Some forty years after the close of the
Civil War, communities continued to honor their war dead with monuments both
above and below the Mason-Dixon line. In
1904, members of the Grand Army of the Republic, led by Col. J. S. Graham, in
Rochester, NY began the lengthy process of choosing and funding a fitting
tribute to their fallen comrades.
Despite the noble cause, by 1906 they realized
their task was not going to be an easy one to achieve. With donations trickling in and a prevailing
aesthetic indecision of the committee in charge, Graham reached out to George
Eastman, the camera man, to lend his time and, more importantly, his significant
name to the cause. The inclusion of Eastman,
Graham felt, would substantiate public appeals with “a greater confidence if
they can have the testimony” of such a noted man towards “the artistic
character and fitness of the memorial they proposed to erect.”
Early on, the GAR proposed two monuments to
be placed in Rochester’s two largest cemeteries, Holy Sepulchre and Mt. Hope. They suggested both be shafts of identical
design and total $5,000. Their initial call
for submissions garnered designs from three local firms and Thomas and Miller
of Quincy, Ma. After considering all
options, the committee failed to meet a majority vote and decided to continue
their search. It was noted in newspapers
reporting on the committee’s December meeting that “a woman has entered the
competition.” Sallie James Farnham had
informed the group that she would submit “a couple of designs for
consideration.”
How Sally Farnham initially heard of the
committee’s dilemma is unknown. As a
child she attended the nearby Mrs. Porter’s School for Girls and had many
friends in the area. Col. Graham may
have known her father, Col. Edward C. James, and may have been aware of the
success of her monument in Ogdensburg,
NY erected the previous year.
Regardless, she arrived in Rochester in early 1906 to visit the proposed
monument sites and discuss the needs of the committee before submitting her designs. Her warmth and known sense of humor may have
helped her cause because her designs were in the hands of the Citizen’s
Committee with a note lauding “my whole association with you has been such a
pleasant one that I hope the matter will reach a successful completion.”
Her first sketch suggested a bronze eagle,
with an 8ft. wing span “suggesting war”, clutching a bronze flag, which was to extend
down the length of an 18ft. Celtic cross.
The cross is a chiseled pink granite featuring graphic, almost ‘modern’
panel designs I believe to represent Catholic symbols. Some have suggested that the cross was the
design of Claude Fayette Bragdon, a local sculptor, architect and member of the
committee, but absolutely no evidence of this exists. He produces a similar cross in the cemetery
and this may have led some to infer his involvement further than a decision making
one. Her second proposal centered on a
single figure, a 7ft. standard bearer with a “bared and bowed head...suggesting
taps, lights out, everything quiet.” She
offered a similar design she named Defender
of the Flag to the Ogdensburg monument committee in 1904, but they decided
on another of her designs altogether. Bishop
McQuaid, an important and imposing member of the committee, chose the first
sketch for his parish’s site at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in April, 1907. Slight alterations to her original sketch
were made, perhaps due to monetary concerns, and the bronze flag was removed
from the final design. Farnham’s
proposals came in at $10,000, significantly higher than the committee’s
original intent, but both the Citizen’s group and a local veterans group raised
the additional funds.
In October, 1907, Farnham traveled to
Rochester again to meet with the committee to discuss her designs. Reporters suggested the closed, informal
meeting was “lively” and full of “fireworks.”
As a result, Farnham’s monument for Mt. Hope cemetery gained a “drummer
lad” with her suggesting “the intention to express two thoughts, the soldier
typifying battles won and the drummer lad battles to win.” A battle scene was to be presented in a
bronze tablet affixed to the granite base.
In the end, the drummer emerged as a bugler boy and the tablet depicted
the haunting notes of Taps and the beginning lines of Theodore O’Hara’s famous The Bivouac of the Dead.
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| stonecherubs.org |
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| rochesterpublicart.com |
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| suvcw.org |
Farnham began at once the process of
enlarging her sketches to produce them in bronze in her New York studio at 1947
Broadway. The committee became impatient
at one point and questioned her time frame towards completion hoping to have
both monuments in place by June 14, 1908, Flag Day. She responded that she had another important
work that was close to finish. When
asked again about scheduling she responded in a maternal tone, “The new job is
satisfactorily accomplished and he weighs ten pounds. I am nursing him at present and have my
oldest boy to install in school and am moving into town for the winter, and I
also have a few guests to entertain, but I think I can tackle your monument
next week.” Her childhood friend,
Frederic Remington, recorded in his diary that he ran into Farnham at the Roman
Bronze Works foundry and admired her “dandy two-figure soldier group.”
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| Albert R. Stone Negative Collection, Rochester Museum of Science Center, Rochester, NY |
