SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - An artist from Salem is working on a heartwarming tribute to history and the dead.
Andrew Carr restored two gravestones from the early 1700s that belong to a historically prominent family in Salem known as the Crowninshields.
The gravestones were damaged in the Great Salem fire of 1914 and then later stolen from the Charter Street Cemetery.
“This particular grave was cut by the stone cutter, William Codner, who was probably the most famous stone cutter in Boston at the time, and then this one was either cut by John or James Lamson,” Carr said.
Car has already spent countless hours at work, as each letter takes 30 to 45 minutes to carve. However, his goal is to keep the headstones as original as possible.
“I’m putting in a lot of work doing it the way they would’ve done it,” Carr said. “Tracing every single letter digitally so it is absolutely perfect to the original.”
The City of Salem supported Carr for the project.
“The fact that they’re being restored is significant to us, and we’re grateful to Andrew for taking this project on,” Mayor of Salem Dominick Pangallo.
Carr’s dedication to preserving the past will now last into the future.
“There are very few gravestones, modern graves that are a part of that cemetery, so to have work in there is an absolute honor,” Carr said.
Carr is intending to finish the gravestones within the next month and plans to install them in the cemetery this spring.
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