Hard Diversity Questions

Reader Warning: The following post may contain controversial thought processes. I am merely human, and trying to work through my own mental baggage when it comes to diversity in genealogy. After a little research, I am still not certain how to continue this topic appropriately: African American Research, People of Color Research, Black History....I beg forgiveness if I offend anyone. However, dialogue is a necessary step in the path to change.

In the past, I have written about serendipity in genealogy, and for some reason, the past few weeks have bombarded me with serendipitous moments. I would almost call it an onslaught. When one specific issue keeps coming at me without my seeking it out, I pay close attention.

I have always been a little fascinated by African American history. Not to the point of digging much on my own, but if a story or article presented itself, I read it....I cannot explain the draw, but it's been there. Growing up in Ohio, with family from both sides of the river, I had one foot in the north, and one in the south. As a researcher, I have not found slave owners in my family, but that is only a matter of generational reach. For those ancestors in the south without slaves, they were simply too poor to own any. When the Civil War came about, they took up arms to readily fight for the Confederacy. I am certain it is only a matter of time before I encounter enslaved individuals in my family. My point here, is that I have not had a personal family draw to this issue...the personal connection lies in the troubling existence of racism in my family on subtle, insidious levels. As with many northern families who smugly think they are not affected by racism, cue bubble and pin. Pop!

There is much more to that personal connection, but I'll leave all of that for another time. Today I just want to speak to the issue of AA, POC, BH research in the genealogy field. Let me outline some of the serendipitous moments that have hit me upside the head lately:

1. At the end of March, genealogist Valerie Hughes posted a couple of blog posts about the importance of adding slave records to your family trees. She asked a Facebook audience if this was something people should do...and the response was overwhelmingly positive.

2. Even though I did not have this in my own family to report (yet), I had come across many entries over the years regarding folks of slave descent - in various documents at the Kentucky Historical Society. Every time I encountered one, I always had a moment of excitement, seeing another name, another identity....followed by despair, because I had no earthly clue what to do with this information....and I usually just put the film away. Sigh....this happens more often than I would like to admit.

3. I watched a movie about Holocaust survivors who had lost touch after the War because they thought each other dead. Decades later, when one of them witnessed proof that the other was still alive, she called the Red Cross who accessed his "case file" to see if they should re-open it in the hopes of connecting them back to their family. I was saddened the U.S. had never made this type of effort at the end of slavery, to assist with family members connecting back to each other.

4. Number 2 made me think about Valerie's encouragement, and I began entertaining thoughts about slave mapping. Was it possible to record the name of every slave mentioned in a county's document collection? I was thinking on a county-wide level as a start. Pull every will, record the names mentioned. Pull every court doc, record the names, etc. While I was pretty sure it was possible, what about the white owners? If we recorded every slave named in wills and court docs, would that help with anything? Since white names were also duplicated in counties, wouldn't we need to map the white owners, make profiles of them and then link the recorded names to these profiles? And what if it was due to an estate dispersal? If the slaves were transported across county or state lines, did that remove the trace? My eyes were crossing already.

5. A co-worker had left a book on my desk as a review copy for Kentucky Ancestors...it was a compiled list of slaves mentioned in Kenton County, taken from the court records. OK, proof it is possible, sitting on my desk. Freaky! (I have been aware of other transcription collections produced over the decades, but a fairly comprehensive one plopped on my desk at that moment...caught my attention.)

5. After talking with said co-worker about my latest thoughts, we entertained Valerie's "tree" concept. Despite the complex emotions on both sides, should we as genealogists be pushing the family tree software designers to add a new relationship related to slavery? As we got excited, claiming we were going to change the genealogy world, our boss came in with some reason....how would you categorize this type of "relationship"? Ownership, slave of, enslaved by? Sigh....good point...so, now what? We both decided that just a "note" in the family tree was not enough. We need something more significant...more quantifiable. Still have no solution - ideas?

6. Just in from mowing the lawn Sunday and passing the time while my Dad looked at my heating/cooling system (on the blink again), I picked up the iPad and clicked on Twitter. At that moment, True Lewis had posted a link about an ongoing podcast/live call-in show from AAGSAR (African American Genealogy and Slave Ancestry Research). I re-tweeted it and then tuned in...wow, amazing issues being brought forth about how the genealogy profession treats AA records and research. Also, how engaged are we? How do we actively help families re-connect? As a field, are we diverse? Conclusion, not really, and change is long overdue.

