|
MONUMENT AT PARIS, TEX.
Paris, Tex., has a handsome monument which was erected at a cost of five
thousand dollars through the long and persistent efforts of the
Daughters of the Confederacy. It is located in the courthouse yard. It
is a sixteen-foot shaft of gray Texas granite with figures of bronze.
The base is of solid blocks of granite which support large busts of
President Davis, Gens. R. E. Lee, T. J. Jackson, and J. E. Johnston. The
capping figure is a private soldier seven feet high in marching
attitude. The monument is very handsome, and the citizens of Paris are
justly proud of it. |
| |
| PRIVATE SOLDIER MONUMENT AT PARIS, TEX.
|
| One of
the handsomest monuments erected to the private Confederate
soldier by any one Chapter of the U. D. C. is that at Paris,
Tex., built by the Lamar Chapter, No. 258, and recently unveiled
with appropriate ceremonies. The monument is artistic,
emblematic, and historic. It was designed by Capt. O. C. Connor,
who has been the mainstay and support of the Daughters in their
efforts to raise the $5,000 necessary to pay all expenses,
$4,600 of this amount going to pay for the monument proper. The
base, nine feet square, is of red Texas granite, and surmounting
it are the gray Texas granite blocks and the bronze figure of
the private soldier. |
| |
| The
impressiveness of the monument is not so much in the height,
which is only twenty and a half feet, as it is the massive
solidity of the structure and the admirably blended proportions
of the whole. On the four sides of the sub-base are the bronze
busts of President Davis, Gens. R. E. Lee, Albert Sidney
Johnston, and Stonewall Jackson. Beneath each bust is an
appropriate inscription, indicative of the man. |
| |
|
Mrs. 0. C.
Connor, President of the Chapter, whose active and untiring
efforts succeeded in building this magnificent monument, pulled
the cord that dropped the veil from the figure, amid the
applause of the vast assemblage, and Judge Rufus Hardy, of
Corsicana, delivered the address. The busts of President Davis
and his distinguished generals were unveiled separately. Mary,
the little daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Jesse Pierce, uncovered the bust of Mr. Davis,
and Hon. W. Hodges delivered a eulogy on the life and character
of the distinguished patriot and statesman. Hon. E. S. Connor
paid a beautiful tribute to R. E. Lee, when the bunting fell
exposing the beloved and well-known face of the greatest captain
of modern times. The placid but stern face of Stonewall Jackson
was unveiled by Miss Everita Bray, and Hon. Fred Dudley
responded in an address vividly portraying the life and
character of Lee’s greatest lieutenant. Private J. M. Long, who
lost a leg at Shiloh, where Albert Sidney Johnston lost his
life, responded when the bust of this distinguished soldier was
uncovered. The proceedings were interspersed with recitations
and vocal and instrumental music by the young people present. |
|
