History of the Washington National Monument and of the Washington National Monument Society Part 6

"OFFICE OF "WAs.h.i.+NGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY, "WAs.h.i.+NGTON, _July 1, 1856_.

"IN ACCORDANCE WITH AN ORDER OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS, the public are requested to pay no more contributions for the Was.h.i.+ngton National Monument to agents heretofore commissioned by the Board.

"This notice is not to be construed as a censure on the agents, but it is designed to effectuate a general settlement of the affairs of the Society. The Board is well a.s.sured of eventual success in the patriotic enterprise in which it is engaged, but it has resolved to suspend further proceedings by agency until a plan, now under consideration, for combining efficiency, prompt.i.tude, and safety, is matured.

"Balances due from agents, or offerings from independent contributors, are to be sent by draft, _payable to the order of the Treasurer of Was.h.i.+ngton National Monument Society_, enclosed in a letter to the undersigned.

"By order: SAMUEL YORKE ATLEE, "_Secretary W. N. M. S._

"N. B.--Editors throughout the United States will confer a favor on the Society and benefit the public by publis.h.i.+ng this notice and sending to the Secretary a copy of the paper containing the same."

Manifestly, the rival claims of the two Boards of Managers, and the office, books, papers, and property of the Society and the Monument itself, being in the possession and control of a narrow political faction, practically arrested the work of the Society's agents in the collection of funds and further building operations.

The "Know-Nothing" Board, as apparent evidence of its earnestness in the premises, and presumably to support its appeal for funds (several later ones being issued) and to establish public confidence, proceeded to add two courses of stone to the height of the shaft by the use of marble on the ground when it took possession. But this marble, in the main, were blocks which had been theretofore rejected and condemned as unfit for use. In later years, on the final resumption of work on the Monument, these courses were removed by the engineer in charge of its construction.

The receipts of the Society for the year 1855, from January 3d to February 20th, amounted to $695; for the remainder of that year, to $51.66--evidence of the result of the dispossession of the Society and the disinclination of the public to contribute funds under the existing conditions.

The "Know-Nothing" Board continued in possession of the Monument until October 25, 1858.

The political party which it represented disintegrating, and not being able to secure contributions toward building the Monument, or to awaken any interest in the enterprise, it concluded to surrender possession of the Monument.

On the date named the surrender was made, and the Society was reinstated in the possession of its office, books and papers, and the Monument. A number of collectors' filled subscription books, however, were missing.

The Treasurer of the out-going Board pa.s.sed to the Treasurer of the Society, through the Bank of Was.h.i.+ngton, December 14, 1858, the sum of $285.09. The full amount collected by the "Know-Nothing" Board during over three years of its control does not appear.

At a meeting, December 28, 1858, the Society reappointed the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey its General Agent. A committee previously appointed reported on the present condition of the Monument and other property of the Society, by which it appeared that the engine house and some other buildings on "Monument place" were in a dilapidated condition, though the engine and boiler were in good order; that of two large cranes for hoisting stone at the wharves, one had fallen down, the other had disappeared; that marble valued at $300 had been taken away; that the rope wove through a block at the top of the Monument to enable persons to ascend had been pulled down, and no means remained for ascent of the shaft save by scaffolding on the inside. "It will require an expenditure of at least $2,000 to place the fixtures and machinery in a condition to enable your Board to resume the progress of the work."

The enterprise having now pa.s.sed into the hands of the Society again, they proceeded at once to make suitable arrangements for the conservation of the Monument and protection of the grounds and other property connected with it. Admonished by the transaction of February 22, 1856, and its results, of the legal difficulties in the way of voluntary a.s.sociation, consisting of members residing in all parts of the Union, they applied to Congress for a charter.

This was at length granted. On the 22d of February, 1859, an act pa.s.sed Congress, and was approved by the President on the 26th of the same month, incorporating "The Was.h.i.+ngton National Monument Society * * *

for the purpose of completing the erection now in progress of a great National Monument to the memory of Was.h.i.+ngton at the seat of the Federal Government." The incorporators named were Winfield Scott, Walter Jones, John J. Abert, James Kearney, Thomas Carberry, Peter Force, William A.

Bradley, Philip R. Fendall, Walter Lennox, Matthew F. Maury (as survivors of the grantees of the site under the grant made by President Polk), and Jonathan B. H. Smith, William W. Seaton, Elisha Whittlesey, Benj. Ogte Tayloe, Thomas H. Crawford, William W. Corcoran, and John Carroll Brent.