So....what does all of this mean, and what are the next steps?

Questions I have for myself AND the genealogy community:

1. As genealogists, what can we do to help? Even though we all seem to have tons of projects on our plate, I don't believe this is a project issue, but rather a support issue. What changes do we need to make in mindset and attitude to effect lasting change and inclusion across the board?

2. A push for more diversity in the genealogy field is about to take place from the AAGSAR crowd, particularly in the national conference arena. How do we support this? What can we do to make sure this issue comes to the forefront of dialogue?

3. Is some of the diversity vacuum in our field a result of terrible, yet comfortable racist habits, or are they amplified by the silo nature of genealogical research? When we host AA speakers for our genealogy programs, they are more attended by the AA community, and much less attended by our white members....However, this is also true of specific ethnic research. We hosted a speaker with heavy Swedish roots and the numbers were VERY low because many dismissed this as a session that did not apply to their research. It is a natural excuse to not attend one session if you do not feel it will cover your area of research - even though MOST have reported that every session teaches them some methodology that has proven helpful in their own journey. NOT making any excuses, but how to we dig deep into the motivation behind behaviors?

4. As an area of research, I have encountered several labels for African American research...as I mentioned in the intro warning...is there a preferred term I should be using when talking about this branch of research? Looking for all of them in Twitter is enlightening. Would a unified consistency help in this area... not only for discussion but for written works and websites, etc?

5. The goal of AAGSAR is to encourage more sharing of AA stories and research. I love the concept that lurkers are not welcome - you have to PARTICIPATE in order to belong. They ask members to create a  social media account of some kind for the express purpose of sharing their research and family stories - hopefully blogs. As mentioned on the podcast, how to we include, encourage, and promote these blogs throughout the community?

6. OK, recording names of those enslaved....I have seen several attempts from various state or regional organizations. All are wonderful databases. But....if we simply record names without enough context, without the family connections (both white and black) are we keeping the chains of bondage in place? Are we locking the information away? Here's what I mean...how does a researcher access their family roots? Without the traditional paper trail that white families are privileged to have access to, how would slave descendants find their family? Do they go back to the 1870 census, find a location and then try to mine the local records for more clues? Death record clues of birth and parentage? I always teach my session attendees to include the local history in your research to put your family history into context. If slave descendants are not allowed to place their ancestor in family/local context, is it almost a blind, disconnected search? If we pushed for more family context in the family tree software, would it help more families connect to each other? Would that lead to more information, and additional links in the family chain?

7. A few years ago, the African American Genealogy Group of Kentucky got started. The first statewide AA genealogy group in Kentucky. That too was a serendipitous moment. I had gotten up early on a Saturday morning (I don't get up early on my days off EVER if I can help it.) after reading about a lost AA community that was being resurrected in my county by Shirl Marks. I had stumbled upon it in the paper the evening before while out to dinner with the parents. My Dad had picked up the local paper, which he NEVER does. I read the notice about the talk at the local library, and went because it sounded fascinating. The following program was the second meeting of AAGGKY. I met people there that day that I have remained involved with and admire greatly! A few have even become good friends. That day as I volunteered to help them with start-up activities (web site, blog, etc) their President Sharyn Mitchell looked at me and thanked me for my help, and then said "Are you going to be there for us?" For a minute I was confused....I had just volunteered to help....but I quickly understood. Was I there to pay lip service, or was I going to come through with my promises of help? I think that is a question we can ask ourselves. Are we going to pay lip service, or are we ready to change things? I would love to see new chains of friendship and family forged to overcome the ugly chains forged in our history.

One last note about timing and relationships: In Summer 2012, Pam Brinegar wrote an amazing article for the NGS Magazine.1 It was about a female slave owner in Lexington who had made provisions for her slaves to not only be freed upon her death, but to inherit her entire farm as a means of allowing them to build a community and financial security in the 1850s. At the time this article was published, the KHS library was actively researching a new acquisition of letters written by enslaved and free African Americans during the 1840s ans 50s. The family connections ran from Lexington, through Hopkinsville, to Mississippi. We had just obtained the letters the month before...and as I read Pam's account, I caught a Hopkinsville connection to the woman in the article. It turns out, that one of the letters in our collection, addressed to his family in Hopkinsville, was written by a former slave announcing his newly obtained freedom in Lexington after the death of his owner. That owner was the woman Pam had been researching. Through Pam's research, we were able to pinpoint the women in Ferdinand's lineage and even found him in a Fayette County court document listed as a toddler years earlier. Talk about serendipity, or something greater....Not only was he declaring his freedom, but the research proved that despite the ugliness of slavery, we are all family. In many cases, by blood, and in others simply by sharing nationality and history. The more we learn about how we are connected, the more we can build strong family ties. Which means, the responsibility lies with all of us to make this change happen.

