Upkeep Problems at Madison County's Historic Richmond Cemetery

Some not happy with cemetery conditions
Bill Robinson ~ The Richmond Register ~ 9/1/2010

Alice Jane Jones Thompson inspects stone matted with grass (Photo: Nancy Taggart

RICHMOND — Richmond Cemetery trustee chair Donald Roberts and his predecessor Tom Smith both acknowledged in a Richmond Register interview published that not everyone was happy with cemetery upkeep, but that much progress had been achieved in the nearly 11 years both had been on the board.

Roberts said he believed 90 percent of families with loved ones buried in the historic cemetery are happy with its upkeep. When he joined the board, Roberts said practically no one was happy with the care.

Some critics of the cemetery’s care, including two who attended the Aug. 27 board meeting, were not accepting of Roberts’ and Smith’s assessment of the situation.

Among the complaints of both Gayle Hackworth and Alice Jane Jones Thompson, who attended the board meeting, is that wet grass is thrown on headstones and family markers by mowers and is not removed. The sun then often bakes the grass onto the stones, causing discoloration and pitting, they said.

At best, the grass cakes on the markers leaving an unsightly appearance.

At the cemetery in eastern Kentucky where her husband is buried, Thompson said groundskeepers use power blowers to remove grass blown there by mowers.

She invited the Richmond Register to accompany her and others on a tour of the cemetery’s back section on Tuesday.

The cemetery’s front section, which can be viewed from E. Main Street, receives better care, Thompson said.

Owners of cemetery plots should not have to do their own trimming around markers or clean them after the grass is mowed, she said.

As Thompson spoke, she pointed to a woman nearby who used a whiskbroom to remove grass from her husband’s grave marker. The woman, who asked not to be named, said she had no problem with the cemetery board.

Near where the woman cleaned her relatives’ grave stones, dried grass was so matted on some markers, both large and small, the names were concealed.

The trustees should be “ashamed” for visitors to the cemetery to see such conditions, Thompson said.

Metal sign marking mass Confederate grave of Battle of Richmond soldiers lies on the ground (Photo: Nancy Taggart)

Another example of what she considers substandard care was a metal sign on the Battle of Richmond driving tour that marks the site where Confederate solders are buried in a mass grave. On Tuesday, it was wired to a metal pole, but rested on the ground.

Thompson said she was embarrassed for the sign to be down over the weekend during the Battle of Richmond when she saw re-enactors visiting the site.

Tamara Bullen, the mother of an Iraq combat veteran who died accidentally while stateside, said she chose Richmond Cemetery as her son’s finally resting place because she wanted his grave to have the best of care.

Since then, however, she has become disenchanted with the cemetery’s care, voicing similar complaints as Hackwork and Thompson.

During one of her frequent cemetery visits, Bullen said she found workers sitting on burial markers and leaning their equipment on them.

One worker “was so rude,” he “ran her over” with his mower.

Thompson said she had no problem with the cemetery workers and the job they do. Rather, more personnel are needed. When cemetery trustees said the board’s funds are limited, she suggested they organize a volunteer group or contact the court system to use defendants sentence to community service.

“Those ideas just seem to fly right past them,” she said.

Roberts on Tuesday said the board and the workers are doing the best that can be done with available resources,

This past spring, a group of young volunteers has assisted cemetery workers with fence painting, he said.

Smith on Friday said the idea of using defendants sentenced to community service or jail inmates on work release had prompted other cemetery plot owners to voice concern. Also, such workers would require special supervision, he said, and the board does not have funds to hire anyone.

Thompson vowed to keep pushing the cemetery board to improve.

“I promised them that I won’t go away,” she said.

Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.