The charter vested in and confirmed to the Society all the eas.e.m.e.nts, rights, privileges theretofore held by the Society under the name of incorporation, and all thereafter to be acquired, for the purpose of erecting the Monument; provided for the election of officers and for exercising the right of amotion; that the President of the United States should be _ex officio_ President of the Society, and the Governors of the several States should be respectively _ex officio_ Vice-Presidents; gave the right to sue and be sued, and rendered the members of the Society liable in their individual capacities for any indebtedness contracted in the name of the Society.

ORGANIZATION OF THE WAs.h.i.+NGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY UNDER THE CHARTER.

The meeting for the organization of the Society under the charter granted by Congress took place on Tuesday evening, March 22, 1859, in the aldermen's chamber, in the City Hall, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

President James Buchanan, as _ex officio_ President of the Society, presided.

Mr. Fendall very briefly reviewed some of the circ.u.mstances out of which the original Society had sprung, stating that but four of its members now survived, and the object and aim of the Society were remarked.

Eloquently referring to Was.h.i.+ngton, he concluded:

"The completion of the Monument now in progress is far more important to the fame of the American people than to the fame of Was.h.i.+ngton."

The President, rising, referred to his efforts to awaken the interest of Congress in the erection of a monument to Was.h.i.+ngton while he was a member of the House in 1824.

"It was considered at that time (1824), and so remarked in Congress, that it was rather an indignity that any effort should be made to raise a monument to the honor and memory of Was.h.i.+ngton besides that which existed in the hearts of his countrymen."

Mr. Buchanan concluded:

"Not only in this country is his name loved and revered beyond that of all other men, but abroad, in foreign lands, our country is ill.u.s.trated by him, and his name is never mentioned but as that of the purest, most unselfish patriot that ever lived; not only the most unselfish, but the most self-sacrificing of whom history has kept record."

Resolutions were then offered, accepting the act of incorporation by Congress, and making the charter the Const.i.tution of the Society, providing for an annual election on the 22d of February of each year, and such other meetings as might be duly called; the officers of the Society to be a First Vice-President, (to be the Mayor of Was.h.i.+ngton;) Second and Third Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer and Secretary, committees to draft and report by-laws and to define and prescribe the duties of officers and agents, and to prepare "An Address to the People of the United States."

Maj.-Gen. Winfield Scott was chosen Second Vice-President, Thomas Carberry, Third Vice-President; J. B. H. Smith, Treasurer; and John Carroll Brent, Secretary.

Every effort was now put forth to revive public interest in the Monument, and to obtain substantial aid for its completion, the Society exercising great patience, forbearance, and industry to restore matters to their former condition.

The plan now proposed and to be carried into execution was the securing of contributions from voters at all munic.i.p.al and general elections, and appropriations by State Legislatures and the invoking by circular letter of aid from all political, corporate, or voluntary bodies, the Army and Navy, _all_ a.s.sociations, societies, churches, and individuals.

June 6, 1859, at a general election in the City of Was.h.i.+ngton, contributions were received at the polls towards the funds of the Society amounting to $150.76.

In the result of this first renewed attempt to raise money to complete the Monument the Society, however, was not discouraged.

The matter was noticed in a daily paper in an article which, after referring to the former dispossession of the Society and the long "silence" at the base of the Monument, said:

"It was not till this state of things unhappily took place that the popular enthusiasm drooped and cooled, and it is hardly fair to expect a resuscitation in an hour or a day. We trust, however, that the night is far spent; that the day is at hand, and even the tribute of the voters of Was.h.i.+ngton on Monday last, small as it was, is an evidence of new life and returning vigor.

"It will require on the part of the Monument Board the exercise of patience and forbearance as well as industry to restore matters to the condition they once were in."

In April, 1859, the Society applied to the Honorable the Secretary of War for the detail of an officer of the Corps of Topographical Engineers to a.s.sume the duty of Engineer of the Monument and to superintend its construction.

