Seasoned genealogist. Researching Fewtrell (Shropshire, England) Futrell, Futrelle, Futral, and extended families in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida. Apparently, my mother's family moved alot.

Since moving to GA from Colorado I've become interested in preserving gravestones, cleaning (D2), and locating lost or forgotten grave sites. My main focus right now is cleaning when I can and taking gravestone photos.

I began this last year after watching Adventures into History (aka SideStep Adventures) with Robert Wright on YouTube. He is documenting lost and forgotten cemeteries, old plantation homes, churches, and other buildings capturing them into the archives of history. He lives in Waverly Hall Georgia.

For those of you that are just taking pictures one thing you can do is create a small kit to take with you. I usually travel with a nylon brush (never hard bristle brush or metal), spray bottle of water w some extra water bottles, and a bright flashlight in a backpack as a minimum. Many times you can clean a headstone with a light circular motion before you spray water, which can clean it enough to visibly read the entry better. I've discovered many an infant death or person not documented before.

If you get into cleaning stones in a "professional" manner, which can help out church cemeteries immensely, you can use D2 and D2 only. The caveat is this is more expensive than water and a gallon can cost close to 55.00 after shipping. Some places may ship for free. Used sparingly this can go a long way. It does not take much to clean a headstone. It is good for all kinds of grave stones including cement ones. It works for a long time and rain aids in cleaning the stones so you can spray and go. You can also clean first in circular motion to remove dirt and lichens, spray water to rinse, spray D2, wait 10 minutes maybe longer for deep dirty stones and scrub again and rinse with water.