Pieces of a Civil War statue pulverized by big rig in an Ohio township were reassembled. Now the old soldier is guiding efforts to build a new monument

The Sherman statue was reassembled piece by piece to serve as a guide (Photos Nicholas Fairplay)

English-born Nicholas Fairplay has carved gargoyles, lions and even the severed head of John the Baptist -- providing museum-quality creations to cathedrals and historic buildings around the world.

But it is the replica of a simple statue of a Civil War soldier that now has the attention of Fairchild, who has toiled for years in the Cleveland area.

 A tractor trailer rig struck the monument in the rural village of LaGrange, Ohio, on June 28, 2022. The granite memorial, which was made up of several pieces, was shattered. Even the soldier's head was broken off.

The community’s spirit, however, was not squashed.

After finalizing a $923,244 settlement with the trucking company’s insurance company, LaGrange Township hired Fairplay and Cleveland Quarries to make new versions of the statue and other parts of the monument. (At left, the monument before its destruction, photo LaGrange Township)

They are working from the original statue -- painstakingly glued together by Fairplay and an assistant to use as a template for the new one. “We saved every shard of granite we could possibly pick up,” said LaGrange Township trustee Rita Canfield.

The township hopes the fixture at the intersection of routes 301 and 303 (Main Street) will be back up for Memorial Day 2025. That coincides with the 200^th anniversary of the township and the 150^th for the village. (They are separate political entities).

To say the Sherman monument, as locals call it, is vital to the area’s identity might be an understatement. It sits smack dab in the middle of the community, which has about 2,500 residents.

Fairplay says you can drive through LaGrange in about two minutes. “When you are at the statue in the middle, you drive an eighth of a mile, you are out of the town either way.”

The township is determined that the new Sherman is faithful to the old one in every way, from the pose and flag of the Federal soldier to the stacked blocks below him that feature battles and the names of area men who served and died in the war.

There was discussion on where to get the granite, with Georgia as an option. Forget that.

“The community said it could not get it from the South. They had to get it from the North,” said Canfield. The decision was to procure it again from a quarry in Vermont. Another operation in that state provided the stone for the original 1903 statue.

The piece was shattered into dozens of pieces, including its head (Photos LaGrange Township)

Fairplay told the Picket the Sherman monument was nicely done. He has worked on a couple other Civil War memorials.

“These little towns, when you go to them, it is shocking how many died,” he said.

The master carver is working in a studio at Cleveland Quarries, which is milling the soldier for carving by Fairplay. The company also is producing all the pieces below the figure at its operation in Vermilion.

“There has been a lot of surprise from people when they hear the monument would be rebuilt,” said Cleveland Quarries president Zach Carpenter. “They assume (that) after some of the controversy with different historical monuments in other parts of the country. We are very proud to be a part of this project and are extremely happy it is being returned to its original state.”

Nicholas Fairplay will work from this milled granite once it is complete (Cleveland Quarries)

Statue was turned around to face the South

The monument is owned by the township and is the center point of the village.

The base carried the names of LaGrange area residents who served during the Civil War, the names of a few battles and of Union generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas. Though the statue is not of Sherman – who was from Ohio – his name stuck.

The township points out that Sherman faced north for the first decade of his life. He was turned around, with the explanation that “a good solider never turned his back on the enemy.”

After the traffic accident, officials ensured that virtually every piece, down to chips, of the monument were stored so they could serve as a guide for the replica.

Before and after the truck crash that took out the monument, flagpole and more

Truckers often use Route 301 through town. A series of crashes, culminating with the loss of the soldier, prompted officials to place bright yellow metal poles – known as bollards – to warn motorists of the vulnerable circle.

Cleveland Quarries will donate large sandstone blocks to replace the bollards. “We are pretty confident if someone fails to stop, if they hit the couple tons they will come to a stop,” Canfield said in a bit of understatement.

There are aesthetic reasons, too, said Carpenter.

