Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 42: Public Monuments in the County, 1912

Chapter 42: Public Monuments in the County

Lovejoy Monument Movement - Description of Monument - The Wood River Monu¬ ment - Confederate Monument at Alton - Memorial to Union Soldiers - The Louis Arrington Monument.

The Lovejoy Monument at Alton is unique in this that it is, probably, the only public memorial erected to one not distinguished either in war or statesmanship. His all-suffi¬ cient claim to public gratitude was his sub¬ lime devotion to the great and precious prin¬ ciples of free speech and liberty of the press, and his willingness to die for them. The de¬ tails of the Lovejoy tragedy are reviewed in chapter IX.

Many years after the tragedy various desul¬ tory attempts were made by members of the press and citizens to raise money to erect a suitable monument to the martyr to free speech, but none of them was successful. The most considerable movement of the kind was made in 1867. An organization was effected and some money raised but not enough en¬ couragement was given the project and it failed. The incorporators of this association were: Rev. Thaddeus B. Hurlbut, Moses G. Atwood, Willard C. Flagg, Lawson A. Parks, Thomas Dimmock, John L. Blair, Rev. Melvin Jameson, John E. Havner and Rev. Cornelius H. Taylor. Messrs. Hayner, Dimmock, Blair and Jameson lived to see the completion of the monument, thirty years later, by another organization. Meanwhile a block and scroll was placed over Lovejoy 's grave by Hon.

In 1885 the project of a monument was re¬ vived and a certificate of incorporation ob¬ tained from the state, bearing date Jan. 2, 1886, and is the authority under which the directors of the new association acted. This movement, too, became apathetic, but was again revived in 1895, and the city council passed a resolution urging the state legisla¬ ture to appropriate $25,000 for the purpose of erecting a monument. This resolution was presented in the legislature by state senator, Chas. A. Herb, of Alton, president of the association until his death when he was suc¬ ceeded by Mr. Edward P. Wade, president of the Alton National Bank. The resolution eventually passed the legislature, but did not become effective until the citizens of Alton had subscribed $5,000, in addition, making a fund of $30,000. The design for the monu¬ ment drawn by R. P. Bringhurst, sculptor,' of St. Louis, was accepted and the contract let to the Culver Stone Company of Springfield. The building committee consisted of Directors L. Pfeiffenberger, J. E. Hayner and Edward Levis. The monument was completed in time for its dedication on the sixteenth anniversary November 7, 1897, but as that date fell on Sunday the exercises took place on the 8th, and, owing to a great storm, were held at Temple Theater instead of at the cemetery as was designed. The opening address on The Rise of the Monument, was by Mr. Edward P. Wade, president of the association. The main address was by Hon. Thomas Dimmock, who had been for many years interested in movements to erect a Lovejoy memorial. Other speakers on the occasion were Rev. J. M. Wilkerson, pastor A. M. E. church ; State Senator David R. Sparks; Lieut. Gov. W. A. Northcott. The White Hussar band furnished the instrumental music and a chorus sang the Concord hymn to original music by Prof. W. D. Armstrong. The invocation was by Rev. Dr. M. Jameson and the benediction by Rev. H. K. Sanborne.

The monument is emblematic of the triumph of the cause for which the hero died. The sculptor's ideal of victory was expressed throughout the entire memorial. The winged statue of Victory which crowns the main shaft and the exultant eagles surmounting the sen¬ tinel columns, alike express the idea of trium¬ phant consummation. It is a magnificent piece of work from an artistic standpoint and as solid as the everlasting hills. Described tech¬ nically the monument is a massive granite column some 93 feet high, surmounted by a bronze statue of Victory 17 feet high, weigh¬ ing 8,700 pounds. This shaft in three sec¬ tions, weighing respectively 16, 18 and 22 tons each, is one of the largest columns in this country. The base consists of a round plinth, square cap, die and base in form of a seat. It stands in the center of a terrace 40 feet in diameter, surrounded on three sides by a granite exedra wall 8 feet high on outside, having a seat on the inside. The terrace is floored with 6-inch granite flagging and is reached by seven granite steps. Two large granite pedestals, surmounted by ornate stand¬ ard bronze tripods, finish the exedra walls. By the steps are two granite sentinel columns 30 feet high, surmounted by bronze eagles 8 feet over the wings. On each of the four sides of the die is a bronze panel with an inscription.

