BRIGHTON, Mich. – After lifting a Brighton Civil War hero's headstone off the ground and rebuilding it, volunteers said the memorial will finally receive the respect it deserves.
The Brighton Area Historical Society and a local chapter of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War will hold a rededication of the Lt. Col. John Gilluly headstone at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
The public is invited to the ceremony, which will be held in Brighton's Old Village Cemetery, next to the Mill Pond. The 5th Michigan Regimental Band will perform.
"It was disgraceful, disrespectful to our local hero who died," said Jim Vichich, president of the Historical Society.
The ornate 500-pound headstone had fallen over, broken into three pieces and was slowly sinking into the ground when volunteers from the Historical Society and Gilluly-Kingsley Camp No. 120 in Howell stepped in. They used epoxy to glue the headstone together, and created a secure base.
The ceremony will be held as part of the Veterans Day celebration in Brighton. A parade will start at 10:30 a.m. at the former Lindbom Elementary School, travel down Main Street to the Mill Pond where two ceremonies will be held.
Vichich said it's important to "see and realize who the man was and what he gave his life for."
He said Gilluly was a teacher in Brighton and later attended the University of Michigan to become an attorney. When the Civil War started, he volunteered to serve.
He said Gilluly rose through the ranks and paid with his life; he was killed in battle in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Gilluly was 38 when he died.
The Historical Society volunteers are planning to repair 140 headstones in the cemetery.
