Mount Hope Cemetery — Rochester, New York

Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York · 2022
Partner: Katie DeRaddo, A Grave Attraction
Monument resetting · Cross reset · Cleaning

The Work

The Barnard monument in Rochester’s Mount Hope Cemetery is granite carved as a cathedral, with a large cross seated at the crossing. A falling tree knocked the cross off. It landed in the grass and stayed there until we came to put it back.

A wooden tripod and chain hoist did the heavy lifting. We reset the displaced sections, raised the cross, seated it back at the crossing, and bonded the joint. The monument was cleaned with water, a soft bristle brush and treated with a conservation biocide.

The Story

John Mills Barnard (1820–1877) graduated from Norwich University, taught school in Georgia and Texas, and rode with the 1st Texas Mounted Volunteers in the Mexican War, where he rose to major. He practiced law in Des Moines for nearly a decade before settling in Rochester. In 1856 he married his cousin Eliza Jane Gove (1833–1905), and they raised five children. His letters to her survive. Eliza died in Des Moines in 1905 and was brought back to Rochester. John, Eliza, and their sons Charles and John rest here.

Gallery

Sections of the granite Barnard monument lying in cemetery grass — Sections of the monument in the grass before the work started.

Granite cross lying flat in the grass — The cross where it landed.

Wooden tripod with chain hoist over the fallen cross — The tripod goes up over the fallen cross.

Strap and chain hoist resetting monument stones — A strap and chain hoist carry the stones back into place.

Granite cross suspended in straps under the tripod — The cross on its way back up.

Lowering the cross onto the top of the monument — Seating the cross back at the crossing.

Applying adhesive at the seat of the cross — Bonding the joint at the seat of the cross.

Spraying cleaner on the monument — Katie DeRaddo of A Grave Attraction starts the cleaning pass.

Scrubbing biological growth off the monument base — Katie scrubs the growth off the base.

Work with MSC

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