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

True. But longer videos = longer editing time. With the number of hours he's spending, he may not have time to produce such long videos. Or maybe he's just found this to be the "sweet spot" with his videos.

[@JustAlanJohn]

The Barnes surname goes back a long way in American history Robert Barnes the attorney might be interested in this find.

[@kenrhoades2602]

You said you were going to look for more bits of the head stone?

[@ericalbany]

Wandering Steel should be Winding Sheet

[@marilynhemingway5219]

What kind of cleaning solution do you use? A video on YT called "Sidestep Adventures into History" uses a D2 solution on long forgotten historical cemeteries.

[@PamelaSprowls]

Can headstones be power washed? Or is there to much of chance to damage them?

[@lauralake7430]

Never. Too damaging.

[@jayharper2252]

What chemicals do you use to clean these with?

[@dotcassilles1488]

I think you will find he has a video explaining how he cleans the grave markers/ head stones in detail... If you click/tap his name or the circle photo next to it you can look at his home page for this channel, it has more information and a list of the videos he has made. Or search with his channel name and "how to start cleaning head stones" (just a suggestion). Blessings from South Eastern Australia, Dot

[@melvance7281]

Ok. I'm very conflicted here. As a young cub scout, we cleaned the stones in a local cemetery. I respect anyone willing to honor our past. But. I'm getting older. I know what my future holds. To be honest, I'm scared to death of dying. Please. I ask everyone to honor those that have gone beyond. I just hope I'm not one of those anytime soon

[@Paulie1232]

Beautiful 😊

[@joshuabeatty7406]

Looks like an old skeleton key 🗝️

[@dotcassilles1488]

A coffin lid screw has that same shape

[@d.kuczewski2824]

i soak mine like that i pure natureal coka cola🚙

[@lornapenn-chester6867]

Ever seen any ghosts?

[@patmadix172]

Just had someone knock over 170 tombstones in Jewish cemetery in Cinncinnati fbi and police on it

[@rossgjerdingen2199]

This is too tedious. Seems to me there has to be better ways of doing this with better equipment, etc., but I would imagine that he is volunteering his time, and better methods are too cost prohibitive.

[@SnyderTools]

Wonder what it would look like to put all those pieces in a box and pour resin in it like they do tables now.

[@JoshFoley92]

Resin yellows overtime. I don’t think it would look good for very long.

[@johnslaughter5475]

@@JoshFoley92 If done carefully, so that the resin does not cover the surface, it might work as a bonding agent and a surrounding border. Covering the surface would be out of the question. Just my own personal opinion.

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

@@johnslaughter5475 And then there's the question of how resin reacts to weather long term - heat, sun, cold, snow and rain... For years. Or what the effects of the chemicals in resin would be on soft stone like limestone or marble. I have no idea (and it's 3:32AM so I'm not going down another rabbit hole!) but I have a feeling it wouldn't be good. It's an interesting idea, though. I agree that you definitely wouldn't want it on the face of a stone if it was feasible..

[@someonesprincess3]

❤👍🏼👍🏼🙂✌🏼

[@robschrader7587]

10:08 You definitely should not be using a wire brush on that. Because that's going to take some of the stone away. Even with the most careful technique, cleaning may accelerate deterioration or cause loss of original material. Only use soft brushes and gentle cleaners, such as water or a non-ionic cleaner (neutral pH of 7). Never use wire brushes, power washers, or harsh cleaners, such as bleach.

[@cmg6848]

@@robschrader7587 😆

[@Rickster2791]

It's okay (and advisable) to use a wire brush on mating surfaces as you need very clean adjoining surfaces when attempting to join pieces together.

[@tracygibson6346]

Thank you for all you do.

[@maidenminnesota1]

He uses D2 as the cleaner, and soft brushes on the surfaces so as not to destroy epitaphs, but the wire brush only on the mating surfaces.

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

If you watch some of his videos, you'll find he likely knows far more on the subject than you do. And you'll find how to do this properly.

[@rachelmcculloch5754]

So grateful for your but very Concerned about the tools that you were using. The tools that you are using and you are teaching others to use these tools and that it's okay. In fact, using a wire brush is a super big no.

[@dotcassilles1488]

He uses a wire brush on the mating surfaces (where he hopes to join pieces together) so that what he repairs will be strong and last longer. If he didn't remove the soft dirt then the repair would fail.

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

You must be new to his channel. Have a look at his list of videos (and watch a few). He's well trained by the best and knows what he's doing. He absolutely would never use a wire brush on any surface other than the edges he hopes/plans to rejoin. Using a wire brush - without vigorous scrubbing - removes dirt, debris and any loose material that would make pieces not fit together as well and the joins wouldn't last.