Saving Jimmy DiResta's Graveyard

When ‪@jimmydiresta‬ drops you a DM to come to New York and work on a cool project, you go.
Honoring the Canfield and Boothe Families of Durham, New York.
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[@user-fb6qz4ew5k]

"Neighbors helping Neighbors just 400 yrs later." Love that quote!

[@fdort3971]

I have to say...it's very poetic that Jimmy Diresta who works with wood, metal and leather, etc is restoring a headstone for a cabinet maker...pretty damn cool!

[@Oldtimeytools]

watching jimmy simply quietly taking pointers and quietly doing the digging, specially when lifting the obelisk(jimmy has lifted some crazy stuff) is very inspiring. I gotta learn to keep my mouth shut when working with others 😅

[@brentjensen85]

I couldn't imagine being a professional and working with Jimmy. I know he seems like a great guy, but I would be so nervous and intimidated by a man that can literally do everything. 😂😂

[@BrianAdle]

My dad always said, "Some days you're a general and some days you're a soldier. Great workers know when to fill the role"

[@mattmorrisson9607]

This was not a collaboration I ever thought I would see, but I'm so here for it!!

[@emi9643]

theres just something thoroughly soothing watching a couple people spend the time to respect long past individuals. it is so peaceful knowing that several hundred years later this family is seen, remembered, and shown to thousands of people across the world. What you guys did here is amazing, and thank you for sharing

[@johnadamski1027]

A corporal work of mercy is to bury the dead. I think that caring for the memorials of the dead is an extension of that. Thank you for doing this work.

[@PaganWizard]

Seeing Jimmy always getting deeply involved in whatever he is a part of, will NEVER cease to amaze me. I always love how he puts his name on everything he does, I believe it was his Father who told him something like "if you're going to make something, make it good enough to put your name on it". Great video, and you got a new subscriber.

[@bobmcnelis3648]

If you are ever back in the Milford Ct area, I can show you an amazing section of a revolutionary war cemetery. Can’t understand why some of these stones aren’t better taken care of. I’m 71 in in poor help, or I’d start doing it myself. I still clean stones in my area, but mostly Veterans Stones. Thanks for your hard work!

[@labethspain7936]

Have always felt an affinity for cemeteries…this is a wonderful channel!

[@peterhodges6684]

Truly an honorable effort, well done indeed.

[@clementsmallengine4833]

Hanging out with jimmy and Patrick is a blast isnt it? You guys did an awesome job cant wait to check it out! 💪

[@millennialstonecleaner]

So awesome

[@SOUTHTEXAS2316]

As time goes on, Earth's natural composting adds to the landscape being added too. Sometimes things are not buried, there covered naturally.

[@climbingstill9503]

First want to say how important and incredible the work your doing is, I’m sure you know that but I just really appreciate and admire it! Second, this would make a wonderful TLC show, I dont think enough people know about this, its heartwarming and interesting. Thank you again, have a good day!

[@ursulakawalec-mj4fj]

I’m glad there’s people like yourselves that care enough to keep the memories alive.

[@nonodennis]

Jimmy has always been the student before being the teacher, a man of so many talents and only uses as many words as needed. We will forever be Jimmy’s students.

[@Sunbloom289]

Love the house in the background.

[@TheSkydancer28]

first may I just say thank you. from the bottom of my heart thank you. I wish more people like you existed in the world so many bury thier families and then forget about them and the towns either cant or wont hire keepers to maintain the graves. It hurts my heart every time I go home to visit my husbands grave my son and I clean up around our families plots bit there was a time when they just tossed the broken stones in a pile against the back fence and forgot about them. It seems to me like no one ever goes to visit the dead anymore I make the pilgrimage every year at Christmas to visit and my son has just moved home to stay with his fathers family. He's been in Japan since he was five years old so Northern Maine is a new place for him.

[@judithdomangue9995]

Such a beautiful site for a cemetery. I really enjoyed this video so much. Thank you for taking me along.😊

[@bethtindall9208]

Wow!! What a mission!! It is absolutely amazing in so many ways. There is nothing better than a job done right, so impressive by all of you!

[@coreygrua3271]

Two great masters working together. In JD’s case, it’s always nice to see a soft, caring side. I particularly love Wade’s way of bringing the dead back to life and sharing some legacy with us. BRAVO!

[@tamaflip]

Amazing, you guys. I’ve known Jimmy for a few years since his video with Brad Leone. It’s like universes colliding. Love everything about this.

