History of the Washington National Monument and of the Washington National Monument Society Part 3

In 1845 the Society removed generally the limitation of one dollar as the amount of a subscription. This action seems to have been wise, as the later annual gross receipts were for a time greatly increased.

In view of the previous recognition by the Society of this evil of limitation of contributions, it is surprising that it was not generally removed when it was specially removed for the occasion of the census in 1840.

In 1846 the Society issued a further address "to the American people,"

announcing that it had "appointed the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio, the General Agent of the Society, whose office will be held in Was.h.i.+ngton. To him has been delegated the power of appointing subagents, who will receive a commission on the funds they may collect as a compensation for their services. * * * It is scarcely necessary to remark that the character of the General Agent appointed by the Board of Managers to make additional collections for the Monument is such as to insure success and produce entire confidence. It is known to the whole country; and Mr. Whittlesey's efforts in this new and n.o.ble undertaking, it is hoped, will be crowned with that success which cannot fail to accompany so glorious an object."

It was further said by this address:

"It may be proper to state for the information of the public that the delay in commencing the Monument has been occasioned by the want of a proper site, which the Board had hoped would long since have been granted by Congress. * * * The Board designed at as early period to commence the Monument, but as no site could be obtained sufficientlyy eligible on any other ground than the public mall, near the Potomac, and as that could only be obtained by a grant from Congress, which has not yet been made, that purpose has been unavoidably postponed until the next session of the National Legislature, when it is believed no objection will be made to allow the Board the use of the ground it desires for so laudable and patriotic an object."

This address, signed by the officers of the Society, James K. Polk, _ex officio_ President; Wm. Brent, First Vice-President; Mayor of Was.h.i.+ngton, Third Vice-President; J. B. H. Smith, Treasurer; George Watterston, Secretary; and by the entire Board of Managers, including among the number Maj.-Gen. Winfield Scott, Thos. Carbery, Peter Force, Philip R. Fendall, Gen. Nathan Townson, Gen. Walter Jones, Col. J.

Kearney, J. J. Abert, W. A. Bradley, and Thomas Munroe, contained the following eloquent language:

"The pilgrim to Mount Vernon, the spot consecrated by Was.h.i.+ngton's hallowed remains, is often shocked when he looks upon the humble sepulchre which contains his dust, and laments that no monument has yet reared its lofty head to mark a _Nation's_ grat.i.tude.

"It is true that the 'storied urn, the animated bust,' or the splendid mausoleum, cannot call back the departed spirit, or 'soothe the dull, cold ear of death;' but it is equally true that it can and does manifest the grat.i.tude and veneration of the living for those who have pa.s.sed away forever from the stage of life and left behind them the cherished memory of their virtues. The posthumous honors bestowed by a grateful nation on its distinguished citizens serve the further purpose of stimulating those who survive them to similar acts of greatness and of virtue, while the respect and admiration of the country which confers them upon its children are mere deeply and ardently felt. The character of Was.h.i.+ngton is identified with the glory and greatness of his country. It belongs to history, into which it has infused a moral grandeur and beauty. It presents a verdant oasis on the dreary waste of the world, on which the mind loves to repose, and the patriot and philosopher delights to dwell.

Such a being but seldom appears to ill.u.s.trate and give splendor to the annals of mankind, and the country which gave him birth should take a pride in bestowing posthumous honors on his name. It is not to transmit the name or fame of the ill.u.s.trious Was.h.i.+ngton to future ages that a Monument should be erected to his memory; but to show that the People of this Republic at least are not ungrateful, and that they desire to manifest their love of eminent public and private virtues by some enduring memorial which, like the pyramids of Egypt, shall fatigue time by its duration."

The General Agent, Mr. Whittlesey, submitted a plan which was adopted by the Society for a systematic collection of funds, which included const.i.tuting Congressional districts as distinct collection districts, and in 1847 a circular letter was addressed to Members of Congress respecting the formation of such districts and the appointment of collecting agents therein. As formerly, it was required that the appointee should be well recommended and endorsed by Representatives, Senators, and well-known citizens of the district or State.

It was also determined to specially appeal to the Masonic fraternity of the country.

The agents appointed were supplied with properly prepared blank books for the autograph enrollment of contributors, which books, when filled with names, were to be returned to the office of the Society for deposit and safe keeping.

On the request of the Society, Mrs. James Madison, Mrs. John Quincy Adams, and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton effected an organization of ladies to aid in collecting funds for the proposed Monument. Through appeals, entertainments, fairs, and many social functions given for the purpose by ladies in various parts of the country, there resulted but a very moderate addition to the funds of the Society, but in no way commensurate with its expectations in the premises.