"Dear Uncles, I am Free.." Ferdinand Robertson [Robinson], Lexington KY, 1850

1. Researching nineteenth-century African American women, by Pamela Lyons Brinegar, CG; NGS Magazine, Vol. 38, #3; July-September, 2012.

Chains Shall He Break...

Just over a month ago, I was searching for a family's records in Cumberland County Kentucky when I came across the following entry from Chesterfield County Virginia, dated 1790:

"Know all men by these present that I John Baker of Chesterfield County do believe that all men by nature are Equally free, and from a clear conviction of the Injustice & Criminality of depriving my fellow creatures of their natural rights, do hereby Emancipate or set free the following men, women and children, towit,

Bob & Daniel, December 25th......1790
Grace and Amy(?), December 25th......1790
Barbara......December 25th......1790
Tom, to go out, December 1793
Sally, to go out October 1796
Betty & Polly, to go out December 1802
Oliver, to go out November 1805
Indy, to go out September 1806
Hannah, to go out January 1807
(??), to go out February 1808
Peter, to go out December 1809
Amy, to go out March 1811

      I do hereby relinquish all rights, title, and claim to the said people after they (??) arrive at the dates above mentioned and not before; In certainty whereof I have herewith set my hand and seal this 9th day of June, 1790.
John Baker (seal)"

Without knowing anything about John Baker or the slaves he freed in 1790, I was instantly moved by this lone document hidden among the general deeds of Cumberland County Kentucky. Just reading the strong language used in this document brought some goosebumps and tears. Despite his obvious role as a slave-owner, he eventually felt strongly enough to boldly let this group of slaves go. I am in no way romanticizing his part in this process, but the document itself made me stop and think what freeing slaves might have been like in the late 18th century. In Virginia, slave-holders were the norm. We of course think of Jefferson who resided only a couple of counties over and whose own history of slave ownership is still controversial. In 1790, slavery was a hotly debated subject, but not yet within the realm of unmendable discourse.

I believe my goosebumps moment came from the strength of the language used, coupled with the dates in which he chose to give some of his slaves their freedom. Setting a number of slaves free could have been no small task in 1790, let alone filing such a proclamation with his local county officials, who were more than likely, his slave-holding neighbors. And it is true that he did not free them all at once - keeping some of them for ten more years. In a vulgar consideration, he was also choosing to disregard the cost associated with such an action. We are not accustomed to putting a price or value upon another human being, but they evaluated cost and value everyday - which is another testament to his strong feelings concerning the injustice of slavery. But.....the truly beautiful part of this document is that for the first batch set free, he picked Christmas Day to begin their new life!

He did not construct this document in December, choosing instead to plan ahead, having it drawn up in June of that year. After the document was in place, did he tell them in advance to prepare them for their freedom in December, or did he leave it as a surprise - a gift presented on Christmas Day? In either scenario, what must that first Christmas of freedom have been like for those five men and women? I think it is safe to say the celebration had to have been the most memorable of their lives. It has also occured to me, that perhaps the delay in freedom for the others could have been due to their age at the time. Were they under age? Was he keeping them on the plantation while letting their parents go - a way to keep the parents working while earning a small living - or was it too dangerous to set a large number of slaves free? If the locals were not receptive to such an idea....perhaps he was protecting them in a way?

