Stoner's Cemetery Maintenance, Discoveries, and Documentation

Descendants, and others interested in the Stoner's Preservation Committee, frequently send e-mails to keep everyone informed about happenings at the cemetery.

On March 13, 2024, the following e-mail was sent by James Andrews:

"Hello everyone: I went out to Stoners Cemetery today, in a short sleeved shirt to assist John Sharp in mounting the bronze plaques that have fallen off the slate bases. The glue used earlier was not holding up to the weather conditions out there. Approximately half of the bronze plaques had fallen off. Threaded mounting pins were applied to the plaques, and holes were drilled into the slate, ensuring a permanent fixture. Below are a few pictures I made of today's effort. Good job John !!!

 

The finished product looks like this. We will cut those threaded rods off at a later date.

We were also joined today by Joel King. UNC is on spring break and he came out to continue his research on the cemetery. He is now searching for missing grave stones and markers located throughout the cemetery. I noticed he pulled a straight line using a long tape measure, and began using a hand probe to slightly penetrate the ground. It is a VERY SLOW PROCESS. but this produced amazing results. In only 1/3 of the distance across the cemetery, and in only one straight line, Joel detected 6 buried stones that include grave stones, and foot markers. Below are photos of some of these finds which have been buried for perhaps a century or more. Please notice our location in the cemetery ... directly in front of Jacob Albright's marker. (This would be the row just between Jacob Albright's marker and the back of the cemetery)."

May 19, 2024, Joel King sent the following e-mail: "Just wanted to provide some research updates related to Stoner’s. It looks like I’ll be the person conducting the ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey, which means I have to be taught how to use it. So a little more delay. Last month I met with the historic cemetery specialist at the Office of State Archaeology in Raleigh and I asked if they might be able to handle the survey. Unfortunately, they only use their GPR unit to assist state agencies. Private companies charge on average $5,000 per half-acre so I’ll just wait until I can get trained on the unit at UNC. 

As James indicated earlier, I did some test probing within the fenced area at Stoner’s. The purpose of this type of survey is solely to locate buried grave markers, not actual burials. The GPR unit can more efficiently and accurately locate burials. Additionally, the cemetery specialist said they frequently encounter burials as shallow as 18-inches below ground surface. I don’t want to risk striking human remains with a metal probing rod.  

The test probing provided interesting information. I recovered about twenty uninscribed gravestones, two inscribed gravestones, and two-foot stones. There were many other positive tests that suggest buried markers, but I believe most if not all of those are too deteriorated to survive removal. They could be uncovered to reveal their outline, photographed, and recorded. However, they are unlikely to yield any biographical information and that process would take about 3-4 hours per stone to avoid damage. I’m not sure that’s worth the time required for the information obtained.  

Perhaps most interesting is the possibility that many of the stones were intentionally buried. This is suggested by the presence of nails and window glass found with stones in the same levels. Additionally, one of the footstones I recovered was approximately one-foot below the surface, and was underneath other stones. Here are a few photos."

 

 

"I think this one contains the name Neece or Neese. The possible Neese/Neece monument was left in place and covered."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below Left: "Footstone for Zebulon Vance"; Below right: "Fragment of a slate marker."

 

 

Below: "Corner of a marble monument and brick fragment."