The idea of the monument association in preparing the inscriptions was to let Lovejoy speak for himself as editor, minister of the gospel and opponent of slavery, and a quota¬ tion from his speeches was placed under each of these heads. The fourth inscription is in honor of the men who stood by him and risked their lives and property for the same cause. The inscriptions and historical data are :

Elijah P. Lovejoy Champion Of Free Speech

"But, gentlemen, as long as I am an American citizen, and as long as Ameri¬ can blood runs in these veins, I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write, to publish whatever I please on any sub¬ ject - being amenable to the laws of my country for the same."

Minister Of The Gospel Moderator Of Alton Presbytery

MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL MODERATOR OF ALTON PRESBYTERY "If the laws of my country fail to pro¬ tect me I appeal to God, and with him I cheerfully rest my cause. I can die at my post but I cannot desert it."

This monument commemorates the valor, devotion and sacrifice of the noble Defenders of the Press, who, in this city, on Nov. 7, 1837, made the first armed resistance to the aggressions of the slave power in America.

The members of the association in charge of the erection of the monument were : Ed¬ ward P. Wade, president ; William Armstrong, vice president ; John E. Hayner, treasurer ; W. T. Norton, secretary; Chas. Holden, Jr., asst, secretary ; Henry C. Priest, Edward Levis, L. Pfeififenberger, George D. Hayden, W. A. Haskell, David R. Sparks, Henry Watson, H. G. M. Pike, John A. Cousley, Isaac E. Kelley, Chas. A. Herb, the first president, died in of¬ fice.

the Moore family first settled in 1804. It was the scene of the savage massacre of members of three pioneer families by Indians. Over 1,000 spectators gathered on the John Moore farm to witness the unveiling of the monu¬ ment erected by the .grandchildren of Capt. Abel Moore in memory of the victims of the Wood River massacre described elsewhere in this work. The monument is erected on the old trail between the homes of Reason Reagen and Abel Moore. It faces the county road and stands about three hundred yards east of where the massacre actually took place. Frank Moore, of Chicago, the youngest son of the famous cavalry leader of the Civil war fame, Maj. Franklin Moore, and grandson of Capt. Abel Moore, presided and made the opening address of welcome. The monument was un¬ veiled by Miss Harriet Moore, of Wichita Falls, Texas, during an address by Miss Edith Culp. The plot of ground on which the monu¬ ment stands was presented to the people of Madison county and accepted in their behalf

The monument is built of concrete and stands twenty feet high. It is a handsome shaft, built by Rev. R. E. Farley, of Wichita Falls, Texas, while on his summer vacation. On its face is this inscription :

"In memory of the victims of the Wood River Massacre, July io, 1814. William and Joel, aged eight and eleven years, sons of Capt. Abel Moore; John and George Moore, aged ten and three years, sons of William Moore; Rachel Reagen and her children, Elizabeth and Timothy, aged seven and three years. Murdered by Indians about 300 yards in rear of monument. Dedicated Sept. 11, 1910, by descendants of Capt. Abel Moore."

The grandchildren of Capt. Abel Moore, who erected this monument are: Dr. Isaac Moore, of Alton; John Moore, of Wichita Falls, Texas; Frank Moore, of Chicago; Irby, Joel and Luella Williams and Mrs. John Culp, of Wood river ; Thomas Hamilton, of Buffalo, Wyoming; Mrs. Mary J. Deck, of Roodhouse; Lewis Moore, of Granite City; Mrs. Mary Moore, of Seattle, Washington.

