Preservation at Call-Collins Family Cemetery

The information below was gathered by Jayde Ball from a call with Amber Soderholm on January 27^th, 2021, regarding the headstone cleaning in the spring of 2020.

     Official caretaking for the cemetery by people outside the family began in 1934 at the behest of Reinette Long Hunt, who, after a fire had broken out at the Call-Collins house, enlisted the Grand Master of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Florida to preserve the cemetery.[1] From that time until the 1980s, when the Collins’ sold the property to the State of Florida to use as a museum space, The Grove was a private residence and the family continued to use the cemetery. Now it is the responsibility of museum staff to maintain the still-active cemetery. Museum staff, with the assistance of the Florida Panhandle Archaeology Network (FPAN), cleaned the cemetery in 2014 as part of a Cemetery Resource Protection Training (CRPT) workshop. Recently, staff at The Grove Museum cleaned the headstones at the Call-Collins Family Cemetery again as a part of regular preservation and maintenance.

      Typically, preservationists will only use D2 every five years or so to clean the headstones to prevent over-cleaning. D2 is a mild cleaner, typically sold in a concentrated form and diluted with equal parts water. To use D2, wet the headstone first with water and then with D2 using a spray container (like those used for weed-killer). The solution should sit for about 15 minutes before scrubbing with soft bristle brushes, starting from the top and working down, and then gently spray off with water when done. Sometimes headstones require a second application after brushing and rinsing, and the etchings require more scrubbing and more careful attention. Depending on your area, you might discover living organisms on the headstones. For example, Florida’s humid environment allows lichen-like organisms to grow on the headstones at the Call-Collins Family Cemetery. These organisms can damage the headstone material and cleaning can help reduce the damage.

   At the Call-Collins Family Cemetery, the headstones vary in materials used, and these different materials require different care. For example, LeRoy Collins’ headstone is made of granite, which can withstand the D2 cleaning.  However, the rounded brick mounds situated beneath the headstones on many of the graves were not cleaned because of their porous nature, which could make the brick vulnerable to damage during the cleaning. Different materials also have different reactions to the cleaning chemicals. For example, this occurred during the cleaning of LeRoy Collins and LeRoy Collins Jr.’s headstones. The chemical reaction with the water and iron content within the stone temporarily turned the headstones pinkish. This was harmless to the material and faded once dry.

     Cleaning in the spring of 2020 took three days. On March 6^th, Grove staff cleaned the headstones belonging to LeRoy Collins Sr., LeRoy Collings Jr., Mary Call Collins, and Dr. John Call. On April 7^th,  they cleaned the headstones of Mary Louisa Long, Ellen Douglas Long, Mary L. Call, Richard Keith Call, Mary R. Call, Laura R. Call, the shared headstone of Richard S. Call and Mary Ann Call, and the shared Cablu[2] and Williams grave. On May 12^th, they cleaned the headstones of Ellen Call Long, Richard Call Long, Cora Gamble Long, Reinette Long Hunt, Theodore Brevard and Mary Call Brevard. Two headstones required extra care and attention – one headstone had split several years ago and had since been repaired, and another had been detached from its base and required extra care to not topple over. These are common occurrences in historic cemeteries as headstones naturally erode over time, but these issues can be fixed with specialized attention.

“… we first began by dusting the headstones, making sure to rid them of any debris that may have been stuck or attached. Afterwards, we sprayed each headstone with a chemical solution and allowed it to rest for a few moments, giving it time to work. Once that was done, we scrubbed them and then used water to spray off the solution. It was more physically taxing that I expected, but it was a really fun process that was rewarding as you could immediately see the difference.” -Daniel Noel, Museum Educator

[1] Menton, The Grove, 53

[2] Name difficult to read on stone, best approximation used.