The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 23, June 5, 2005, Article 2

LOVETT GRAVESITE RESTORATION PROJECT

The June 6, 2005 issue of Coin World has a nice article
by Bill Gibbs beginning on page 3 about a project to restore
the gravesite of engraver Robert Lovett Jr. The gravesite
was located by researcher Harold Levi in McConnelsville,
OH in 2004. Levi and George Corell are organizing the
restoration effort.

Harold Levi writes: "George Corell and I thank Coin World
and Beth Deisher for publishing the grave restoration article,
and thank Bill Gibbs for a job well done in the writing.

A dedication ceremony is planned to coincide with the annual
Civil War re-enactment held on the second weekend in
July, it will be on Saturday, July 9th. Details of the ceremony
are still in progress. McConnelsville is in Southeastern Ohio
along the Muskingum River.

Everyone is invited! Come see the Union and Confederate
forces have at it again. I have notified the Sons of Union
Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), Sons of Confederate
Veterans (SCV - I am a member), and the United Daughters
of the Confederacy (UDC) of the project. The Union Ladies
have been notified by the Ohio SUVCW.

There are four graves that will be restored. The photo in Coin
World was cropped to fit the space for printing. In the CW
image, the left headstone is Robert Lovett, Jr., on the right is
Amanda Morgan Lovett, his wife. The left side of the photo
was cropped, which removed the headstone of Robert Keating
Lovett, their son. The fourth grave is to the right of Amanda,
it was not in the photo I took. This is Stevenson Guyton, who
we believe is Amanda's nephew. Katie Jaeger, a great great
grandniece of Robert, Jr., has been researching this relationship.

The restoration includes replacement of the individual headstone
foundations with a single concrete foundation that will be 13
feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep (to prevent frost heaving).
The four headstones will be cleaned. The engraving is still deep
in the stones and has not suffered much from erosion or pollution
damage. A Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) grave marker
is going to be mounted in the new concrete in front of Robert
K.'s headstone. We are working on getting castings of the
obverse and reverse of the Confederate cent to be mounted in
the concrete in front of Robert, Jr.'s headstone, unfortunately
these may not be ready in time.

I have been working with the monument service people and
have a quote of about $1200 to $1500 for the grave
restoration. The SUVCW is donating the GAR grave marker.
I just talked with George Corell and found the bronze plaques
for the Confederate cent grave markers will cost $700 for
the pair.

"The donations are being handled by the Morgan County
Historical Society in McConnelsville, Ohio. I am not sure of
the current amount that has been donated, but more is needed.
Some coin dealers have been contacted directly and have
promised to make a donation. There have been some local
donations as well. George Corell and I are people of ordinary
financial means, but thought Robert Lovett, Jr. deserved to
have his grave and that of his family restored. Just think of all
the ink that has been spilled about his little Confederate cent"

[According to the article, "Donations, by check only, should
be made payable to MCHS/Robert Lovett Jr. Account. Send
the donations to the Morgan County Historical Society, P.O.
Box 524, McConnelsville, OH 43756."

I applaud Harold and George for their efforts, and hope many
of you in The E-Sylum community will assist with donations of
all sizes. -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum