Maud Tombs

Our local historian, Tim Purdy, recently did a story on Maud Tombs. Born 1875, the eldest of 10 children she would become Lassen County's first woman elected to a county wide office. Maud won the race for County Clerk in 1918 and served 7 terms. She was succeeded in 1951 by her daughter Nadene Wemple. Nadene served 4 terms and for over a century now we have always elected a woman to this office. I’d like to point out here that Theresa Nagel, much more recently, represented 20 of those County Clerk years! She even officiated at my daughter’s wedding. Thank you for all those years of service Theresa. You can read lots more about all our local history including Maud's family on Tim's blog, Exploring Lassen County's Past. The blog even has a cool search feature if you're doing some research. Personally I subscribe. It's $5 a month and I learn a TON about this place we all call home.
This story really caught my attention. When Tim was preparing for one of his historical cemetery tours he chose Maud's grave and it was in pretty bad shape. He returned with a pumice stone and with "plenty of elbow grease" it was restored. Tim tries to clean about a dozen a year and even gives a quick tutorial if you need.


Here is what Tim put in his blog back in 2016~ "One project that I am slowly working on is the polishing of headstones. It is slow and tedious but the final result is worth the effort. During the St. Patrick’s Cemetery Tour I did a brief demo on the grave of Minnie Ramsey. The technique is simple, a pumice stone and lots of elbow grease. One can spray the surface with water, but that is a messy procedure, and dissolves the pumice stone quickly. If you want to go the extra mile, once the grime is removed, spray with WD 40. Let it sit for awhile ten minutes or so, and then use a damp cloth to do the final cleaning. This removes any residue of the WD 40, which is necessary otherwise dust, etc would cling to the stone."
  

What a wonderful showing of volunteerism! Thanks Tim for restoring these vital monuments in our Hometown History!