Ralston Cemetery Restoration

Weakley County, Tennessee

The middle of cemetery as it looked in November 2004 after some cleanup.
Prior to this, the cemetery was entirely overrun by trees, thorns, ivy, and other growth,
to the point that it folks in the adjoining neighborhood had no idea it was a cemetery.
The Stones of Alexander and Sarah Ralston, behind iron fencing, can be seen on the right.
Photo by Larry Holder

Most of the volunteers during the November 2004 cleanup.
As published with article in the Weakley County Press, November 2004.

Continued upkeep is totally dependent upon volunteers. To help raise funds, the late Bill McClain
helped organize the Ralston Community Business Association (a.k.a. Ralston Cemetery Association)
with the following officers (current as of June 2013): Joe Damron, president; Larry Holder, vice president;
Shirley Alexander, secretary/treasurer; Chris Brinkley, publicity.
A BBQ fundraiser at Damron's BBQ was held on September 13, 2007.

Current and Future Projects

• Cemetery Sign (June 2009). Welded with steel and cast iron by Mark's Welding in South Fulton (recommended by Don Welch). Stand about 6 feet high, 8 feet wide, and painted white, located a few feet in front of the chain link fence, and a little to the left of the gate. Donations from the BBQ fundraisers provided the funds for this new sign. Thanks to Mike Bullington for helping to set the sign (it was very heavy!).
• Trees and brush removal (November 2005). Tree removal was completed November 2005, with the cutting of the remaining 11 tall trees that were amongst the stones near the front. Special thanks goes to Ted Brock, our master tree cutter.
• Re-leveling and re-orienting stones/bases.
• Resetting stones in bases, where practical, using the "slot mix" shared by John Walters on rootsweb: 1 part white portland cement, 4 parts hydrated lime, 8 parts clean sand, water. In some cases, new bases can be formed on-site, using quick-dry cement.
• Metal framing for stones broken into 2 or more parts, custom-crafted to exact measurements by Gale Vincent of Waymatic in South Fulton. The last dozen of the initial frames were put into use in June 2013. There are about 4 stones still needing frames.
• Resetting obelisks fallen from their square bases, using the "stack mix" from the before-mentioned source: 1 part white portland cement, 3 parts hydrated lime, water. Lifting these very heavy obelisks will require the assembly of an on-site tripod, as there is insufficient room to safely bring in vehicles and machinery.
• Tombstone inscribing (August 2010) for the Smith stone was completed. This stone represents the last burial in Ralston, back in the 1960's. The family never followed up with the death date of the father. Completed by Robert Tarver through special arrangement with David Murphy of Murphy Funeral Home. Donations paid for the inscribing. Click here to watch a video of the inscribing.
• Regular upkeep, including spraying, mowing, clipping is totally dependent upon volunteers taking turns mowing and spraying. This has been most recently done by Larry Holder, Don Parr, Jamie Pettit, Chris Brinkley, and Roger Donaldson.

Larry Holder completed a "metes and bounds" survey (compass and tape measure) to map out the entire cemetery, and has producing a simple map of headstones. Larry also plans to produce a short video to provide an online "virtual tour" of the cemetery.

Rebecca and Larry Holder have photographed and re-transcribed nearly everything that is still readable on the stones. Click here for a list of stone photo and transcription pages.