June 7, 1859, a letter was received from the Hon. John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, stating that in compliance with the Society's request he had detailed Lieut. J. C. Ives, of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, to act under the direction of the Society as Engineer and Architect of the Monument. Subsequently, Lieutenant Ives reported for duty to the officers of the Society. In his letter advising of the detail of Lieutenant Ives, Secretary Floyd stated:

"The favorable auspices under which the enterprise has been resumed encourage the hope that this reproach will be removed. Composed of gentlemen of well-known standing, * * * the Society has a claim upon the confidence of the public that is the surest guarantee of the success of its labors."

Doubts having been raised as to the stability of the material which had been employed in building the Monument and as to the sufficiency of its foundations to support the shaft at its proposed height of 600 feet, Lieutenant Ives, on the 10th of August, 1859, made a report upon the subject after a careful examination of all the conditions, which recited, in part:

"To those who are aware of the care which was taken in laying the foundation of the Monument, both in the selection and preparation of the bed and in the execution of masonry work, it will be scarcely necessary to enter into any statement in regard to its present condition. * * * For five years during which the work has been suspended, the foundation has been bearing about four-sevenths of the pressure that it will ultimately be required to sustain, and, in a recent examination, I was unable to detect any appearance of settling or indication of insecurity. * * * Whether the height of 600 feet can be attained without endangering the stability of the obelisk, a computation is herewith subjoined, from which it would appear that, without taking into consideration the adhesion of the mortar, the weight alone of the structure would offer a resistance nearly eight times greater than the overturning effort of the heaviest tempest to which it would probably ever be exposed."

The conclusions of this report set at rest at that time all doubts that had existed as to the stability of the Monument completed and of its foundation.

A proposition, submitted by Lieutenant Ives, to raise funds by erecting contribution boxes in the post-offices throughout the country, const.i.tuting postmasters agents of the Society for their care and supervision and the transmission of money thus collected to the Treasurer of the Society, was adopted, and Lieutenant Ives was charged with the execution of the plan. Amounts collected from the boxes were sent directly to the Treasurer, and memoranda of the same to Lieutenant Ives, a record being also kept at the Was.h.i.+ngton City post-office of all letters addressed to that officer as Engineer of the Monument.

May 17, 1859, the Society published and circulated a general appeal to the public. Collateral to the raising of funds by the "post-office plan," agents were appointed, under bond (allowed the usual 15 per cent.

on the amount of collections to defray their expenses), in defined districts to solicit contributions, and a circular appeal was _specially_ addressed to corporations, literary and benevolent inst.i.tutions, to schools, organizations, the Masonic fraternity, and to officers of the Navy in command, asking their aid to bring the subject before the officers and men under them.

At the end of the first _four_ months under Lieutenant Ives' plan returns were had from 841 post-offices, the sums aggregating $2,240.31 (some 28,000 offices making no response at all), an amount far short of hope. It had been estimated that $45,000 a year would be required to keep the work on the Monument in fair progress when again resumed.

Aside from the post-office receipts, the most considerable items collected in this year were: Contribution box at the Monument, $822.40; box at the Patent Office, $396.26; California, $1,000; from collections in the City of Was.h.i.+ngton, $49.73. The entire receipts for the year were $3,074.96, while the expenditures made in preparation to resume work, printing, &c., amounted to $1,429.39.

On the 15th of March, 1859, at the Masonic National Convention held in the City of Chicago, a number of the wives, daughters, and sisters of Masons in attendance upon the Convention, a.s.sembled in the "Richmond House" and formed a "Ladies' National Was.h.i.+ngton Monument a.s.sociation to aid in the completion of the Was.h.i.+ngton Monument now being erected in Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C." Mrs. Finley M. King, Port Byron, N. Y., was elected President, and Mrs. John L. Lewis, Penn Yan, N. Y., Secretary and Treasurer, and Vice-Presidents were appointed, residents of different States, among the number Mrs. Reuben Hyde Walworth, N. Y.; Mrs. Robert M. Henderson, Mo.; Mrs. Floride C. Cunningham, S. C.; Mrs. William Sheets, Ind.; Mrs. Margaret C. Brown, Fla.; Mrs. Elbert H. English, Ark.; Mrs. Giles M. Hillyer, Miss.; Mrs. Jane Van Wagoner, N. J.; Mrs.

Martha E. Holbrook, Or.; Mrs. Gilbert C. Morell, Neb.; Mrs. William S.

Long, Cal.; Mrs. John G. Saxe, Vt.; Miss Sallie Bell, Tenn.; Mrs.

Richard Vaux, Pa.