Cindy Gagnon, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, uses epoxy to fix a cracked headstone May 25 at Emery Hill Cemetery in Fairfield.
Cindy Gagnon, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution who works to restore aging headstones, stands near the damaged 1865 headstone of Margaret Ayer. Gagnon, seen May 25, learned that Ayer’s 40-lb. stone was in storage at the L.C. Bates Museum on the campus of Good Will-Hinkley in Fairfield. She did some sleuthing and discovered Ayer's gravesite was at China Village Cemetery. Gagnon worked with others to have the headstone returned to Ayer's burial site Tuesday.
Cindy Gagnon, a cemetery preservationist and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, is shown May 25 at Emery Hill Cemetery in Fairfield.
Cindy Gagnon places her hands on the damaged headstone of Margaret Ayer, who was buried in China Village Cemetery upon her death in 1865.
Cindy Gagnon, right, works with Joyce Wyand to raise a headstone before setting it on its base May 25 while working at Emery Hill Cemetery in Fairfield. Gagnon used epoxy to repair a crack in the stone before it was clamped and reset. The stone belongs to David Pearson who died in 1799. Gagnon does headstone restoration work in her spare time and over the summer did some detective work to determine that a damaged headstone in storage at the Bates Museum in Fairfield actually belonged at a gravesite in China.
Josh Ross, right, and Shawn Reed with the China Public Works Department carry Margaret Ayer’s headstone to her gravesite at China Village Cemetery in China on Tuesday. The headstone was discovered in storage, and in pieces, at the L.C. Bates Museum in Fairfield and it remains unclear when the stone was taken from Ayer's gravesite and why it ended up at the museum.
Josh Ross, right, and Shawn Reed with the China Public Works Department spread crushed base and sand around the headstone of Margaret Ayer after it was returned Tuesday to Ayer’s gravesite at China Village Cemetery. The headstone was discovered in storage at the L.C. Bates Museum in Fairfield. It remains unclear how or when the headstone made its way from the gravesite to the museum.
The China Village Cemetery is shown Thursday. It is where Margaret Ayer, who died in 1865, is buried.
Lisa Lambert, right, says a few words honoring the life of Margaret Ayer on Tuesday after Lambert placed a rose at Ayer’s grave at China Village Cemetery. Pictured from left are Joyce Wyand, Jeanne Marquis and Cindy Gagnon. Wyand and Gagnon are cemetery preservationists and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Marquis is a China selectwoman and Lambert also has an interest in cemetery preservation. The headstone of Ayer, who died in 1865, was removed at some point from the gravesite for unknown reasons and ended up at the L.C. Bates Museum in Fairfield.
Cindy Gagnon, center, joins Lisa Lambert on Tuesday as Lambert places a rose over the headstone of Margaret Ayer at the China Village Cemetery. At right is Joyce Wyand, who like Gagnon is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The women were at the cemetery to return the headstone to Ayer's gravesite. For reasons unknown, the headstone was apparently removed from the site and eventually was discovered in pieces at the L.C. Bates Museum in Fairfield. Ayer died in 1865. Lambert is friends with Gagnon and Wyand, and like them has an interest in cemetery preservation.
A rose was placed Tuesday at the grave of Margaret Ayer at China Village Cemetery in China.
The China Village Cemetery in China, shown Thursday, is the resting place of Margaret Ayer who died in1865. Ayer’s damaged headstone had been in storage for years at the L.C. Bates Museum in Fairfield. It's a mystery as to how it got there, but Cindy Gagnon led an effort to find Ayer's burial site and return the headstone to its proper place. It was laid atop Ayer's grave on Tuesday.
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