Monuments

Confederate Monument Hemming Park 1899

An occurrence in February 1896 brought lasting change to St. James Park. At the state reunion of United Confederate Veterans (UCV) in Ocala, Charles C. Hemming announced his plan to erect a memorial in honor of Florida’s Confederate soldiers. Members of the local Robert E. Lee Camp of Confederate Veterans immediately invited Hemming to a reception in Jacksonville, which was attended by many prominent citizens. After moving from St. Augustine to Jacksonville at the age of two, Hemming grew up in the City, and local officials hoped that he would select Jacksonville as the site for the monument.

Hemming viewed several possible locations and expressed a preference for the center of St. James Park, where the fountain stood. Though reluctant to replace the popular fountain, the City’s Board of Public Works later gave its approval.

A committee of the Robert E. Lee Camp managed the memorial project. But newspaper accounts appear to indicate that Hemming personally selected the monument, which was then approved by various committees of the UCV.

George H. Mitchell of Chicago, Illinois – a designer, manufacturer, and contractor for artistic memorials – provided the monument. It cost approximately $20,000, and was a joint gift from Charles Hemming and his wife, Lucy Key Hemming, a native of Texas.

The City moved the fountain to the northwest section of St. James Park, and George Mitchell traveled to Jacksonville and supervised installation of the monument in the spring of 1898, during the Spanish American War. At that time, the Springfield section of the City contained thousands of American troops living in a tent city known as Camp Cuba Libre.

The unveiling ceremony took place on June 16, 1898, and coincided with the reunion in Jacksonville of the UCV’s Florida Division. Hemming donated the monument to the State of Florida, and Governor William D. Bloxham accepted the memorial on behalf of the state.

Though Hemming did not attend the dedication, General Fitzhugh Lee, the nephew of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was in the reviewing stand, and the grandson of Union General Ulysses S. Grant watched the unveiling from the piazza of the Windsor Hotel. In addition, both northern and southern troops from Camp Cuba Libre attended the ceremony, and much of the oratory concerned the reuniting of the North and South.

The monument rises sixty-two feet from a square foundation. A column, extends up from the base (both made of Vermont granite), and is topped by the bronze figure of a Confederate soldier in winter uniform. He stands at ease, with hands clasping the barrel of his rifle that rests on the ground, and on his cap are the initials, “J.L.I.”, representing the Jacksonville Light Infantry.

Bronze plaques, with images of Southern heroes sculpted in relief, are mounted on three sides of the base: A bust of Confederate General Kirby Smith on the north; a scene of Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with their drum corps on the west; and a bust of General J.J. Dickinson, commander of the UCV’s Florida Division on the south.

On the east side of the base is a plaque with the following inscription, most likely written by Charles Hemming:

TO THE SOLDIERS OF FLORIDA

This shaft is by a comrade raised in testimony of his love, recalling deeds immortal, heroism unsurpassed.

With ranks unbroken, ragged, starved and decimated, the Southern soldier for duty’s sake, undaunted, stood to the front of the battle until no light remained to illumine the field of carnage, save the luster of his chivalry and courage.

Nor shall your glory be forgot,
While fame her record keeps,

CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL
1861-1865

About Charles C. Hemming:

Charles C. Hemming was the son of Englishman John C. Heming (spelled originally with one “m”), who moved to Jacksonville in the mid 1840’s, and worked both in the real estate business and as a bookkeeper. He also held a variety of public offices, including town auctioneer and City Councilman, and following his death in 1886, was buried in the Old City Cemetery.

The day after Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, seventeen year-old Charles Hemming joined the Jacksonville Light Infantry as a private, and embarked on a fascinating series of Civil War experiences.

His first adventure occurred in March 1862. Following its construction in 1851, the racing schooner America beat the leading yachts in England – coming home with what became the America’s Cup, symbolic of the best in ocean racing. The boat wound up in Confederate hands during the war – rechristened the Camilla. When Federal gunboats trapped the schooner in the St. Johns River, young Charles Hemming and other Confederate troops scuttled the boat in Dunn’s Creek (now Crescent Lake). But Union soldiers later raised the yacht and placed it in federal service.

After fighting in many land battles, Hemming was captured by Union forces at the Battle of Missionary Ridge and sent to an Illinois prison in December 1863. He later escaped to Canada and became a Confederate spy – visiting Federal fortifications throughout the Midwest, during which time he was captured on three different occasions, but escaped each time.

As a secret Confederate emissary, Hemming again made his way to Canada, and also the West Indies, Florida, and Virginia, before rejoining his regiment in North Carolina, where he was promoted for meritorious service.

Following the Civil War, Hemming eventually became cashier for a Texas bank in 1870, and by the time he donated the monument to the State of Florida was President of the Gainesville (Texas) National Bank and also President of the Texas State Bankers Association. Hemming’s granddaughter later submitted his memoir of Civil War experiences to American Heritage magazine, which published the chronicle in December 1984 under the title “A Confederate Odyssey.”

