The South Stormont Cemetery Preservation Association is committed to preserving and restoring historic gravestones and monuments throughout South Stormont.
Many of these memorials have endured generations of exposure to weather, changing landscapes, and the passage of time. Some have become damaged, broken, or difficult to read, placing important historical information at risk of being lost.
Working with cemetery boards, descendants, professional monument restorers, and community supporters, our Association seeks to preserve these irreplaceable links to our past.
This page highlights our current restoration initiatives, documents their progress, and provides opportunities for the public to support this important heritage preservation work.
Supporting Cemetery Preservation
The Association is exploring a fundraising arrangement through which it would receive 15% of funds generated from gravestone-cleaning services arranged through the Tending App. This initiative could allow families to care for their ancestors’ monuments while helping fund cemetery preservation and restoration projects throughout South Stormont.
RESTORATION PROJECT 1 – Professional Monument Preservation
The complimentary demonstration was undertaken through the Tending App service, associated with All Funeral Services, the company with which the Association has been discussing cemetery mapping and burial-record documentation.
The work involved strengthening and solidifying the monument’s base, correcting its significant lean, and cleaning accumulated biological growth and surface discolouration.
The photographs document the condition of the monument before treatment and the improvements achieved through stabilization, levelling and cleaning.
Hiram Morgan and Hermenia Moss
Monument Stabilization, Levelling and Cleaning
Pleasant Valley Cemetery | July 2026
The historic Morgan monument had developed a significant lean, threatening its long-term stability. As part of a complimentary demonstration arranged through the Tending App service, its base was solidified and strengthened, the monument was levelled, and the stone was professionally cleaned.
The Family Behind the Monument — Hiram Morgan and Hermenia Moss
The historic gravestone of Hiram Morgan (1829–1874) and his wife, Hermenia Moss (1835–1878), at Pleasant Valley Cemetery tells a poignant story of family, hardship and tragedy in nineteenth-century Osnabruck Township.
Hiram was the son of Captain George Morgan and Catherine Reddick, while Hermenia was the daughter of Peter Moss and Catherine Gertrude Shaver (Schaeffer). Both families were part of the early settlement history of the region.
Married in 1855, Hiram and Hermenia raised seven children. Hiram worked as a blacksmith and farmer in the Osnabruck Centre area.
In November 1874, tragedy struck when a smallpox outbreak claimed the lives of Hiram and three of their young children: Edmond, Lillie and Albert. Hermenia survived the epidemic but died four years later, in June 1878.
Despite these devastating losses, the Morgan family’s descendants continued to contribute to the history of the region.
The restoration of this monument preserves not only an important piece of nineteenth-century stonework but also the memory of a family whose experiences reflect the hardships and resilience of early rural communities in South Stormont.
Restoration Project #2 – In Progress
Guy Edwin Sheek and Mary Grant
Our first major restoration initiative focuses on the broken gravestone of Guy Edwin Sheek (1802–1865), recovered from Pleasant Valley Cemetery near Ingleside, Ontario, and the creation of a companion memorial honouring his wife, Mary Grant (1811–1899).
Guy Edwin Sheek served with the Cornwall Troop of Volunteer Cavalry during the Upper Canada Rebellions of 1838–1839. He died on April 20, 1865, following an accident involving a falling flagpole in New York State. His gravestone was found broken into numerous pieces. Through careful examination, cleaning, and reassembly, the surviving fragments have been fitted together, allowing us to plan a restoration that preserves as much of the original monument as possible.
Working with Brunet Monuments in Cornwall, we are developing a permanent memorial that will preserve Guy’s original gravestone while also commemorating Mary Grant and their place in our local history.
