August 2018 restorations - Cathren G. Lynes - St. James Goose Creek Chapel of Ease Historical Site

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August 2018 restorations - Cathren G. Lynes

Groomsville Chapel in 2007

This building was originally constructed at the St. James Chapel of Ease site in 1812. The Cathren G. Lynes headstone is located on the left side, slightly behind the back line of the chapel, just out of frame of this picture.

Samuel Lynes is one of the sons of George and Lizzie Lynes, who are buried at the St. James Goose Creek Chapel of Ease site. He was born in 1852 and was an active member of the church when it was located at the old site. He married Cathren G. Dennis on 2 March 1875. They lived on Fox Bank on their parcel after 1880. When they died, she in 1919 and he in 1920, the chapel had already been moved to Groomsville and they were buried here. This is Cathren's headstone.

Cathren G. Dennis Lynes stone, "Before."

It is unknown to us how or when this stone was broken.

On August 16^th, 2018 I spent the day gathering the majority of materials we would need to do the work and get everything delivered to the site. On August 17^th, 2018 we went to the Groomsville Chapel location to repair the memorial of Cathren G. Lynes, wife of Samuel Lynes. The memorial had been fractured in two pieces and the upper portion of the marker had been set in the marble base. The headstone is an absolutely beautiful piece of extremely variegated marble. We did not have to completely displace the base to get it level. We did have to displace the large ant colony which had taken up residence underneath it, which we did. We cleaned only the attachment surfaces first.

I then filled the holes we had drilled in the upper part of the stone with epoxy and also thinly spread it along the center of the stone where the points of contact were.

Prior to connecting the two pieces, I ran a bead of lime based white historical mix around the epoxy, being careful that the two did not mix. I allowed the stone to rest the next day, leaving the upper and lower pieces clamped together. We did not return until pretty late in the day Monday, August 20^th to clean her headstone.

Cleaning

Work by

J. Samuel Hiller

August 2018

Reference pictures of other headstones (not all) taken June 3, 2007:

"Aunty Tanny" Ann Lynes, daughter of George and Lizzie Lynes George Lynes, Jr., Son of George and Lizzie

Groomsville Chapel, rear, in 2007

This chapel was moved here in 1887, and the first meeting was held at this new location on Jan 14, 1888.

I made three holes in the bottom portion of the stone first to accommodate three 3” threaded pins. I then drilled three more holes in the upper portion of her memorial. I made sure the holes were free of stone dust, set the bottom portion of the stone in the base and then applied epoxy to the pins and set them making sure they were plumb.

We then set and connected the two pieces, ensuring that there was a good bond. We clamped the upper and lower portions of the stone together and grouted with historical mix to the base the bottom portion of the stone. It was not necessary to set the headstone in a mortar bed as the carving of the base and bottom portion of the stone allowed no tolerance for any mortar.