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legislature when the transaction by it took place in 1816, and "he felt entirely satisfied that the resolution for removing the remains to Richmond would never have passed the Assembly of Virginia but for the loss of all hope that Congress would act in the matter."

Mr. Duffie opposed the removal of the remains, saying: "As to a monument, rear it; spend upon it what you will; make it durable as the pyramids, eternal as the mountains; you shall have my co-operation. Erect, if you please, a mausoleum to the memory of Washington in the Capitol, and let it be as splendid as art can make it."

The refusal of Mr. John A. Washington to permit the removal of the remains of Washington seems to have prompted Mr. Clay to urge the adoption of the pending resolution to erect a statue of Washington at the Capitol. "An image," he said, "a testimonial of this great man, the Father of his Country, should exist in every part of the Union as a memorial of his patriotism and of the services rendered his country; but of all places, it was required in this Capitol, the center of the Union, the offspring, the creation, of his mind and of his labors."

The resolution for the statue of Washington by Greenough was adopted, and it was ordered. The statue was made and was placed in the rotunda in 1841, but subsequently removed into the east park of the Capitol, where it now rests.

In 1853, Congress appropriated ,000 for the erection of an equestrian statue of George Washington by Clark Mills.

This statue, in bronze, representing Washington on the line at the battle of Princeton, was placed in its present location in the public circle at Pennsylvania avenue and Twenty-third street, in the City of Washington.

THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY.

The resolutions and proceedings of Congress which have been referred to having remained unexecuted as late as 1833, certain citizens of the City of Washington, whose names were a passport to public confidence, took steps in that year to form a voluntary association for erecting "a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government."

In September, 1833, a paragraph appeared in the "National Intelligencer," leading paper of the City of Washington, calling for a public meeting of the citizens of Washington to take up the matter and redeem the pledges of Congress. In response to this call a meeting of citizens was held in the aldermen's chamber, in the City Hall, on the 26th of September, 1833. There was great interest and earnestness manifested on the part of those present in the object of the meeting. The oft-repeated failure of Congress to finally act in the matter of erecting a monument to Washington was reviewed, and it was deemed almost hopeless to expect that body to provide for such a monument in the near future.

The meeting resulted in the organization of the Washington National Monument Society. Committees were appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, and to report at a future meeting of the citizens and to devise a practical plan for the collection of funds and to prepare an address to the country.

On October 31 following the second meeting was had, Constitution and By-Laws were adopted, and officers were chosen, being nominated by a committee and elected by ballot:

John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, then seventy-eight years of age, was chosen the first President of the Society, and Judge William Cranch, eminent as a learned jurist, as a just and impartial magistrate and for the uprightness of his life, was selected as the first Vice-President.

In accepting the office of President of the Society, Mr. Marshall replied as follows to the letter of notification addressed to him by Judge Cranch:

"DEAR SIR: I received yesterday your letter of the 22d, informing me that the 'Washington Monument Society' has done me the honor to choose me as its President.

"You are right in supposing that the most ardent wish of my heart is to see some lasting testimonial of the grateful affection of his country erected to the memory of her first citizen. I have always wished it, and have always thought that the Metropolis of the Union was the fit place for this National Monument. I cannot, therefore, refuse to take any place which the Society may assign me; and though my advanced age forbids the hope of being useful, I am encouraged by the name of the First Vice-President to believe that in him ample compensation will be found for any defects in the President.

"With great respect and esteem, I am, dear sir,

"Your obd't,

"J. MARSHALL."

Other officers then chosen were the Mayor of Washington, Second Vice-President ; W. W. Seaton, Third Vice-President; Samuel H. Smith, Treasurer; and George Watterston, Secretary. A board of thirteen managers was also appointed to correspond in number with the original States. This board consisted of Gen. Thomas S. Jessup, Col. Jas. Kearney, Col. Nathan Towson, Col. Archibald Henderson, Matthew St. Claire Clark, John McClelland, Thomas Munroe, Col. Geo. Bomford, Robert C. Weightman, Peter Force, Wm. Brent, Esq., Wm. A. Bradley, and Thomas Carbery. Aside from other stated meetings to be provided for, an election for officers and managers was to be held every third year on the 22d of February.