[@Azoreanislandgirl]

What a beautiful job. Amazing Angel's on earth. ❤

[@kathleendenison8925]

Awesome, ❤ seeing the old stones have new life. Never forgotten..❤️✝️

[@tomasjosefvela1]

You all are amazing to do this for a family once forgotten. Thanks for sharing, very inspiring

[@bettyjean2793]

This came on my for you page. I'm so happy it did you now have another subscriber 😊 I love cemeteries and family trees. This is very interesting. Thank you for all your hard work, as well as treating the Graves with respect

[@soccovitch]

I remember when he first posted he bought this property I left a comment that he should get you or Jonathan Appell out there to take a look. So cool you were able to help!

[@sherrypersinger7056]

This is probably hands down, the best youtube channel I've watched in a long time, thanks to my daughter. She knows my love for old houses, graveyards, l trucks and tractors etc! What a life!!! I'm just overhere building Ag tires. Someone has too 😊 Thank you Jimmy!!! Nice work 👏👏👏

[@sadlerchannel]

That was really fun. Nicely done.

[@ArtistAnnex]

Amazing! I've loved your content for the past year or more. It's awesome to see the collaboration with DiResta. He is another wonderful creator I've been steadily watching for awhile. Keep up the great content. Your channel is both entertaining and educational!

[@jimrosson6702]

Absolutely amazing work so much respect for what you do by honoring the dead and making sure that there memories will live on forever God bless you and Jimmy for what you’re doing.

[@kellysrestorations.7397]

Much respect for that work that you do!

[@MichaelNatrin]

Really great work & interesting video!

[@thesplinteredfinger]

Great job guys! So interesting how these are restored.

[@shawnmcpeak6184]

Beautiful work gentlemen.

[@Contemplative_Kevin]

Absolutely awesome work and video!!!!

[@Paulie1232]

Absolutely beautiful job and beautiful scenery behind you 😊

[@mrstacyj9496]

Awesome! Good teamwork.

[@johnblake3863]

I live in Watauga Co., NC. A few years ago we had a young child who was killed in a cemetery by a stone that fell over.

[@lisawilson4551]

Beautiful work, I wish I could see all them done. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@michaelgranoth9406]

Very cool. Watching from Milford, CT.

[@benr7537]

As soon as Jimmy put out his first video on the homesite project I said he should get in touch with you. Love the collaboration!

[@sheilahughes1014]

hmmm, I LOVE old graveyards !! such wonderful inscriptions on the face

[@Lucinda_Jackson]

So excited for another post! What a pretty country cemetery! Amazing that you were able to find all the missing pieces to the son's stone (was it Phineas, I think?). I'll have to take a trip to Jimmy's channel to see how it turns out. And to find out who he is! 😂 It seems like I might have been missing something interesting! Beautiful job on resetting the obelisk. It's like it was never in danger of toppling at all! Have Jimmy take a photo when the quaternary ammonia has done its job and post it here - maybe in Shorts - for us to see, please and thanks! So happy to see activity on a favorite channel again! 🪦

[@chriscornell8766]

As a long time follower of Jimmy, i never even knew he had a cemetery... Nice work.. New follower

[@dpeter6396]

Outstanding !!

[@pnsjax]

Amazed at two.men who could be doing anything else, but choosing to honor history, and it's dead. The skills and in some cases, just chain and pulleys bookends to what was done to erect those tombstones. It is a pleasure to be an onlooker.

[@michaelwallace897]

Gotta ❤ Jimmy Diresta, he is the Godfather of invention.

[@azulan730]

i worked at a cemetery for a few years. it was mostly gardening which i didnt enjoy but sometimes i got to dig graves or reposition gravestones and clean them. i absolutely loved doing that.

[@mattorendorff8858]

Very neat work you are doing and quality content creation. Hearing of family from Durham CT and knowing Jimmy is in Durham NY, wondering if there is a family connection to settlement of both places.

[@anitaludovici2859]

This video is amazing. So much work and care you guys did. I was in awww at what it takes to reset stones so large. This one and the big cross is the largest reset I have seen you do Wade, and you never disappoint. Thank you all for your care, compassion and knowledge. Now I'm going to watch again.

[@jas57264]

Gentlemen........Thank You for your Service.

[@lostcontrol1981]

Saying people die in graveyards from falling stones is true! I loved going to graveyards as a kid in England. Not long after we moved to Canada several kids were killed by a falling gravestone. Some of the old gravestones in England are massive, and it doesn’t surprise me at all that children have died.

