Ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday, a historical monument to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence is being restored in the Lehigh Valley.
A 20-foot-tall pillar to George Taylor in Easton Cemetery is considered to be the first publicly funded monument honoring a signer, according to Kay Wolff, a member of the Friends of Historic Easton Cemetery.
Residents of Easton and visitors from elsewhere gathered Nov. 20, 1855, to dedicate the monument at Easton Cemetery, which had been opened six years earlier.
Taylor, one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived and worked in the Lehigh Valley and Bucks County.
The restoration will cost $12,000-$14,000, which came from an anonymous donor, Wolff said.
“I’ve been trying to do it for years,” Wolff said, “because it’s one of those things that makes our cemetery special.”The historic burial ground, which sits at the end of North Seventh Street, overlooking Route 22, has also served as a community gathering space. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The monument
Weathered through decades, the monument is nevertheless impressive, standing near the cemetery’s 19th-century interdenominational chapel and high above Taylor’s grave. Taylor’s remains were interred there in 1870 — 15 years after the monument dedication — after being removed from St. John’s cemetery in downtown Easton when the church sold the land.
Made of imported Italian marble carved by a Philadelphia company, the monument sits on a base of blue-veined Pennsylvania limestone. Its shaft features an early coat of arms of Pennsylvania, and on top is an eagle with spread wings perched on an American flag. The stars rest on the upper part, and the folds fall gracefully down the shaft for nearly half its length.
Wolff enlisted Rob Wozniak, owner of Preservation Works in Easton, which does historically appropriate masonry restoration. Wozniak and workers first used a machine designed for cleaning historic structures that sprays heated water (up to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit) under low pressure.
Chemical cleaners can do the job but, Wozniak said, “we’re sort of the opinion that a gentle cleaning that leaves the patina is a good start.” Leftover bits of lichens, algae or other grime will be scraped off, he said.
Then he will use mortar to repoint fissures and minor cracks. “Places where water can get in, and then maybe stay, are places we want to fill,” he said.
Wozniak said workers will also restore the eagle’s broken beak.
The eagle actually sits in the obelisk, Wozniak said. “And there is a little reveal, like a lid to a pot, literally sitting inside that,” he said. He said he would like to know what’s beneath the architectural detail but cannot safely lift it without potentially causing damage.
“And this is just too precious to take a chance to do so,” he said.
Wozniak said an opening under the eagle has let in water. It needs to be filled with a material that will deteriorate over time, rather than the monument marble.
He described these repairs as being “sympathetic” or softer than the existing material. “Your repair deteriorates, not the material around it,” he said.
Restoration work has begun with the foundation, he said, with more done up to the top of the monument.
The monument cost about $2,500 in 1855 to build, or about $93,000 in today’s dollars, adjusted for inflation, according to Wolff. The restoration could take a couple of weeks, depending on weather and schedules, Wozniak said.
“We look to conserve it and keep it from further deterioration,” she said.
Taylor’s life
Taylor (1716-1781) is believed to have come to Pennsylvania as an indentured servant from Ireland when he was about 20. He found work in Chester County and later at the Durham Furnace iron works in upper Bucks County.
For a time, Taylor lived in a stone home at South Fourth and Ferry streets that had been the residence of state Surveyor General William Parsons. That structure, commonly known as the Parsons-Taylor House, remains today and is owned by the George Taylor chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Taylor also owned the Bachmann Publick House, Easton’s oldest building, at North Second and Northampton streets. Another Taylor home is at Lehigh and Poplar streets in Catasauqua.
Cemetery aid
Kay Wolff said she and Rob Wozniak are working on a potential fundraiser for the cemetery that could include cleaning other gravesites. For information, call 610-252-1741 or email office@thehistoriceastoncemetery.org.
Contact Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone at asalamone@mcall.com.
