The Ozark-St. Francis National Forests hosted the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program’s Cemetery Workshop on Saturday May 8, 2021. During this workshop twelve volunteers learned about cemetery cleaning, restoration, and maintenance techniques from “Rusty” Brenner of Texas Cemetery Restoration, an expert in the field of conserving, preserving, and restoring cemeteries and monuments across the nation.
Two cemeteries were cleaned during this workshop, the Richard “Dick” Hill Cemetery on the Pleasant Hill Ranger District and the Cass Cemetery on the Boston Mountain Ranger District. The earliest occupants resting in these cemeteries date back to the early 19th century.
The workshop started in the morning at the Hill Cemetery. As the volunteers arrived, everyone noticed something unique about this cemetery- a shrine at the largest head stone. Lexie Rue-Harris provided the background of the story for this particular grave. In 1871, Deny Hill, the three-year-old daughter of Mr. Richard Hill was brutally murdered by two of the Hill family’s farmhands. They hid her in the creek to get the family out to search for her so that they could rob the household. The two were arrested and sentenced, but on the way to jail, the two attempted to escape and were killed by the guard. To this day the local community continues to mourn the little girl and honors her with a shrine at the base of her tombstone.
After this explanation of the unique grave and retelling of the tragic event, “Rusty” Brenner and his team taught the volunteers cemetery restoration, including repairing, cleaning, and adjusting headstones. The volunteers were then able to practice cleaning the grave markers at both the Hill and Cass cemeteries. The workshop was certainly a success and all in attendance left with more knowledge and skills for continuing historic preservation.
