James David Gillespie has been carving slate gravestones since 2002. Learning the craft from a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission in Rhode Island and later in his native South Carolina from accomplished artists, he feels very blessed by the Lord to be carving the slate stones by hand. He uses only chisels and mallet, true to the 18th century approach. He and his wife, Renee, attend re-enactments all across the Eastern United States, demonstrating " ...the old paths, where is the good way." David has given slate stone cutting demonstrations, frequently at French and Indian War sites: Fort Loudoun, Vonore, Tenn., Martin's Station, near Cumberland Gap, Va.; Fort Dobbs, Statesville, N.C.; Ninety Six, N.H.S., S.C.; Battle of Camden, S.C.; Middleton Place Plantation, S.C.; and the Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon, Va. Also David has given a demonstration at the American College of Building Arts, in Charleston, S.C., as a part of the Gibbs Museum 1858 Society Series. David is a member of the local Pickens County, S.C., Historical Society, Contemporary Longrifle Association as well as the Association for Gravestone Studies. David takes custom orders for slate tombstones, to mark the final resting place of people whether they have been deceased for over 200 years or just recently! Sometimes customers even place an order in advance before a stone is needed. Due to the nature of custom hand work like this, a wait time is to be expected. For more information on David's stonecutting, please refer to www.pumpkintownprimitives.com, as of this printing. As always, things change, so David can be found, likely with an internet word search. David also carves custom signs, plaques, stone bookends, quote stones, reliefs, and has castings available of his carvings at a reasonable rate. Let David carve for you a bold statement that should last for many years!