A military prison was located in Alton dur¬ ing the war on the old penitentiary grounds. Several thousand prisoners were incarcerated therein during the four years of strife and some fifteen hundred died during that period and were buried in a cemetery set apart for that purpose. For many years after the war the cemetery was neglected and the slabs which marked the graves rotted down or were carried away by vandals and used for fuel, and the identity of those buried there was thereby lost. Some seven years ago congress passed an act providing for markers for the graves of the Confederates who died in northern prisons, but in this case the disappearance of the original slabs made identification prac¬ tically impossible, so the Sam. Davis chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, located here, petitioned the war department to appro¬ priate the sum the permanent markers would have cost to the erection of a monument in the center of the grounds upon which the names of all the soldiers there buried should appear. The petition was granted, the government pur¬ chased and improved the site and surrounded it with a substantial iron fence, and the con¬ tract for the monument was let. The work was completed in September, 1909. The me- morial is a lofty granite column, some forty feet high. On the four sides of the base are large bronze plates on which are engraved the names, companies and respective regiments of all the Confederates buried in the cemetery. It is a splendid specimen of artistic workman¬ ship, a fitting memorial to brave, though, from the Union standpoint, misguided men, and also a tribute to the magnanimity of the govern¬ ment. The inscriptions on the monument, in addition to the names, are as follows :

"Erected by the United States to Mark the Burial Place of 1,354 Confederate Soldiers who died here and at the Small Pox Hospital on Adjacent Island, while Prisoners of War, and whose Graves can¬ not now be Identified."

The Alton chapter of the organization, known as the United Daughters of the Con¬ federacy, was established some seven years ago. It was named after a brave young south¬ erner who, captured within the Federal lines, refused to reveal certain information he was known to possess and suffered the fate which the rules of war demand in such cases. The original officers were : Mrs. John N. Drum¬ mond, honorary president, a position she held during her life. President, Mrs. Pauline Col¬ lins; Vice President, Mrs. G. G. Grommett; Secretary, Mrs. S. H. Gregory; Treasurer, Mrs. Scott Cunningham, succeeded by Mrs. Anna Cunningham ; Custodian of Cemetery, Mrs. Harry Basse, succeeded by Mrs. Daniel Miller. Mrs. Collins is still president at this writing.

The handsome entrance to the grounds, which lie in the northern section of the city, was erected by the Sam. Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, at a cost of $700. It consists of two gracefully curved archways of stone between the pillars

"Erected in memory of the Confeder¬ ates who Died in Alton Prison 1862-65, by U. D. C. through efforts of the Sam. Davis Chapter, in the year 1910."

In the Alton City cemetery are buried the remains of several hundred Union soldiers who died at Alton while it was a military post, besides many other local soldiers who have died since the war, but the only attention they have received from the government are the ordinary markers. Overlooking their last resting place is a piece of ordnance mounted on a granite base with the inscription, "Duke et decorum est pro patria mori." Above this simple memorial the national flag floats from a lofty staff. But this memorial was not erected by a grateful government but by the Grand Army Post and other surviving com¬ rades in memory of their fallen brothers.

Another unique public monument is that erected by the Glass Blowers Unions of the United States and Canada in memory of their former chief, Louis Arrington. It stands in the Greenwood cemetery, in Godfrey town¬ ship. It is built of the best light Barre granite, and is known as the rock or boulder design. On one corner of the die which is a rough boulder, is a carved Corinthian column sup¬ porting a broken arch, the base of the column lies in a bed of ferns ; also a vine of ivy twin¬ ing around the column from base to top. A full size portrait of Louis Arrington is carved on the keystone and is raised over four inches from the base of the stone. On the face of the die, which is highly embellished with carv¬ ing, is the following inscription in raised polished letters :

Mr. Arrington was a distinguished leader in the ranks of organized labor and was at the head of the above organization. He served, at one time, as State Factory Inspector of Illinois.

The Centennial monument, celebrating the inauguration of representative government and the establishment of judicial procedure in Madison county, forms the frontispiece of this volume and is described on page adjacent thereto.