Of the founders of the Society, the name of George Watterston calls for especial mention. With him originated the conception of the enterprise. He remained as Secretary of the Society from its beginning to his death, in February, 1854, conducting its extensive correspondence, preparing its numerous addresses and publications, and it appears, in every branch of the Society's business, he devoted his whole time and energies to its object with constant, ardent, and effective zeal. To no one name does the country owe more in the labor and effort to rear a monument to the memory of Washington than to that of the Society's first Secretary. On the death of Mr. Watterston he was succeeded in his office by Mr. John Carroll Brent, of distinguished family, a gentleman of culture and fine scholarship, and who continued actively and patriotically to discharge the duties of Secretary until his death, February 11, 1876. It is as well here to mention the other and succeeding secretaries of the Society, who in turn ardently and effectively aided the work of the Society through years. Dr. John B. Blake, a prominent, highly-respected resident of the District of Columbia, who served from the year 1876 to his death, in October, 1881, and to whose labors before Congress in connection with the Society's special committees, the certainty of an appropriation by that body to aid in the completion of the monument was assured. He was succeeded by Mr. Horatio King, formerly Postmaster-General of the United States, who in turn, on his death, was succeeded by Dr. Francis M. Gunnell of the United States Navy, and the latter by Frederick L. Harvey.

The Society, upon organization, established its headquarters and offices in rooms in the basement of the City Hall, and where its office remained until the year 1878.

An address was issued to the people of the country invoking them to redeem the promise of the Congress. In order that all might have an opportunity to contribute the amount to be received from any one person was limited to a dollar a year. Agents were everywhere appointed in 1835 and the ensuing years to collect funds, and care is shown to have been taken in their selection by requiring the highest and strongest endorsement of their fitness for the work, and as to private character and being men of respectability. The archives of the Society show that in nearly every instance collectors for a State or Territory were nominated to the Society for appointment by the Senators, Representatives, or leading men of the State or community. To obtain security in the returns front collections, it was required in every case that bond should be given by the agent for the faithful performance of his duty in accounting to the Treasurer of the Society. This method of collecting funds was adhered to until as late as 1855.

The following is the form of a commission that was given to the agents of the Society:

"To all who shall see these presents, Greeting:

Simultaneous with this commission instructions were given requiring the regular rendition of accounts at short intervals, and the deposit of the money collected by them in safe banks to the credit of the Treasurer. For these services a commission, in most cases of ten per centum , was allowed.

In 1835, the President of the Society, John Marshall, died, and he was succeeded in the office by ex-President of the United States James Madison, who, on accepting the position, addressed the Society as follows:

"I am very sensible of the distinction conferred by the relations in which the Society has placed me; and feeling like my illustrious predecessor, a deep interest in the object of the association, I cannot withhold, as an evidence of it, the acceptance of the appointment, though aware that, in my actual condition, it cannot be more than honorary, and that under no circumstances could it supply the loss which the Society has sustained. A monument worthy the name of Washington, reared by the means proposed, will commemorate at the same time a virtue, a patriotism, and a gratitude truly national, with which the friends of liberty everywhere will sympathize and of which our country may always be proud."

The progress of the Society was at first slow, and in 1836 only about ,000 had been collected. This fund was placed in the hands of Gen. Nathan Towson, Samuel H. Smith, and Thomas Munroe, gentlemen of the highest respectability, members of the Society. Under their faithful and judicious management this fund was invested, as also the interest accruing on it, in good stocks or securities. This fund was from time to time augmented by small amounts raised on special occasions by churches, organizations, and meetings of the citizens and collections by agents. The financial difficulties of the Union arising in 1837 operated largely to suspend collections for the monument for several years despite frequent addresses to the people and urgent appeals for funds by the Society and activity by its agents.

In this year, 1836, advertisements were published by order of the Society inviting designs from American artists, but no limitation was placed upon the form of the design. It was determined by the Society, and so recommended, that any plans submitted should "harmoniously blend durability, simplicity, and grandeur." The estimated cost for the proposed monument was not less than one million dollars.

A great many designs were submitted, but the one selected among the number was that of Mr. Robert Mills, a well known and eminent architect of the times.

This plan, as published to the country, was described in the following language:

This design embraces the idea of a grand circular colonnaded building, 250 feet in diameter and 100 feet high, from which springs a obelisk shaft 70 feet at the base and 500 feet high, making a total elevation of 600 feet.

This vast rotunda, forming the grand base of the Monument, is surrounded by 30 columns of massive proportions, being 12 feet in diameter and 45 feet high, elevated upon a lofty base or stylobate of 20 feet elevation and 300 feet square, surmounted by an entablature 20 feet high, and crowned by a massive balustrade 15 feet in height.

The terrace outside of the colonnade is 25 feet wide, and the pronaos or walk within the colonnade, including the column space, 25 feet. The walks enclosing the cella, or gallery within, are fretted with 30 massive antae 10 feet wide, 45 feet high, and 7 1/2 feet projection, answering to the columns in front, surmounted by their appropriate architrave. The deep recesses formed by the projection of the antae provide suitable niches for the reception of statues.

