Despite the summer heat and humidity, the Cemetery Clean-up Crew got busy at the historic Montfort Cemetery on Aug. 15.
Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society trustee and Town of North Hempstead historian Ross Lumpkin formed the Cemetery Clean-up Crew to help remove mold, mildew, algae and stains from old gravestones and help preserve history.
Volunteers from the historical society and the Port Washington Public Library joined Lumpkin for the cleanup.
“I was especially pleased to see volunteers from the Port Washington Public Library at the workshop. Their participation in our effort to restore this historic site will be invaluable,” Lumpkin said. “We want to create a team of volunteers who are trained to clean gravestones that are only partially legible and to straighten ones that are tilted.”
Lumpkin hired a professional to join the crew and explain the various types of stones used for gravestones and teach the basics of cemetery stone restoration. Lumpkin said that the historical society has already begun raising duns to bring in more professionals to help restore the more severely damaged headstones.
“With 12 patriots of the American Revolution interred here, we’ve been inspired to get ready for its 250th commemoration,” Lumpkin said.
The crew uses D/2 Biological Solution to remove mold, mildew, algae, and stains from the old gravestones.
In a written statement, Lumpkin said, “Not only are lichen concealing the stone’s inscription, but they are slowly and surely feeding on the stone itself. If left alone, the surface of the headstone will be degraded to a point of no return.”
The lower section of the headstone for Daniel Bogart, one of the 12 Revolutionary War patriots buried at Monfort Cemetery, has already appeared to have been degraded by lichen. The crew reached Bogart’s headstone before the inscription became unreadable.
The inscription is now fully legible and reads, “In Memory of Daniel Bogart, who died on the 24th of December 1828 in the 85th year of his age.”
According to Lumpkin, Bogart served as a sergeant in Captain Layton’s Company of Oyster Bay and fought in the Battle of Long Island alongside his brother Tunis, who is also interred at Monfort Cemetery.
When the war was over, the 13 colonies had to make the dream of a nation they fought for reality, and Bogart did his part. He was elected and served first as the overseer of highways in Wolver Hollow and later as constable and collector of taxes for Oyster Bay. A bachelor until age 50, he married Maria Onderdonk, who died 11 years later. They had no children, and he remained a widower for the last 19 years of his life.
“It wasn’t until I retired and found myself wandering around town that I got interested in local history,” Lumpkin said in a written statement. “If a fortune teller had told me that I would soon be advocating for the preservation of an old Dutch burying ground like the Monfort Cemetery, I would have asked for my money back.”
To Lumpkin’s surprise, he said the process of treating a gravestone-washing, praying, waiting, scrubbing, misting, rinsing, and repeating-has been time well spent.
“A few hours in the peace and quiet of a cemetery is good for the nerves,” Lumpkin said. “The slow process of cleaning stones requires patience, but when I saw Daniel Bogart’s long-lost inscription emerge before my very eyes, it was magical.”
Lumpkin said he felt unexpectedly connected to the veteran while cleaning the gravestone.
“It awakened a sense of gratitude not only to him but to the countless others whose service has secured the freedom and privilege of living as we do today,” said Lumpkin. “It even got me thinking about my own father, who served in the Pacific in WWII, and how I wish he could know what I’ve been up to.”
For more information about the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society, visit cowneck.org. To get involved at the next cemetery clean-up, contact Lumpkin at ross.lumpkin@gmail.com