To honor Charles Hemming for his donation of the memorial, the City Council changed the name of St. James Park to Hemming Park on October 26, 1899 (Ordinance E-9).

The Monument to
Women of the Southern Confederacy
in Jacksonville’s Confederate Park Monument-to-Woman-of-the-Southern-Confederacy

Thousands of elderly Confederate veterans camped in tents in Jacksonville’s Springfield Park and Dignan Park on May 6-8, 1914 as part of the 24th annual United Confederate Veterans Reunion. The city later commemorated this event by changing the name from Dignan to Confederate Park on October 15, 1914.

The events leading to the park’s renaming began during a Florida Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans (U.C.V.) in 1900, when its members discussed the possibility of creating a memorial to the Women of the Confederacy. The discussions continued for several years, until the Florida Division of the U.C.V. resolved in 1909 to build the memorial. Its members raised $12,000 toward the cost of a monument, with the remaining $13,000 eventually appropriated by the Florida Legislature. The U.C.V. chose Jacksonville as the site for their twenty-fourth annual reunion in 1914, and Dignan Park as the home for the Memorial Monument.

The U.C.V. signed a contract with the McNeel Marble Company of Marietta, Georgia in February 1912 for the design and installation of the monument, consisting of a granite rotunda and bronze sculptures, at a total cost of $25,000. The company commissioned Allen Newman (1875-1940) to create the sculptures.. Although Newman was a Yankee from New York, he was one of the nation’s leading sculptors of the time, and his selection reveals the Monument committee’s desire to get the most prestigious artist possible for the memorial. Newman created many monumental patriotic memorials throughout the US. including “The Triumph of Peace” (Atlanta); monuments to Henry Hudson (New York), General Sheridan (Scranton, PA), Joel Chandler Harris (Altanta); the figures “Day” and “Night” at Harriman National Bank (New York); the statues of General Oates (Montgomery, AL) and General Sterling Price (Keytesville, MO); and the monumental figures in the North Façade of Exhibit Palaces at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. His two most famous statues are the World War I soldier, “The Doughboy” (1920-1921) and the Spanish-American War soldier, “The Hiker” (1904), casts of which were reproduced in several cities across America. The building permit was issued in July 1912, and the McNeel Marble Company started constructing the 47-foot high rotunda in Dignan Park soon thereafter.

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After Allen Newman shipped the bronze sculptures from New York in March 1915, they were installed at the park by the McNeel Marble Company. Placed within the open rotunda was a six-foot high grouping of a young mother seated on a large pedestal, with an open book in her lap. Her arms encircle a child standing on each side – her young son, who stares attentively at the book, and her little daughter, who gazes openly at the viewer.

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In describing his work, Mr. Newman wrote:

“When the Greeks wished to honor a divinity, they made a statue of note and built a temple around it. …and I have approached the subject from this attitude of reverence. …in brief the group represents the Woman of the South instructing future generations, as well as showing her the most privileged guardian of the home ties.”

monument-to-woman-of-the-southern-confederacy-plaque-1

Engraved at the top of rotunda on the west side is the true and historically accurate name of the this beautiful monument, “A Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy.”

Atop the outer dome of the rotunda, workers placed the other allegorical bronze sculpture: the heroic figure of a young woman. Clothed in Grecian drapery, she stands over thirteen feet high and clasps the fallen banner – a half-furled Confederate flag. Though the steps lead up to the rotunda from the south, both the upper and lower sculptures face west, into the setting sun. A bronze plaque mounted on the pedestal within the rotunda reads:

monument-to-woman-of-the-southern-confederacy-plaque-2

In Memory of the Women of Our Southland, 1861-1865.

Let this mute but eloquent structure speak to generations to come, of a generation of the past. Let it repeat perpetually the imperishable story of our women of the 60’s. Those noble women who sacrificed their all upon their country’s altar. Unto their memory, the Florida Division of the United Confederate Veterans affectionately dedicates this monument.

confed-women8

The formal dedication took place on October 26, 1915, amid fanfare that included a large parade through downtown Jacksonville. Large Confederate flags completely draped the monument prior to the unveiling, which was preceded by several speeches, including an oration by U.S. Senator Duncan Fletcher. General Benjamin Partridge – whose granddaughter Jessie unveiled the monument – then presented the memorial to the City on behalf of the Florida Division.

monument-to-woman-of-the-southern-confederacy-original-postard

An original postcard (pre-construction) for the monument featured a grossly out-of-scale figure on the top,
replaced in the final version with Newman’s graceful but heroic Southern woman. In 2007 the Springfield Improvement Association and Woman’s Club undertook the restoration of the Monument to Women of the Southern Confederacy, which is nearing completion. Sculptor Joe Segal has supervised the cleaning of the statues, and Pedroni’s Cast Stone is doing the restoration of the marble and granite stonework.

monument-to-woman-of-the-southern-confederacy-before-restoration

ove photos show the poor condition of the sculptures before restoration,
and the photo below shows the beautiful finished work.

monument-to-woman-of-the-southern-confederacy-after-restoration