On the 29th of February, 1847, the Society adopted the following resolution offered by Mr. Brent:

"_Resolved_, That the several Consuls of the United States abroad, and the Pursers of the Navy, be requested by the General Agent to solicit subscriptions for the erection of a suitable National Monument to the memory of Was.h.i.+ngton from American citizens, seamen, and others of liberal patriotic feelings, and that the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy be respectfully requested, on behalf of the National Was.h.i.+ngton Monument Society, to cause to be forwarded the letters and papers necessary to accomplish the object embraced in this resolution."

In accordance with this resolve (the consent of the Honorable Secretary of State and the Honorable Secretary of the Navy having been given), a circular letter was prepared and sent out to the persons named in the resolution.

After setting forth the object of the Society, and earnestly appealing for funds to accomplish that purpose, the circular stated a compensation of 20 per cent. would be allowed on funds collected and faithfully accounted for. This circular was accompanied by a supply of "prints," to be distributed to subscribers, as follows:

"Copies of a large portrait of Was.h.i.+ngton, copied from Stuart's painting in Fanueil Hall, Boston.

"Copies of the large print of the design of the Monument."

Smaller prints of the same subjects were also furnished.

The subscriber of $5.00 was to receive one of the large prints; of $8.00, both the large prints; of $1.00, one of the small prints; and to the subscriber of $1.50, both of the small prints.

It was also publicly announced that the corner stone of the Monument would be laid "on the 4th of July next, and arrangements will be made to give to the ceremony a national character corresponding with the character and magnitude of the work."

The accounts of the Treasurer of the Society from time to time show, in response to this _special_ appeal, a considerable collection of funds, especially among the officers and seamen of the Navy.

In 1847, the aggregate of collections and acc.u.mulated interest was some $87,000, which amount was deemed sufficient to justify the Society in beginning the erection of the Monument.

A resolution was adopted that the corner-stone be laid on the 22d of February next "provided that a suitable site can be obtained in time,"

and a committee was appointed to apply to Congress early in the session for a "site on the public mall for the Monument." A committee was also appointed to ascertain "the best terms on which a suitable site on private grounds within the limits of the City of Was.h.i.+ngton can be obtained."

Before the latter committee reported, in response to the memorial by the Society to Congress, desiring action by that body to accord a site for the Monument, on the 31st of January, 1848, Congress pa.s.sed a resolution authorizing the Was.h.i.+ngton National Monument Society to erect "a Monument to the memory of George Was.h.i.+ngton upon such portion of the public grounds or reservations within the City of Was.h.i.+ngton, not otherwise occupied, as shall be selected by the President of the United States and the Board of Managers of said Society as a suitable site on which to erect the said Monument, and for the necessary protection thereof."

January 23, 1848, General Archibald Henderson, Lieut. M. F. Maury, and Mr. Walter Lenox were appointed a committee to make the necessary arrangements to lay the corner-stone, but it being found impossible to make arrangements for that ceremony on the 22d of February, on the 29th of January it was postponed until July 4th following.

SITE OF THE MONUMENT.

The site selected under the authority of the resolution of Congress was the public reservation, numbered 3, on the plan of the City of Was.h.i.+ngton, containing upwards of thirty acres, where the Monument now stands, near the Potomac river, west of the Capitol and south of the President's House. The deed was executed on the 12th day of April, 1849, and was duly recorded among the land records of the District of Columbia on the 22d day of February, 1849.

This deed was executed by James K. Polk, President of the United States, "and in testimony of the selection as aforesaid of the said reservation, numbered three (3), for the purpose aforesaid," was also signed by William Brent, First Vice-President; W. W. Seaton, Second Vice-President; Archibald Henderson, Third Vice-President; J. B. H.

Smith, Treasurer; George Watterston, Secretary; and Peter Force; the signing being "in the presence of Winfield Scott, Nathan Towson, John.

J. Abert, Walter Jones, Thomas Carbery, W. A. Bradley, P. R. Fendall, Thomas Munroe, Walter Lenox, M. F. Maury, Thomas Blagden."

