Anyone else think this photo of a grave stone on Find A Grave looks a little IDK FAKE!?!?!

Question

 Find a grave page 

Embossed Lettering, Computer style Wrap-Around text Elizi-beth ---- Depart-ed

Graffiti & algae were only "cleaned" away from around discolored stoned of lettering

Comments

Looks like the top layer has started to wear or even flake away, perhaps by a harsh attempt to clean it.

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Have you contacted the FaG contributor?

Answer 1

There is a different photograph of the same stone at BillionGraves. Either each photo is legitimate, the same person did both at different times, or there is a conspiracy.

https://billiongraves.com/grave/William-Allen/30826508

Answer 2

What makes you think it is fake?  It does look as though somebody's graffiti-ed it and someone else has tried to clean it off, but...fake? Hmmm.

Comments

Embossed Lettering, Computer style Wrap-Around text Elizi-beth ---- Depart-ed

Graffiti & algae were only "cleaned" away from around discolored stoned of lettering

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I'm not sure it was graffiti.  It looks more like a very poor quality stone where the face of it has partially peeled away.
I've seen this type of thing before - and I think it happened because the monumental mason (or wherever the stone is obtained) "plasters" the front of a stone to make it easier to "carve".

Answer 3

No, not really. It's a very old stone.

Answer 4

I don't think it looks fake.  By 'embossed' do you mean the lettering looks raised?  I think that's an illusion caused by the lighting, just as moon craters sometimes look like bubbles in photos.  I find it very difficult to make my brain accept them as craters.

This headstone photo, on the other hand, does look fake to me:  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/155656091/kenneth-lee-scargall

Comments

It may be a stone that originally had readable engraving, the picture of the stone has had text added, maybe to create a headstone that didn't exist.

It's easy to add text to a picture.

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It is extremely unlikely that someone would have added text both to the picture of the stone on William's memorial, and to the version of it appearing in the background of Mary Snodgrass's headstone photo.  Please see https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1378379/anyone-think-photo-grave-stone-find-grave-looks-little-fake?show=1378450#c1378450  below.

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Herbert, I was looking at the link you provided for Kenneth Lee Scargall.

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Oops, sorry M.  Yes, that one obviously is a picture of a rock with text superimposed on it.

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An odd thing about the Scargill stone, it looks like a rock that had letters laser carved into it. Note that some of the grass appears in front of the lettering and they have depth that superimposed lettering wouldn't have.

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Herb, that looks like a stone that someone placed there and then painted the name and dates on.  Maybe they couldn't afford to buy a marker after his death.  And maybe they intend on replacing it.

Answer 5

I see it Edward, certainly looks like the lettering has been computer generated and 'placed' on a photo from an old gravestone. Like you mentioned the lettering is all wrong!

It appears too big for the stone  and the font is off too.

Comments

actually if you zoom in, you can see other some letters superimposed under the D Days you can see 25 under the first D

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Mary Snodgrass work by the same person 

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The Allen one is in the background now I'm confused are they in the same graveyard?

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Heather, both memorials say Old Hanover Presbyterian Churchyard, Grantville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  You can compare the images of William's stone on the two photos, and they are basically the same allowing for differences in lighting.  One may have been manipulated in an effort to improve it, but the other clearly was not.

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I looked at other stones in the same graveyard and most look ok, these two and other one looked off, maybe someone in the past has had them re-engraved due to the fading inscriptions so giving the appears of words / lettering over lettering but I'll be honest if I saw a photo like that I'd be very skeptical.

I have heard of gravestones being reused in England and if you visit some gravestones now create part of the path. Found one of my ancestors actually in the wall of the church (found that odd), because the church was built years before their burial.

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There are many English churches that have gravestones on the wall and on the floor, sometimes because the church has been rebuilt or renovated significantly.

It may also happen because the actual grave space has been reused and the stone was preserved.

Answer 6

It did not strike me as being fake, although I do see some of the features that lead you to suspect that.  If it's fake, I'm not really sure why someone would go to all that trouble.

In this case I think the issue could be resolved conclusively by an in-person inspection.  But the message I take from this thread is that photo-shopping tools have become good enough that genealogists are routinely going to be questioning the legitimacy of old photos.  It's not at all clear to me how we will go about resolving questions of legitimacy, or what someone could offer as proof that a photo has not been significantly altered.  I am trying to get myself into the habit of attaching a note to any photo I edit, (say by cropping, sharpening, color correcting, or whatever) describing exactly what I did, in the hope that will lend some credibility to a claim of legitimacy.

Comments

The same person who uploaded this photo has uploaded several others which are also very old but have a similar appearance. It does look like maybe the images have been "enhanced" rather than "altered" in an effort to improve readability.

Answer 7

The text is not embossed - it is debossed or indented.  It is not word-wrapped, or there would be no hyphens.  Both the indented text and the hyphens can be seen frequently on other gravestones.

Your eyes are playing tricks on you.

Comments

Definitely agree with Ros on this.

Answer 8

Looks like a stone with poor carving and some weathering. I also see that the contrast has been adjusted to improve legibility. 

Grave of a relative with a similar lettering (same photographer)

Answer 9

I wouldn’t have noticed it on my own but it does look a little off the more I look at it. But I actually think it’s the unusual lettering style, shadows and coloration of the stone.

Answer 10

If someone faked it  it would be very easy to make it fit instead of wrap. If someone was carving it poorly, wrapping makes sense. My guess would be legit.