Barnesville Civil War Monument Move Approved
After 110 years of obscurity in the middle of Southern Cemetery, Barnesville’s Civil War Monument is moving back downtown to the Veterans Plaza near its original home in front of the municipal building.
At last week’s village council meeting, members voted 6-0 to approve the proposal by councilmember Robin Misner to move the town’s Civil War memorial from Southern Cemetery to Veterans Plaza which serves as home to several other memorials dedicated to the area’s fallen and armed forces veterans.
The cost will run between $8,500 to $10,000, Miser said based on an estimated cost provided by Joel Bradio of Bradio Memorials.
Returning the monument downtown was suggested in the early 1990s when the plaza was developed. The 1994 Barnesville Development Council’s community calendar “Hidden Treasures” that featured the memorial on its cover, implied the move would take place the following year. Obviously, that did not happen.
In the intervening years, the Plaza has served as the site for Barnesville’s annual Memorial Day Program and for other events honoring those who have served.
The monument was paid for by the members of the Women’s Relief Corps (WRC), the ladies auxiliary of Civil War Veterans who were members of the Grand Army of the Republic or GAR. During the “Jim Crow Era” both groups were integrated with both African American and Caucasian members as both races fought on the Union side of the conflict.
The Civil War memorial is a stock monument found throughout the northern states. The local monument dealer Colpitts and Boswell handled its purchase, inscriptions and set up. The front of the monument reads “ERECTED BY THE WOMANS RELIEF CORPS IN MEMORY OF OUR COUNTRYS DEFENDERS” and on the rear “BUILT BY COLPITTS – BOSWELL MAY 30, 1900” .
The monument was dedicated on Decoration Day 1900. A photo of the ladies surrounding the monument is found on page 103 of “Barnesville’s 200 Years – A pictorial History”. Within a few years, the consensus was the location didn’t provide ample space for gatherings nor was it an ideal place for a monument. The decision was made to move it to Southern Cemetery. The monument was relocated to the center of the cemetery in 1914.
In that era, a Decoration Day Program would be staged at Moore’s Opera House, currently the location of the Fire and EMS building. Afterwards, a procession of Civil War veterans, WRC members, the local band, dignitaries, and flag waving school children would move from downtown to Greenmount Cemetery – today’s Northern Cemetery – where they would decorate the graves of veterans. The procession would travel back through the downtown business district and on to South Lincoln Avenue and Southern Cemetery where the activity was repeated.
After the monument’s relocation, WRC members would conclude their Decoration Day program surrounding the monument.
As time moved on and Civil War veterans and WRC members dwindled in number, the trek to the cemeteries was dropped. The monument, largely forgotten or altogether unknown by younger generations, became an orphan devoid of its original purpose.
Now, 110 years later, the monument will return downtown, viewed by thousands throughout the year, and a physical reminder of the sacrifices that preserved these United States almost 160 years ago.