[@kentuckylady2990]

Nerve wracking yet enjoyable to watch.

[@davebauerart]

Very interesting work.

[@mygrammieis]

Much Respect for Everyone working in this project ✊❤️✊❤️✊🤲

[@karmenolsen7686]

Proper respect to the respectful from a respecting viewer.

[@jpalarchio]

Here from Jimmy's channel. Very cool to watch!

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Welcome!

[@pmccoy8924]

Beautiful cause. We should always remember those that came before us. Respect.

[@fdort3971]

@MillennialStoneCleaning 1st of all I will tell you what I said when I watched @JimmyDiresta I think it shows a truly deep soul that you guys are lovingly restoring the graves of someone you never even met! You guys are awesome! That obelisk looked ridiculously heavy...even with the block and tackle. How much did each piece weigh out of curiosity? If you guys find the local church...they may have a layout for the gravestone and each information....you can try some kind of sonar system to find the stones... Keep up the honourable work kind gentlemen!

[@davidhall1779]

new subscriber here, only just discovered your channel and your awesome work.

[@saginawdan]

Came over from Jimmy. Great video thanks! New Subscriber 👍

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Much appreciated. Welcome!

[@vincentvizachero8055]

Fantastic. John Canfield appears to be my wife's 4th great-granduncle.

[@Weaver_Drafting]

Tripod Suggestion -- I noticed that your tripod was bending in the video from all the weight. Have you considered making 'Strong Back' type legs for your tripod? Doing this will greatly increase your lifting capacity. To create a 'Strong Back' you simply attach another 2x4 or 2x6 (size to match leg/s). The newly attached 2x will create a 'T' shaped leg. Adding the 'T' to the 2 outside legs, on the same side and adding the other to the opposite side of the center leg would still allow your tripod to be folded for easy storage. The 'T' will allow more lifting capacity without bending the legs. Hope this makes sense. Thanks for all the great videos!

[@oldmech619]

Thanks!

[@juliestumpf7663]

That small stone with initials on it is a plot marker. They are used usually at the corners of family plots.

[@lightningstrikelures2393]

Nice work gentlemen. Good lookin' out.

[@JJskiddy]

Your doing a great service to all who passed....one curious question is how does just the cement pushed onto edges going to hold up such a huge stone??

[@rppope1006]

Just thinking about the work that went into making the large grave stone and then the horse drawn trip to get it there. Then they had to put it together. Must have had some wealth for sure

[@user-vd7bz1zc1q]

Would love to welcome you back to Peoria, IL- Limestone HIstoric Church! PEACE

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Let’s make that happen, I loved working there before. I’ll drop you an email.

[@waynegoebel395]

Very honorable gentlemen, very honoable.

[@oldmech619]

Yes, True, an average of 30 people are killed each year by toppling tombstones and other cemetery markers. Of those, about half are children. Wow I would have never believed that would be an issue. Thank you for helping to preserve our history. One stone at a time.

[@kathymorkassel3236]

❤❤graveyard detectives great job 😮😮🎉🎉😊

[@checkdigits]

Very interesting to see the drystone wall around the cemetery. A skill possibly brought over by someone from England a couple of centuries ago and still standing after all this time. Somebody put a lot of effort and care into that wall.

[@jphanks]

Jimmy has drystone foundations going in at the house across the street, too!

[@CthulhusDream]

Leave it to Jimmy to put his name on it, I'm surprised he didn't spray paint stencil it 🤣🤣

[@danielcolby7293]

Jimmy sent me…now subbed✌️

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Welcome!

[@carolinehibbert1510]

You’re just amazing 😊 it would be my dream job to do this….

[@Ember-Teddy]

The stone at 7:15 looks like it has a face and upper body, wearing a white shirt. The head is leaning against the shoulder, upright. It’s on the right side of the stone.

[@Sawmill.skills.indonesia]

Best

[@SlapMehSilly02]

I'm sure this graveyard needs more work. You should consider going back out for another collab. Jimmy is probably one of the most creative wood workers here on KZbin. He had his own TV should with his brother back in the day. Needless to say the man definitely has incredible talent. Maybe something to think about. I feel when you are around someone doing creative things you are only as good as your team and with Jimmy you can't do any better.👍

[@rppope1006]

I think canfield has a son named john as well and hes the creator of the book the chicken soup for the soul

[@kaceesavage]

❤️

[@powderriver2424]

Without giving away locations, the cemeteries that are all over the county many people, upon first sight, seeing many broken headstones immediately think vandalism, however that is not the case as the breakage is caused by frost heave.

