the
Jennie Wade
The restoration of the Jennie Wade was a difficult task from the very beginning. The journey she traveled was filled with turbulant waters. Nothing was ever easy but the journey went on and she prevailed. Although, we tried everything in our power to see her to a new owner in Pennsylvania, some twist of fate would bring her back to us. I now believe that she was destined to stay with us and come with us on our journey here in Ohio.
When we looked into the possibility of moving the Jennie Wade to Ohio, we wondered what it would take to do it.. How difficutlt could it be? Well,difficult wasn't the word for it. The moving of Jennie Wadeis a story in itself. For over a year we searched for someone to move her. Many people tried to put it together but only old friends saw it through. These old friends were a part of the many fine people that helped in the very beginning with the Jennie Wade restoration project. In the early 1990's the Everetts, Grady, better known as Muleskinner and his dad, Watson were a very important part of that group. Muleskinner was the first welder to strike a bead on her two-part hull. Reassembling the hull for the ship-fitter was a tedious job and was done in the heat of the summer sun of 1991. Muleskinner was there every day. He helped make her hull whole again.
Now, twelve years later, the Everett family, through Everett's Excavating and Trucking, saw Jennie through once more. They were the drivers of the load and Duane, owner of Everett's Excavating and Trucking organized the move. Wide load permits and a special trailer were secured and the move was scheduled for Sept. 3rd and 4th. Once again, the Jennie Wade was dismantled, as all of the top deck, including the pilot house and stacks were removed. That load is now packed and ready to go the second week in October. Nephew, Stacy McClain, now the owner of his own trucking service, S.McClain Stone, is in charge of that load. Remarkably he too was part of Jennie's early days. Stacy McClain was the driver that moved the Jennie Wade from her original home in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. That time she was moved in three loads of metal pieces, all carefully dismantled to be reassembled over the next 5 years. This time she moved as a whole with a much easier reassembly.
Awaiting her in Ohio is a new group of loyal followers, people who learned of her story and journey through the web site. Everyone is working diligently to see her reaasembled for some local events right here in the Ohio River Valley. The kindness and support of the people of this region has already been felt through the help of people like Joe Brewer, the owner of Maysville Marina were the boat rest for reassembly.
There are so many people we need to thank for all their hard work and support in this move. In Pennsylvania, two people came to mind more than any others. They have been in the background for over a year and many times we had to count on them to be there for us. Like the time when we needed the boat moved the 1/4 mile from the river up to the hard road or when the second deck was dismantled and the hull loaded on the big rig. Brother John McClain was there supervising and working on every phase and his wonderful partner Cindy got it all on film for the story. They have never asked for a dime, never wanted anything but to see the boat move on to her new home. They journaled every moment for us. They were there through the heat of the summer. They were there when no one else was around. Without them, this move would not have been possible. We can never repay them for all they did, we wouldn't have enough money. We can only tell them right here and now how much we appreciated all they did. Below are some photos of these last few weeks. as you can see, they only tell a part of the story.
The overland journey, which began when she was loaded on Tuesday, September 3, 2002, ended with 15 minutes left on the Ohio wide load permit, on Sunday, September 8, 2002. Just under 700 miles overland, there is a tale at every turn, in every small town and big city and along all the many highways and detours. But the pictures show us that there is too much to say right here and now. That will be another time and tale. We will add photos of the trip when the Everetts send them to us. The stories, told by the crew, are filled with excitement at every turn. I know that we were only involved in the last 4 miles and as the photos show it was a project just to turn onto Route 52. I can't even imagine what the other 696 miles were like.
Once again, to all who helped to make this happen, Thanks! .
John McClain and the Everetts discuss what Jake needs to do with Wayne McClain. Young David McClain has his doubts that this will all work. He hasn't been around long enough to see what these McClain Boys can do!
Although the top railing and canopy have already been removed and loaded, the pilot house and stacks were going to take something bigger. The Gradal and Everett's Excavating came to the rescue.
A special rigging was designed to adapt the Gradall to the task at hand.
What a machine!
