By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–A Revolutionary War Soldier with ties to Shelby County will now have a much-improved resting place thanks to Eagle Scout and recent Helena High School graduate Caleb Jones.

Jones recently completed his Eagle Scout project that consisted of improving the visibility, fencing and overall appearance of Revolutionary War Soldier David Lindsay’s Historical Cemetery Site located along Shelby County 17 near Creekview Elementary School.

Lindsay served with the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 6^th Regiments Virginia Continental Lines and had family ties to Shelby County as far back as 1820. Lindsay died in 1835 as both he and his wife Mary Casey Lindsay are buried at the historical cemetery site.

Jones got the idea to start the project from his dad who drives by the cemetery site each day for work.

“My dad drives by the site every day for work and he mentioned it to me and said it may be a potentially good project to do,” Jones said. “I’ve been into history since middle school and I really liked the idea so that’s how I came to do the project. My favorite part about the project was actually just seeing everything come together and the finished product. Just seeing how much nicer and all the progress made is what I really enjoyed.”

As for the timeline of the project, Jones started putting paperwork together to be approved in early fall of 2017. Once the project was approved in October of 2017, Jones began fundraising from then until the end of the project. Jones held three workdays on March 25, May 6 and June 2 that included 21 volunteers who combined for 128 hours of service.

With the help of volunteers, Shelby Fence Company, Calera Industrial Supply, LLC and land owner Dan Lacey, Jones was able to drastically improve the site.

“Before, there was brush growing around the site and inside the actual fence and the tree line was coming out and blocking most of it,” Jones said. “What we did is we came in there and we cleared the tree line and replaced the fence and spread pea gravel and weed block so that weeds don’t grow inside anymore. We also put down some brick pavers to keep the pea gravel in.”

Jones completed the project on June 2 and was honored by the Helena City Council on Monday, July 23, where he was recognized for his service to the community.

After graduating from Helena High School earlier this year, Jones will be attending Auburn University in the fall.