Martin Johnson, of Colebrook Conn., left, and instructor Karl Munson reattach a marble headstone to its base Wednesday during a workshop hosted by the National Center for Preservation Technology & Training. Attendees from all over the country converged on the Catholic side of the historic Virginia City Cemetery to gain hands-on experience in cemetery repair and restoration technics. Chad Lundquist/ Nevada Appeal
VIRGINIA CITY - The memory of Isabella was sacred to her husband, Mr. Barrett. Her four-foot tall tombstone, on the other hand, became a pile of rubble.
A small group of cemetery preservationists reattached Isabella's affiliation with her husband Wednesday afternoon at a workshop in the Catholic side of the historic Virginia City Cemetery. The Barretts love is intact in marble again for the world to see. Many others who died and were buried on the Comstock are memorialized in less than auspicious surroundings and markers.
Using a gummy adhesive, clamps and boards to stabilize the headstone, 16 students are reattaching history, said instructor Shelley Sass, an architectural conservator from Charlottesville, Va. She said this is one of the few national workshops that gives participants lectures and the hands-on experience. Students will take these lessons home to cemeteries and parks across the nation.
"This is all totally new to me," said Rod Duff, an interpreter with Bodie State Park. "Our graveyard hasn't been touched in 60 years. We're trying to put it back together."
The Lee Vining man said the cemetery he directs has many features in common with Virginia City: old wood tombstones and picket fences. The area's dry climate helped preserve many wood cemetery pieces. Some fences are intact and names on old wood markers are still visible, barely. It's the stone markers that received attention Wednesday.
Instructors believe the grave of Joseph DeAndrea, who died in 1918, sunk. Eventually soil erosion wiped out the grave's border, leaving his eternal resting place covered in cement chunks. His marker also took a tumble.
The instructors leveled the ground and reattached the gray marble headstone to the base using stainless steel pegs, a limestone mortar and strength additive.
"He should rest more peacefully tonight," said instructor Karl Munson, a stone mason with Monument Conservation Collaborative, of Colebrook, Conn.
• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.