As to the reasons for the selection of this particular site, we find them stated by the Society in an address to the country, in later years, as follows:

"The site selected presents a beautiful view of the Potomac; is so elevated that the Monument will be seen from all parts of the city and the surrounding country, and, being a public reservation, it is safe from any future obstruction of the view. It is so near the river that materials for constructing the Monument can be conveyed to it from the river at but little expense; stone, sand, and lime, all of the best kind, can be brought to it by water from convenient distances; and marble of the most beautiful quality, obtained at a distance of only eleven miles from Baltimore, on the Susquehanna railroad, can be brought either on the railroad or in vessels. In addition to these and kindred reasons, the adoption of the site was further and impressively recommended by the consideration that the Monument to be erected on it would be in full view of Mount Vernon, where rest the ashes of the Chief; and by evidence that Was.h.i.+ngton himself, whose unerring judgment had selected this city to be the Capital of the Nation, had also selected this particular spot for a Monument to the American Revolution, which in the year 1795 it was proposed should be erected or placed at the 'permanent seat of Government of the United States.' This Monument was to have been executed by Ceracchi, a Roman sculptor, and paid for by contributions of individuals. The same site is marked on Major L'Enfant's map of Was.h.i.+ngton City for the equestrian statue of General Was.h.i.+ngton, ordered by Congress in 1783, which map was examined, approved, and transmitted to Congress by him when President of the United States."

It may be here remarked, with reference to the site selected for the Monument, that the foundations were laid but a short distance to the east of the meridian line, run, at the instance of President Jefferson, by Nicholas King, surveyor, October 15, 1804. The report of Mr. King, as found in the Department of State, bears the endors.e.m.e.nt, "to be filed in the office of State as a record of demarcation of the first meridian of the United States." This line, by the President's instructions, pa.s.sed through the center of the White House, and where it intersected a line due east and west through the center of the Capitol a small monument or pyramid of stones was placed--an object which disappeared about the year 1874, in the process of improving the Monument grounds. It would also appear that the center of the District of Columbia, within its original lines, was not far removed northwestward from the Monument as it stands, being near the corner of Seventeenth and C streets, N.W., 1,305 feet north and 1,579 feet west of the Monument. (National Geographic Magazine, vol. 6, p. 149.)

It does not appear, however, that these latter existing facts were in any manner considered by the Board of Managers in the selection of the site for the Monument.

The corner-stone for the Monument, a block of marble weighing "twenty-four thousand five hundred pounds," was quarried and presented to the Society by Mr. Thomas Symington, of Baltimore, Md. On its arrival in the city, the stone was enthusiastically drawn to the site of the Monument by many workmen from the navy yard, and other persons.

In planning the ceremonies to occur on the laying of the corner-stone of the Monument, the Society invited ex-President John Quincy Adams to deliver the oration, but the invitation, however, was regretfully declined by Mr. Adams on account of the state of his health.

Hon. Daniel Webster being requested to deliver the oration declined because of pressure of business and the shortness of the time allowed in which to prepare one.

Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, of Ma.s.sachusetts, Speaker of the House of Representatives, being then requested consented to deliver the oration.

Invitations were sent by the committee of arrangements to Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, Mrs. Dolly P. Madison, Mrs. John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Lewis Ca.s.s, General Sam Houston, Chief Justice Taney, George Was.h.i.+ngton Parke Custis, and other distinguished persons to attend the ceremonies of the laying of the corner-stone. The replies received indicate the interest of those invited in the erection of the Monument to Was.h.i.+ngton.

For the occasion transportation lines entering the District of Columbia reduced their usual rates of travel.

On the 4th of July, 1848, under a bright sky, in the presence of the President and Vice-President of the United States, Senators and Representatives in Congress, Heads of Executive Departments, and other officers of the Government, the Judiciary, Representatives of Foreign Governments, the corporate authorities of Was.h.i.+ngton, Georgetown, and Alexandria, military commands, a.s.sociations of many descriptions, delegations from States and Territories and from several Indian tribes, and a great mult.i.tude of citizens, the corner-stone was laid.

The Rev. Mr. McJilton offered the consecration prayer, and the oration, lofty and eloquent, was delivered by the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop.

Mr. Benj. B. French, Grand Master of the Masonic Fraternity of the United States, then delivered a beautiful and appropriate address, after which he descended to the corner-stone and performed the Masonic ceremonies of laying it.

The gavel used was that employed by George Was.h.i.+ngton, as Master Mason, in the Masonic ceremonies in the laying of the corner-stone of the National Capitol. A patriotic song, written by Robert Treat Paine, was sung, after which the benediction was p.r.o.nounced.

The corner-stone was laid at the northeast angle of the foundation.

Among the distinguished guests on the stand at the laying of the corner-stone were Mrs. Alexander Hamilton (then ninety-one years old), Mrs. Dolly Paine Madison, George Was.h.i.+ngton Parke Custis, and others of eminence.

The proceedings are thus discussed in the papers of the times: