Twice a month, Charles and Stella Ledford leave Charlotte and drive about 40 miles to a country cemetery straddling the Carolinas border.

In the woods off Interstate 85, they spend the day mowing grass, spraying poison ivy and tidying the grounds.

Shiloh Presbyterian Church Cemetery - most of it in southern Cleveland County - dates from 1780, the year a pivotal Revolutionary War battle raged on nearby Kings Mountain. Lt. Col. Frederick Hambright, a key Patriot commander, is buried in Shiloh along with others who fought there. More than 100 stones mark veterans of the War of 1812, the Civil War and early settlers. John Bishop Harry, state senator from Lincoln County in 1835, is also there.

The Ledfords are part of a nationwide network of volunteers looking after the old burying ground. They hope a new effort by a volunteer who lives in California will get Shiloh on the National Park Service's Register of Historic Places. A decision is expected by early 2012. The designation is mostly honorary, but supporters feel it will help preserve one of the Charlotte region's most historic cemeteries.

"This would put it on a lot of peoples' radar," said Stella Ledford, 65, a descendant of Frederick Hambright. "The recognition would open their eyes."

The cemetery's age and the people buried there are important parts of the nomination. But new research has led to another focus: Shiloh's gravestone art. Master craftsmen like Robert Caveny decorated the markers with folk motifs such as quarter sunbursts, eight-pointed stars, willows and trees of life.

Lincolnton-based historic preservation consultant Jason Harpe, who is writing the nomination, said Shiloh is "like a pallet of artistic elements."

'I got goose bumps'

Stonecutters and engravers from the famous Caveny and Crawford families of York, S.C., crafted many of the markers during the late 1810s to the 1860s, using stone from a Kings Mountain quarry.

Their work is scattered in cemeteries throughout Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln and Catawba counties. But Harpe said the highest concentration appears to be in Shiloh.

As he cleaned lichen off stones, artwork emerged.

Harpe felt an aura.

"I kept wanting to go back," he said. "Each time I found something new."

The cemetery is still owned by Shiloh Presbyterian Church, now two miles away in the town of Grover. But there have been no burials since 1916.

Incorporated in 1885 and named for President Grover Cleveland, the new railroad and textile boom town of Grover established its own cemetery. The Shiloh church relocated in the town. For decades, the old church burial plot was neglected and became a dumping ground for garbage. Beginning in the late 1990s, a community cleanup improved the cemetery's appearance. After that, an informal volunteer effort maintained the place.

The Hambright Reunion group, which meets every Oct. 7, the date of the Kings Mountain battle, has a cemetery fund that accepts contributions for such things as tree removal and gravel for the drive.

Hambright descendant Dennis Dover of Chino Hills, Calif., hired Harpe to do the National Register nomination.

A retired homebuilder and developer, Dover connected with Shiloh after he began dabbling in family genealogy.

In 2005, he made his first visit to the cemetery.

"I got goose bumps," said Dover, 69. "I had the feeling this was an important place."

He met others who felt the same way - people from as far away as Norway, drawn to the cemetery by family connections. The commitment of these self-appointed caretakers "inspired me," he said.

Dover decided to pursue the National Register nomination even though he knew it would be a drawn-out process with no guarantee of success.

"I saw it as a vehicle to get more public awareness," he said. "I know there are people around the U.S. who would love to contribute money for the cemetery restoration. Also, it's a part of the history of two states."

Ultimately, he would like to see the start of a nonprofit organization that could accept tax free donations for the cemetery's upkeep.

Lifting a veil

Shiloh Presbyterian Church gave Dover the OK to pursue the nomination.

Church membership is declining, says former clerk of session Joel Rountree. He said members are grateful volunteers look after the cemetery and for Dover's interest in the National Register nomination.

Harpe's research "told me stuff I'd never really seen," Rountree said. "It was like a veil had been lifted my from eyes."