Commonwealth Cemetery Stones Need Work

The stones for our great-grandmother and great-grandfather need help. The following photos were taken in 2011 and I'm sure these stones are in worse shape today. They are located on the far end of the Commonwealth, Wisconsin, cemetery and if I remember right, they are on the right side of one of the paths perhaps 3 or 4 from the road going towards Homestead. The larger stone is to the left of the smaller stone, but they are next to each other.

The larger stone was for Margareta Elizabeth Tagstrom Lundwall, who died at the age of 52, wife of Andrew Lundwall. As you can tell by the stone, Andrew loved her deeply and was very particular that we would know more about her, and it was important to him that we know she was born in Sweden.

This stone needs the most work -- first the stone is on the edge of the base rather then in the middle where it belongs. Once it is secured in it's proper place and sealed to the base, the stone needs to be cleaned. This also is a problem because there is no water available at the cemetery. This is a small town cemetery. 

We have had wonderful results just with a brush, a plastic trowel, and water; but without water brought to the cemetery, there is no way to clean it.  

By the time Andrew died at the age of 79, he had been a widow for 27 years. During this time, he lived with or near his sons in the Iron River area.

If anyone in Michigan would like to take a trip to the Commonwealth Cemetery to see what can be done, fix and clean the stones, or if anyone knows who we can contact to have the stones cleaned and the larger stone fixed, please let me know who I can contact. There was a phone number listed on the shed in the middle of the cemetery, but when I tried calling, I wasn't able to get in touch with anyone.

It would be a shame to just let the stones continue to deteriorate. The larger stone may have already fallen.

Materials Needed For Cleaning a Gravestone

• Soft-bristle brush: Metallic brushes are entirely too harsh, and they also leave particles on the surface of the stone that can rust.
• Small, soft, slanted paintbrush: To clean debris and critters out of lettering or carvings.
• At least one large sponge, firm toothbrushes
• Water: A good water supply, a hose connection, or buckets of water. You may also want to bring a small spray bottle of water for gently cleaning dirt and debris from the stone. The spray bottle, should contain only water and not detergent or chemicals of any kind that would damage and further erode the stone's material. You might want to use Photo Flo, which is made by Kodak and used in photo developing. Mix one capfull per gallon of water. Wash stone with solution, then rinse stone with clean water. Use brush.
• Towel or old rags: used to kneel on or clean polished granite stones. Launder the towels first, but do NOT use fabric softener. The softener will affect their ability to absorb liquids as well as cutting down on the "magnetism" for dirt and dust.
• Hand cleaner: Bring along a sample size of antibacterial waterless hand cleaners or wipes.
• Cutting Tool: Hand-held grass clippers, scissors or a retractable razor knife for trimming grass and/or weeds close to the stones. DO NOT use weed-whacker type trimmers as these can scar the stones. For site clearing/cleaning, a pair of pruning shears or hedge clippers is also helpful for brush that is too thick to rip out or cut with grass clippers, but not thick enough to bother with a chain saw.
• Pencil and Notepad: to record information about the stone or cemetery location.

The larger stone reads as follows, (unfortunately I don't remember what else is on the stone):

In Memory of

Margreta E.

Wife of

Andrew Lundwall

Born in Sweden

Born Apr 30, 1848

Died Oct 9, 1900

LUNDWALL