Jollytown Civil War Memorial – A Job Well Done

On September 4, 2010, the Reenactorpost and the Sons of Union Veterans drove to Jollytown, PA and cleaned up the Jesse Taylor Civil War memorial and repainted the guns. The SUV commander, Matt Gillespie, had gotten Lowe’s in Buckhannon to knock 50% off the cost of two gallons of Rustoleum. One can was olive drab for the cannon carriage and black for the mortars and the iron parts of the Parrott Rifle. Mark Tennant, Bill Leonard and myself completed the crew.

There was a certain amount of elbow grease involved in sanding and preparing the surface, but the mortars were easy to paint and that part of the job went very quickly. The rifle was another story. Because we were using two different colors, we had to be a great deal more precise. I am, generally speaking, not too good at that. Bill cut the weeds around the monument and trimmed the flowers, which badly needed done. Overall, the job went well and I think the photos do a good job of showing the ‘before and after’ condition of the memorial. The site looks much better despite the junk trucks which a neighbor has parked around it.

This was a project that we had been talking about for over a year and now have thankfully completed. In a subsequent call to Gary Wise, our contact in the area, I learned that the work was much appreciated and the general feeling was that it couldn’t have been done much better. Hopefully, we have succeeded in increasing the lifespan of the memorial.

Obviously, a more permanent plan needs to be developed for the site. New and younger people need to be involved so that a solid, long-term schedule becomes a reality. Hopefully, this will become a reality. But, one step at a time.  For now, we can enjoy this first step.