“In doing site visits, we thought would be far more attractive to have natural stones in place of the yellow bollards,” he said. “I personally am from a community very near Lagrange and wanted to be sure that the monument would look as best (as) possible when complete.”

One of the Civil War campaigns being noted in the new monument (Cleveland Quarries)

Canfield said the settlement will fund the monument, a new flagpole, lights and other infrastructure on the circle. “It could not be better spent. The insurance settlement was an attempt to make this community whole. We are not using taxpayer money,” she said.

They scanned original as guide to cutting block

While New Hampshire is known as the Granite State, its neighbor Vermont has plenty for sale.

Cleveland Quarries and Fairplay will work with Stanstead grey stone from Polycor. “We are part of an enduring Vermont industry centered in Barre, dating back to the period just after the War of 1812,” Polycor says on its website.

“The most challenging part of this project so far has been the size and weight of the granite. One of the blocks procured was well over 50,000 pounds at the start,” Carpenter said. “We had the blocks cut at the quarry and then had to cut them two more times in several cases to get the pieces required. While we have some of the largest CNC stone saws available certain parts of the project pushed our capacity to the limit.” (At right, Nicholas Fairplay shows off the reassembled statue. Photo LaGrange Township)

A 10,000-pound block of granite was shipped for the soldier’s statue. Incidentally, the design of the soldier came from a pattern used to produce similar pieces across the North.

Craftsmen used a wand to scan the glued-back soldier and that was projected into a computer. “They kind of stitched it together. They put it into a 3D model you can rotate,” said Fairplay.

Cleveland Quarries is milling the statue, using a router to cut out the basic form. Carpenter said he expects to finish that piece this week and have it ready for Fairplay to get to work. “It comes off like a blob,” said the carver.

From there, he and an assistant will use a pneumatic chisel to do the exacting details. It will take them several months, while Fairplay splits time with a project for the Hellenistic Preservation Society of Northeastern Ohio.

The benefits and risks of using granite

I asked Fairplay, 67, to extol the virtues of various stone used in carving larger pieces.

While marble is gorgeous, it has a hard time standing up to Ohio’s climate. Marble really needs to be inside.” Limestone, he says, is durable.

Granite is the most durable, being impervious to water. Carvers, however, crave a very fine form of the stone. “You can’t quite get as fine a detail as marble.” (At left, preparing to mount the head of the original Civil War statue. Photo Nicholas Fairplay)

 “The granite tools are much blunter” and the material is not as forgiving, said Fairplay, who has plied the trade since he was 16. The dust from granite is carcinogenic so he and the assistant will be wearing a mask and using extraction fans.

The carver will work on the statue and crossed rifles on a block below.

Fairplay describes the soldier as having undersized feet and hands. “I think his legs are a little shorter for this height.”

“He is carved quite simple but (is) a heroic, nostalgic statue. It is not a Greek or Roman statue emphasizing portraiture.” The work will include the U.S. flag leaning out and a tree stump next to the right leg. “Most have tree stumps or drapery because the weight of the statue will not be (supported) by the ankles,” said Fairplay.

“The only tricky bit is the piercing between the hands and legs.”

Carver decries removal of Civil War monuments

The monument very much harkens the Victorian age of sentimentality and pride. “The eyes are done very deep,” Fairplay observed.

Canfield, the township trustee, says local folks strongly support veterans, including the display of honor wreaths and related events.

And Fairplay feels strongly about historic monuments, citing the removal of Civil War statues, mostly in the South.

“To lose that kind of history is a big mistake. I get really angry at them taking Confederate ones down, too. It is ridiculous.” He says art is an easy target.

As for Cleveland Quarries, craftsmen will ensure pieces are identical to the original. (At right, rubbings of the words on the monument to be used for replica stones. Photo LaGrange Township)

“Most important and detailed will be the list of names that was damaged,” said Carpenter. “We have already gone to great lengths to reassemble the broken pieces and cross reference historical documents to make sure the names will appear exactly as they did.”

As for the original Sherman once his replica is made? There’s talk of him being saved, perhaps on display somewhere.