RESTORING a Civil War Soldier's Grave in the Cemetery HE ESTABLISHED

Restoring a fallen Civil War veteran's obelisk monument at an abandoned pioneer cemetery in Nebraska — from broken pieces on the ground to fully upright, cleaned, and preserved. The historic Colby-Morley Cemetery near Arlington, Nebraska has been abandoned and neglected for decades. In this video, I tackle restoration of the monument for a Union Civil War veteran and the original founder of this cemetery, Calvin Morley (1822–1896) and his wife, Maria Masters Morley (1824–1900). After serving in the 2nd Nebraska Cavalry, Calvin and Maria faced unimaginable tragedy on the frontier, losing four of their daughters to illness. Heartbroken, Calvin set aside a two-acre tract of his own farmland to serve as a community burial ground and a final resting place for his family. Decades later, their tall, heavy blue marble obelisk monument had fallen backward and lay on its back on the ground. Watch the step-by-step preservation process as I demonstrate: • 00:15 Introduction to the marker and its condition • 00:40 Location in the cemetery • 01:15 How the marker looked in 1980 and 2004 • 01:45 Clearing the ground around the fallen marker • 02:20 Starting to dig around the base to free it up • 02:40 Encountering the original brick base and getting around that • 03:40 Attaching the straps to raise the heavy base • 05:00 Continuing to dig into the foundation • 05:25 Deciding to leave the bricks as is and build on that foundation • 06:00 History: The use of the Morley House as a hotel for travelers • 06:35 Adding crushed limestone chips to create a more stable base • 07:10 Placing the base back on the crushed rock foundation and leveling it • 07:55 Attaching straps to the plinth and die and raising it • 08:15 Placing Pratley Standard Setting epoxy putty and Join-Tite monument setting putty between the base and the plinth • 08:30 Removing the support slats and cleaning up the putty • 08:45 The final result During the video, I also share the incredible frontier history of the Morley family. This is The Grave Doctor. My mission is to reset, clean, and conserve the markers in this forgotten pioneer cemetery, one stone at a time — preserving the history and stories of the people who helped build this community. If you want to support this preservation mission, please consider liking this video, leaving a comment, and subscribing to the channel to follow along with the next stone! #CemeteryRestoration #CivilWarHistory #PioneerHistory #NebraskaHistory #GraveHistoricPreservation #GraveStoneCleaning #MonumentRestoration #HistoricPreservation