These were just some of the questions that floated around my brain for awhile. But when I hear that extra verse in "O Holy Night", I will forever remember how important that verse truly is. Our world has not changed all that much since 1790. There are still places where slavery is accepted, and there are various forms of slavery in our own country. Despite what our own neighbors think, and what our pocket-book says, how much would we sacrifice to secure the freedom of another? Those are the questions we must ask ourselves each Christmas. He did not come so we might open tons of gifts, stuff ourselves and throw perfect glittery parties. He came to set all men free. Yes, it is a wonderfully joyous occasion and spending time with those we love is a perfect way to celebrate this amazing eternal gift - as long as we take some time to remember why we celebrate. I know there was some serious dancing going on in that cabin on December 25th, 1790! Let us take a moment and dance, just for Him, in grateful celebration for the freedom He bestowed upon all of us - for we were all slaves until that Holy Night so long ago! Merry Christmas Everyone!


"Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease!"

Beach Reading - Slaves in the Family

For those of you heading to the NGS annual conference in Charleston, South Carolina, an amazing experience awaits. Not only is Charleston one of the most beautiful cities on the East Coast, but the history that permeates your surroundings is a venerable feast of delights. With this year being the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, Charleston serves as the perfect place to reflect on the atmosphere and historic conditions that lead to the "Civil War", "War between the States", or "War of Northern Aggression" - whatever your preference. However you choose to romanticize or dissect this chapter in our history, it is always important to take all viewpoints into consideration in order to gain a complete understanding of our culture during that time. Since we will be in the city where the first shots rang out, I suggest reading Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball. An older book published in 1998, this is still a wonderful, and highly enjoyable read when looking to experience this unique culture. Also, for those of you conducting African American research in the area, chapter 16 has a couple of paragraphs devoted solely to the surnames adopted by the former slaves from the Ball plantations.

As a direct descendant of the Ball family, Edward Ball explores how his family made its fortune along the Cooper River, just outside Charleston, beginning as early as 1698. Their story is not exactly a typical one. They did not make their fortune through cotton, but relied on rice as their crop of choice. However, their reliance upon slave labor was very high, and quite prolific as some of the family dealt directly in the international slave trade. His thorough account runs chronologically, from the 17th to the 20th centuries, with some flash fowards to the present day descendant branches.

The unique depth of this book cannot be overlooked. The story told here is not just family legend and oral history. The documentation that survives from this family is very extensive and provided the foundation for Ball's chronological accounts. To supplement the family history he inherited, and the documentation already on record, Ball then explored the African families that were entwined with the Balls. He found that the heritage he inherited was also ingrained in the lives of current African American families whose ancestors had been enslaved by the Balls. In several cases, the relationships transcended the former slave/owner connection. Not only did the former slaves sometimes remain socially connected via business, etc, but in some cases, the families were related by blood, which was the impetus for the title. By talking to the modern day descendants, Ball uncovered a rich tapestry that serves to increase any complex view we may have had about how slavery affected families and communities.

My only caveat with this account is the lack of slavery era African viewpoints. This is the story of slavery written by the white descendant of a white slave owning family. He does an amazing job of not withholding the good or the bad. You will encounter moments that seemingly display affectionate ties between the slaves and their owners, but in the next chapter, you might encounter the cruelty and apparent lack of any human sympathy. It is truly fascinating to read about the early years of the slave owning dynasty, and how it developed into this affluent, yet self absorbed group of people that lived in luxury while enslaving and abusing their fellow humans. Despite this book's valuable insight from a particular historical standpoint, for a more complete view of this period of Charleston's history, you might want to add a couple of slave narratives to your beach bag.

P.S. I picked up my copy at Maia's Books' booth while in Knoxville at the FGS Conference. They are slated to have a large booth at the NGS - along with slave narratives - so head there first for a great selection of beach reading material!

Friday Fav - For Black History Month

I ran across this anecdote as re-printed in the Falmouth Pendletonian, August 4, 1881. The paper it came from is a little known title from the Pendleton County Kentucky area. After a brief review, it appears to be a little more political in nature than the Falmouth Outlook that followed later and still exists today. I also found it interesting that less than 20 years after the Civil War, this border state county, very close to the Ohio River, was still publishing a prominent piece about the previous abolitionist movement - just under the masthead. Curious - perhaps a reason to further investigate the racial relations of this small county?
Anyway, a wonderful funny for a Friday afternoon! Sojourner Truth - gotta love this American heroine and national treasure!

