In the late 1890s, there was a wooden soldiers’ monument on the east side front of the cemetery. A letter by Mrs. Ida Sheldon appeared in the Elyria Republican in January 1896 expressing the opinion that “LaGrange must have a new soldier’s monument. The old one is a disgrace to our neat little village.”
It wasn’t until a few years later that action was taken and a $2000 bond issue for the purchase of a statue was approved by voters. Mayor I. A. Freeman then appointed a committee that included (besides himself) F. B. Gott, J. M. Starr, H. M. Powers, and soldiers Edson (Ted) Hastings, Murray Powers and William Wolcott.
Mr. Wood of Lima, Ohio was awarded the contract for the sculpture.
On Decoration Day 1904 when the monument was dedicated, the speaker was John Chamberlin, son of Wells Chamberlin, one of the soldiers that marched in the parade that day.
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Here are a few views of the monument at different times of day from last Sunday.
2 comments:
Have you compared the faces on the statues in Elyria Pittsfield Lagrange where these carved by the same person or company
https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/lorain-county/truck-crashes-into-civil-war-statue-lagrange-town-square/95-e5d018de-91ce-4a4a-8190-2dd7dc23b475
Found your blog with good photos as I was looking up info about this statue - bummer it got knocked down last night by a semi truck, driver fell asleep.
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