Uncovering Benzie History One Gravestone at a Time

This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our magazine library. Want Traverse delivered to your door or inbox monthly? View our print subscription and digital subscription options.

Engravings obscured by orange and green lichen. Stones chipped and crumbling. Names and dates buried by earth and wildflowers. Walking through Homestead Township Cemetery, it’s clear that while some graves are pristine—thanks to regular, loving visitors—many go forgotten. As time marches on, gravestones are battered by the elements from above and below—roots from old trees cause stress, while Michigan’s winters take their toll.

Fortunately, one Beulah woman has made it her mission to clean up some of Benzie County’s oldest headstones, shedding light on the region’s history, while teaching others to do the same.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Jane Purkis was kneeling by an illegible headstone covered in lichen and what looked like dark mildew or mold stains, explaining to a small group of onlookers what her process will be for cleaning it. As we stood in the Beulah cemetery, deep-rooted trees offering shade and wildflowers interspersed between graves, it was easy to see why garden cemeteries were considered the first public parks in the country, fit for family picnics after day-long travels. They’re gathering places, designed to welcome both the living and the dead.

Jane, a historian, retired Benzie Central teacher and current docent/curator for the Benzie Area Historical Society, saw an opportunity to utilize these outdoor spaces during the Covid pandemic. Like everything else, the historical society museum was closed to the public during that time, and Jane pitched an educational series on cleaning headstones—something that would keep the museum connected and provide a safe, open-air activity for residents.

Caption: Pictured before cleaning and after is the grave of L.W. Ingersoll, who served in the 5th Michigan Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War.

“I said, ‘I’ll do one every month until I get the whole county taken care of,’” she recalls.

What Jane didn’t know at the time is that while Benzie is the smallest county in the state, it’s home to 18 public cemeteries. And so, what started as a short-term project has turned into a sprawling three-year venture that will finally be completed next summer, with just four cemeteries left to clean.

Each May, Jane works on the Benzonia Township Cemetery to prepare for Memorial Day, and then chooses a different cemetery once a month through September to clean. Her one-hour workshops usually fall on Sundays at 2 p.m. (check the Benzie Area Historical Society website and sign up for their newsletters for updates). Jane always begins with an in-depth demonstration before sending folks off to clean whichever headstones they choose. Participants are asked to bring their own kit—a bucket, water jugs, a plastic scraper, etc.—but she always has extras packed into the trunk of her car, just in case.

After photographing the workshop, fellow Traverse editor Carly Simpson and I borrowed some plastic scrapers and knelt down in front of two granite gravestones next to Jane. We took turns pouring water over the red slabs before methodically scraping off the sea- foam-colored lichen. After a few minutes, the engraved names were legible; the gratification of a job well done was instant. We paused, thankful for the chance to share such an intimate moment—caring for the final resting place of Benzie’s bygone residents.

Why not follow Jane’s lead and keep a water jug and a couple of tools in the trunk of your car? The next time you visit your family plot or pass by a neighborhood cemetery, stop and see whose history you can uncover.

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Jane’s first attempt at cleaning a headstone was here at the Homestead Township Cemetery, just a few years ago. Benzie Area Historical Society was offering tours (no cleaning, just history), and Jane decided to scout a cemetery she wasn’t familiar with. She did some research ahead of time, and brought with her a list of the Civil War veterans who were buried at Homestead. The only problem—she couldn’t find them. “There were so many headstones that I couldn’t read. So I’m there, using my hands and my fingernails to scrape things off. And I thought, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to find something easier to use!’ And just by process of elimination and a bit of reading, I came up with my cleaning method.”

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“First of all, we don’t use chemicals. This is ‘do no harm.’ If there’s a flag holder, I take the flag out and move it away because I’m dealing with water. I used to get soaked, because
you’re on your hands and knees, and you really do get filthy. Sometimes I dig a little ditch around the headstone so the water has someplace to flow.

“With the tall stones, I start at the top and move down to the bottom—my goal is to be able to read it. I do all four sides, but the front is where I really work. The thing that matters the most is having lots and lots of water. Most cemeteries have running water, but I do a reconnaissance trip before I go, because if they don’t, I take 10–12 gallons with me in milk jugs for people to use. (I can go through about 8 gallons of water just doing one tombstone.)

“You just get the stone wet, and I use a plastic scraper to get most of the original moss and lichen off, if it’s thick. I scrape off big chunks to start. Then I use a brush—it has to be a natural bristle brush. Plastic works if it’s not too stiff, but the natural bristles work the best. For letters, some are raised and some are depressed. For the ones that are depressed, I use wooden shish kabob skewers, and you can really get in there. And then the best thing to use is a toothbrush—and we all have yucky old toothbrushes. I just scrub and scrub with those. You’re not going to get the stains off; you’re still going to have the black stains. But at least you can read the engraving now. I generally try to start with one that you can’t read, and it blows people away when you start to see the symbols. Some headstones take almost no time to clean, and some you could spend days on.”

Al Bryant, a librarian and Benzie County historian who specializes in gravestone symbolism, says: gates signify the gates of heaven opening, an anchor stands for being anchored in faith, ivy represents eternal life, and a finger pointing upward signifies that there’s “one way to salvation.” Other common symbols include a lamb or a dove for a child’s grave, roses for personal love (versus religious love), and fraternal group symbols like the Masons, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Odd Fellows (the latter of which you’ll often see in Benzie, as they had an active chapter in Thompsonville).

Today, newer gravestones can display just about anything that money can buy, from detailed photos etched in stone, to QR codes that scan and reveal more information about the person.

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“ We were at Champion Hill Cemetery two years ago, also in Homestead Township. There was a gentleman’s name and a date on a headstone, but the rest was buried,” Jane recalls. “It was near a pine tree, and there were so many pine needles and the soil had built up. I didn’t know if this date was the date that the man had died. And it was definitely a military tombstone. If it was the day he died, he would’ve been a WWI veteran. If it was the day he was born, and then the date he died was under it, he would’ve been a Civil War veteran. So I had to physically dig the earth and dig it out. I had a group of people with me, and we were sort of guessing. The tombstones look just alike—that was before they did the flat ones. We found out that he was a WWI veteran; it had only his death date, no birthdate. I could’ve just used records and done it on the computer … but this was a lot more fun.”

Allison Jarrell is associate editor of Traverse, Northern Michigan’s Magazine. allison@mynorth.com