CD
2/25/11

Stonetown Haven - A New Beginning

 Kentucky's slave history is a very unique one. As a border state we had both large slaveholders and a large number of abolitionists. Harriet Beecher Stowe witnessed her first slave auction in the northern part of our state. We were so split during the Civil War that we had two governments. It is therefore no surprise that our countryside is dotted with small freed slave communities that sprung up before and after the end of slavery. The sad fact associated with these small communities is their omission from local histories and history books. Not all histories ignore their existence, but they were not preserved nor noted for future generations in the same manner as early white settlements were once they were no longer inhabited. I am delighted to see this fact change as more groups are interested in restoring these little phoenix communities that rose from the ashes.

Yesterday, the public library in my community invited a local historian to speak about recent preservation efforts within our county. The Scott County Public Library drew over 50 attendees when Shirl Marks brought to light the restoration efforts surrounding an original structure in the former community of Stonetown. According to Marks the freed slave community in the Stamping Ground area encompassed several roads: Stonetown, Locust Fork, Main St, Woodlake, etc. Some of the local surnames associated with this former community were: Samuels, Patterson, West, Thomas, Fisher, Young, Phoenix, Fishback, Dudley, Carter, and Bell. She went on to explain that it was only oral history and family legend that explained the older structures that were abandoned and falling into oblivion.

After Shirl's family inherited one of the original structures, a group effort to restore this precious piece of history was set in motion. For the past three years a devoted group of volunteers has been working to restore life to this small structure which Shirl has named "Stonetown Haven".

The efforts have reached about a 70% completion rate and they hope to finish soon by placing a museum and information center inside. Once the efforts have been completed I hope to post another notice for those of you within the state or nearby that wish to support the new center. A celebration and grand opening will be planned soon.

Ms. Marks explained that the purpose behind this project is to "preserve the history of all its citizens". For anyone who thinks that history is in the past, I wish you could have watched the people in this room. Even though the structures were almost faded completely from the countryside, many of the descendants of Stonetown, Watkinsville and Pea Ridge are still living in these areas. Their ancestors had built these communities and their children were making sure those communities did not fade from memory. It was extremely heart warming to watch the descendants reminisce about the earlier generations and remember their neighbors from long ago. It was another reminder that history and preservation is not simply about the past, but ensuring our future is complete with the knowledge of how we arrived at our current destination, and how that past journey affects where we are headed.

I will post more about the organization and its efforts as soon as we get closer to their completion date. After the meeting about the preservation of Stonetown Haven, the second meeting of the newly formed African American Genealogy Group of Kentucky took place. Once they are a little more established I will post more about how to support them and how to join. If you are interested in getting involved with this group (and also as a way to get in touch with Shirl Marks), their e-mail is: AAGGKY@gmail.com.  
CD 2/20/11

Stone Mason or Turnpiker?

Stone masonry has a long history in America. As a natural resource, stone was quickly utilized to mark boundaries, keep in livestock, and line roadways. It was also a natural extension of skill as immigrants from Ireland increased in number. The Bluegrass region of Kentucky is a well known international example of stone masonry. With a landscape infused with natural limestone, Kentucky pioneers were quick to realize a practical use for the stones serving as obstacles for their plows.

When stone masonry is referenced as a trade of the 19th century, it is often referring to the unique skill of building dry stone or mortarless rock walls/fences. This talent or skill was a direct inheritance from our Irish/Scottish/British ancestors. Dry stone masonry requires a more highly detailed and precise skill that results in a lasting and durable structure with no cement or mortar to aid in stability. For those of you with "stone mason" listed as the occupation of your ancestor in the census, there are high odds that this was the kind of stone mason they were describing. Prior to and just after the surge in railroad construction, this was the highest demand for labor associated with transportation.

   



Plantation style fence with thicker cut stones,
especially at the base.

However, stone fence construction had structural phases that you should be aware of. In the the first phase of dry stone fence construction, from the 18th to the mid-19th centuries, a true, solid, interlocking construction was used. This type of construction is referred to as a Plantation fence. The Plantation fence was used more among farmers on their own property to display boundary lines and corral livestock. The difference can be seen more after describing the next phase, but the solid nature of construction, that involved rock spanning the entire width of the wall, meant longer structural durability. Not all of the rock spanned the width, but after the tie rocks across, the shorter rocks were at least long enough to overlap the others to provide an interlocking type of construction. 

Overhead view of a Turnpike fence.
Notice the void of sinkage in the center.