A tetrastyle portico in triple rows of the same proportions and order with the columns of the colonnade, distinguishes the entrance to the Monument, and serves as a pedestal for the triumphal car and statue of the illustrious Chief; the steps of this portico are flanked by massive blockings, surmounted by appropriate figures and trophies.

Over each column, in the great frieze of the entablatures around the entire building, are sculptured escutcheons , surrounded by bronze civic wreaths, banded together by festoons of oak leaves, &c., all of which spring from the centre of the portico, where the coat of arms of the United States are emblazoned.

The statues surrounding the rotunda outside, under the colonnade, are all elevated upon pedestals, and will be those of the glorious signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Ascending the portico outside to the terrace level a lofty vomitoria 30 feet high leads into the cella 50 feet wide, 500 feet in circumference and 60 feet high, with a colossal pillar in the centre 70 feet in diameter, around which the gallery sweeps. This pillar forms the foundation of the obelisk column above.

Both sides of the gallery are divided into spaces by pilasters, elevated on a continued zocle or base 5 feet high, forming an order with its entablature 40 feet high, crowned by a vaulted ceiling 20 feet high, divided by radiating archevaults, corresponding with the relative positions of the opposing pilasters, and enclosing deep sunken coffers enriched with paintings.

This spacious Gallery and Rotunda, which properly may be denominated the "National Pantheon," is lighted in four grand divisions from above, and by its circular form presents each subject decorating it walls in an interesting point of view and with proper effect, as the curiosity is kept up every moment, from the whole room not being presented to the eye at one glance, as in the case of a straight gallery.

Entering the centre pier through an arched way, you pass into a spacious circular area, and ascend with an easy grade, by a railway, to the grand terrace, 75 feet above the base of the Monument. This terrace is 700 feet in circumference, 180 feet wide, enclosed by a colonnaded balustrade, 15 feet high with its base and capping. The circuit of this grand terrace is studded with small temple-formed structures, constituting the cupolas of the lanterns, lighting the Pantheon gallery below; by means of these little temples, from a gallery within, a bird's eye view is had of the statues, &c., below.

To ascend to the summit of the column, the same facilities as below are provided within the shaft, by an easy graded gallery, which may be traversed by a railway, terminating in a circular observatory 20 feet in diameter, around which at the top is a look-out gallery, which opens a prospect all around the horizon.

With reference to the area embraced by the foundations and basement of the Monument and the uses to which they may be applied, the underspace outwards, occupied by the lower terrace and colonnade, may be appropriated to the accommodation of the keepers of the Monument, or those having charge of it and attending on visitors.

In the centre of the Monument is placed the tomb of WASHINGTON, to receive his remains, should they be removed thither, the descent to which is by a broad flight of steps lighted by the same light which illuminates his statue.

The feature of the pantheon surrounding the shaft was never formally and finally adopted by the Society as a part of the Monument. The first purpose was to erect the shaft and to secure funds to that end.

In this year the Society addressed a memorial to Congress praying that a site be accorded the Monument on the public mall. For this purpose a bill was reported in the Senate, which, being under consideration in that body, June 15th, caused much debate and adverse criticism of the Society and its work.

Mr. Roane, replying to an inquiry of Mr. Allen , stated that the sum collected by the Society was about ,000 which was put out at interest.

To this Mr. Allen answered that he believed they had collected more than that sum in his own State.

Mr. Bayard thought that to erect the Monument on the place proposed would be to destroy the whole plan of the mall, and that as far as the prospect was concerned, nothing could be more unfortunate. Besides the means of the Society were very insignificant compared with the object in view, for as they had agents all over the United States collecting simultaneously it was to be presumed they had collected all they were to get.

Mr. Norvell was satisfied that they were incapable of meriting the imputation impliedly, he hoped not intentionally, cast upon them by the Senator from Ohio. He presumed extensive subscriptions had been made to the work, but not yet collected, and that considerable expense must have been incurred in the employment of agents. As to the location of the site he could say nothing, but he was certain that such a monument as proposed ought long since to have been erected to the memory of the illustrious Chief under whose guidance this Nation had been led to victory, liberty, and independence.

Mr. Hubbard thought the original plan of building the Monument by the voluntary contributions of the people ought to be carried out, and that the President and the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds ought to have nothing to do with it. As to the expense, he said, judging from the cost of the Bunker Hill Monument, the ,000 of the Society would not be enough to lay the foundations.

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