In my previous Woodhull post, I had reported that I had found the Woodhull family plot here and it was in utter disrepair. I was so remiss that I couldn’t positively identify Captain Ebenezer Woodhull’s grave. Through the miracle of Photoshop, I was able to enhance some of the photographs from the family plot and to my surprise, I was able to make out his grave – if even barely! My heart skipped a beat!
I asked my DAR chapter if we could possibly do something for this plot, like a clean up day or something but I was secretly hoping we could do more. Today, I took my DAR chapter regent out to see the Woodhull graves and I honestly think she was overwhelmed at what she saw. She said this preservation project could easily be $10,000 or more and I heartily agree. However, we both have hope that it can be saved and we agree that this is what our DAR chapter *should* be doing. Not just marking a patriot’s grave for remembrance but preserving those that are at the greatest risk for being lost. Honestly, with a few more years of neglect, these graves are going to be beyond repair and completely unreadable. The time is now.
Thankfully, the Woodhull Genealogy people are offering to help us do some fundraising and we’re going to reach out to our community as well. Maybe we’ll even open up crowd funding at some point. But for now, we’re just trying to come up with a game plan and prioritizing what needs to happen first to even start the ball rolling.