The next phase of the construction was begun in the early 19th century with the birth of the turnpike roads. These company maintained roads were lined with dry stone fences to prevent bypass of the turnpike collection houses or toll houses(often also built out of stone), prevent livestock from wondering into the roads, and as visual dressing or proof of the maintenance that justified the fees to travellers. This type of construction was not as stable and involved an outer lining of solid stone, with the inner void filled by spall or filler in the form of tiny pieces of stone. Many of the remaining stone fences seen in Kentucky are along roadways and are often turnpike fences. This is also the time period that allowed a stone mason's occupation to be reported differently on the census. In fact, it could be conjectured that this alternate term, "turnpiker", was also a way to differentiate between a true stone mason, and a laborer who was on the turnpike building teams. These teams were headed by true stone masons, but in order to speed up production, many workers were needed as assistants and haulers. In fact, this is where the use of slaves came into frequency. Growing up, I always heard the stone fences referred to as "slave walls" because it was believed that the slaves built them. This is partially true. Slaves were a huge part of the production process. However, most were used in the quarrying and hauling of the stone. Some were allowed to assist closely and learned the trade for use after slavery, but by then the demand for construction had dropped considerably.



20th century stone fence built with mortar
and accented by a castle capstone motif.

 The post Civil War era of stone masonry marked another transition. Not only were the former slaves, who assisted in previous fence building, now allowed to take on the trade as stone masons, but with a dwindling generation that no longer had as many skilled stone masons, mortar was employed to stabilize construction. Larger stones were often used with this method to speed up production and experiment with artistic elements. This type of construction was highly favored during the late 19th and early to mid 20th centuries when aesthetics became even more important as the horse industry adopted a more lavish lifestyle.

As the snow begins to melt and the temperatures rise a bit, this is the best time of year to examine these agrarian works of art. It has been noted that even though the stone fences in the Bluegrass region are numerous, only 5% of the original number still stand. However, there are a few misconceptions about these fences that are also worth noting.

  

Cross section of Plantation style fence.
On previous Cox family land in Pendleton County.

Most people outside of Kentucky are only aware of the stone fences in the Central Kentucky region. While the majority of preserved fences are in the areas that include Fayette, Bourbon, Woodford Scott and Franklin counties, there many more examples spread throughout the surrounding regions. My 4th great grandfather, Samuel Cox, of Pendleton County Kentucky (1 county south of the Ohio River) was listed as a stone mason in the early half of the 19th century. Records indicate he took on an apprentice, John Dean in 1829 for four years as a "stoneman". In the 1830 census, Samuel is also listed as having two free black males in his household. This would be consistent with not only farming labor, but also hauling/quarrying help when building stone fences. Samuel was a large landowner in his own right, and I would guess that his income was not purely based on stone masonry. There is evidence that he did pass this skill on to his sons, even though they chose to focus more on farming and left the stone mason trade altogether rather quickly. The evidence I speak of is the remnants of thick stone walls surrounding various parcels of Cox property - some built after Samuel died in 1857.


Creek bed in Pendleton County.

 Another interesting thing to point out when exploring the remaining fences is the importance of where they found the stone for construction. In the northern areas, such as Pendleton County, the rock is not only heavily on the surface due to the rolling nature of the topography, but the streams are compacted sources of rock. In the central Bluegrass region, the rock was often quarried from the gentle hills that dotted the landscape. One of the most interesting features of a former turnpike is the small quarries that can be found at intervals along the road. These can easily be identified by crescent shaped places that have been dug out of small hills. In many cases, the place has been left untouched except for cattle who often gather there for a cooler space that often contains water in the basin area. 

Limestone permeating the fields of Pendleton County.



Limestone layering just under the surface in Scott County.

For further reading I strongly recommend Rock Fences of the Bluegrass by Carolyn Murray-Wooley and Karl Ratz (1992). This is the most detailed history of the stone fence industry in Kentucky from its earliest beginnings. Another fantastic feature about this title is the appendix in the back that includes 34 pages of registered stone masons in Kentucky. Their are two lists, one listing Black stone masons, and one listing White. Each name is followed by their year of birth, location of birth, residence county and date working. A copy of this book can be purchased through the Dry Stone Conservancy web site, along with other related titles. This web site is also a great place to continue your research as the organization not only seeks to preserve and repair remaining stone fences, but also promote the perpetuation of this skill among modern artisans.

A fascinating subject that sheds more light on the occupation of our ancestors!

CD 1/29/11