[@MissJane909]

Our motto - “The only thing better than level is finished”.

[@Oldtimeytools]

Jimmy is the goat 🐐

[@carolr5638]

I just found your channel this morning and I’m fascinated! So, the obelisk is simply stacked one upon the other? There was no pinning or other way of attaching the pieces when it was originally constructed?

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Correct, no pin, not needed. There was likely a bonding agent of some kind but what it was specifically we don’t know as what was used historically varied by era and region and nothing is left there now.

[@sparky2059]

A job well done

[@barbaramollmann5990]

I had a cousin in Germany killed playing on a monument that fell over on him. Cemeteries can kill you. Thanks for this video. I just found your channel.

[@timhull8664]

If you have the money, the best way I think to repair those broken stones is to bond them to a support stone, mounted to the rear.

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Yup it’s an option, certainly. Really depends a lot on the condition of the stone and then are you said, how much money someone wants to spend.

[@JudgementJury]

Huh, microclimates of cemeteries. That's, really interested to me. I'm currently in college for microbiology, and I'd be very curious to see what organisms live in cemetery microclimates! Maybe one day.

[@JudgementJury]

Also, safety is absolutely important! So good job on setting a goal & knowing your limits.

[@kevinkarwaski9729]

How do I get started In restoration of tombstones?

[@jordanhess2061]

You could probably clean some of that black stuff off with acid, like muratic acid. If you can take the stone somewhere where you can safely use the acid without killing the grass. Just an idea.

[@josephaumann849]

What a confluence of channels I watch!!

[@cadillac8597]

What was holding the obelisk together originally?? Only Gravity? Nice work

[@fdort3971]

@MillennialStoneCleaning how do you decide how to strap such an odd shape as the obelisk? Another question I have is once the cleaner has a chance to work...can you cover the whole thing with a clear epoxy to help protect it? What is the cleaner you are using? I'm trying to learn more about restoration of antique objects...I'm wondering if it would translate on other surfaces. Please and thank you.

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Strap as in how to use the slings to hoist it? I have a video up here on the channel on all the cleaning products and while they are generally designed for natural stone they are certainly safe on other surfaces though as a cleaner they are specific to biological cleaning. And no we do not seal a stone or add anything to it we need to allow the stone to breath accounting for the rising damp from the ground.

[@dirtfarmerebay]

Honestly, I thought Jimmy knew how to do everything. Great job.

[@robertforrest7956]

Can some of those pillars be drilled and possibly fiberglass rebar used since it doesn't rust?? Just a thought. 👍🏻

[@millennialstonecleaner]

Using pins used to be common but the knock on effect is that when things fail the pins cause a ton of secondary damage so unless really needed, we don’t add pins. But yes, when we do, it is stainless rod, basalt or fiberglass rebar. I have a video up on here showing a basalt pin being drilled and placed due to the type of fracture being repaired.

[@johnackley3982]

My cousin was killed working in a cemetery fixing a large stone like that, it fell and hit him in the head

[@gebhardt244]

Here in Germany if someone dies you build a grave on the Greveyard and barry your loved one. You have to pay for the Space and for The Stone, most the Time expensive, and once the Family is no more willing to pay it gets removed, all cleaned up and dug up, ready to use for the next one.

[@swordforjustice]

@The Millennial Stone Cleaner, where are you located? I heard you mention the Fowlers and Canfields of Milford, CT. My ancestors are Milford founders too. I am descended from Governor Robert Treat, The Fords of Milford, Rev Roger Newton of Milford. Anyway, I am wondering if you are near Bridgeport, CT. If so I’d like to pick your brain as I want to do some cleaning at Mountain Grove in Bridgeport of my great great grandfather’s grave stones. Please advise how best to contact you.

[@millennialstonecleaner]

I’m based in Iowa. I do have a long form video posted on this channel that teaches you how to clean so give that a once over hope it helps out.

[@swordforjustice]

@@millennialstonecleaner Thank you, will do. I smiled when you mentioned the Founder’s Memorial Bridge. You and I might be cousins as I think the Fowlers link into my Milford ancestry. 😁😁

[@MTYsasi]

I always want to know how is it you know so much about the person that you are cleaning their head stone.