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.

Kennesaw's Wallis house and Civil War signal station: Georgia Tech student creates 3D drawings to help in new interpretation of field hospital, HQ site

The side and front of the closed Wallis house (Picket photos) and Union Maj, Gen. O.O. Howard

Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard made a wise choice by picking the Josiah Wallis house for his headquarters during the Union advance on Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia. Rising near the circa 1853 dwelling is Harriston Hill, which was a perfect spot for a signal station because of its sweeping view of the valley leading to the Confederate lines atop the mountain.

The Wallis House, which served as a field hospital for both sides in June 1864, survives today. though it is in pretty rough condition. Harriston Hill, also known as Signal Hill, includes remnants of Confederate earthworks. Now part of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, the two sites – separated by a subdivision -- await new use. The park says they can add a largely missing element: interpreting to visitors the Federal strategy at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

There’s a lot of work being conducted before that goal is accomplished.

A master of architecture candidate at Georgia Tech in Atlanta has used LiDar (remote sensing technology) and a drone to create a model of the Wallis House for the National Park Service, which operates the park. He is wrapping up drawings for use in a historic structure report (HSR) that will be completed by the park next spring and used as a launching point on recommendations for use of the properties.

The two marked park parcels at left, features of the Wallis house at right (NPS, click to enlarge)

“Any time you have a chance to get to know a building is exciting, to understand it’s story a little more,” said Danielle Willkens, an associate professor of architecture at Georgia Tech. “You are on hallowed ground and that is palpable. There is another level of responsibility attached to the site.”

Willkens and student Thomas Bordeaux have been working with Suzanne Roche, the park’s first archaeologist. She told the Picket officials would like to see the two-bedroom Wallis house available to park visitors at some point, but it will require repairs and upgrades.

“Everyone is excited about having this house,” Roche said during a recent phone call. “They (park rangers) have been incorporating some interpretive information in their talks.”

It took years to protect and transfer site to park service

The Georgia Tech survey and a November 2021 NPS cultural landscape report on the Wallis farm and Signal Hill have brought new energy to the site, which has largely been out of the headlines in recent years.

The Wallis house was in “imminent danger” of being demolished, according to an NPS official who provided a statement to Congress in June 2010 in support of enlarging the park to include the sites. A developer had purchased 27 acres, including Harriston Hill and the Wallis homestead, in 2002, according to the official. 

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, recalls arguing against a rezoning for much of Signal Hill. “Although the Wallis house parcel was not part of the rezoning application, I said that the house and Signal Hill were both parts of a whole, both contributing to the site’s significant history.”

Working with the Cobb Land Trust, the Cobb County government acquired seven acres from the developer, including the farm and hill. About 43 homes are in the subdivision.

The land was donated to the federal park years later, in 2019, after Congress finally permitted expansion of the boundaries. (At left, entrance to the subdivision, Picket photo). The Covid crisis slowed action in 2020.

“I certainly agree this has been a long struggle,” Crawford told the Picket in an email.

“The inherent problem is making the building safe to visit (and up to code on electric, plumbing, HVAC) while still restoring its historical appearance.”

The house is off-limits, but that may change one day

Today, the setting is hardly bucolic. Cars whizz by on two busy highways – Burnt Hickory Road and Ernest W. Barrett Parkway – and the 41-home subdivision separates the Wallis house and Signal Hill. The park has no trespassing signs around the house, which is largely obscured by trees and vegetation. It allows no visitors to the property, citing safety and security concerns. Walking along Burnt Hickory is not recommended.

The 2021 cultural landscape report details ways to interpret the sites. At Signal Hill, some of the trees could be thinned so that visitors could get a view of Big and Little Kennesaw mountains. A trail to the entrenchments, which need to be stabilized, and other features could be built, along with interpretive markers. The Wallis farm could feature an outdoor education area, parking, restroom and signs.

The clash at Kennesaw Mountain was a costly, but brief setback during the Federal advance on Atlanta. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, commander of Union forces, was at the Wallis house during the Battle of Kolb’s Farm to the south.

Park and local officials are hoping the home can tell several stories, possibly featuring an exhibit on the role of African-American soldiers and civilians during the Civil War.

“General Howard is an important historical figure because of his successful leadership on the battlefield and his post-Civil War support of former slaves as head of the Freedmen's Bureau and founder of Howard University,” says the NPS.

His grandpa got tired of relic collectors

The Wallis house has been vacant for more than two decades. The site includes the home, original well and remains of two chicken coops and a smokehouse.

Commentary on a Historical Marker Database page about the dwelling includes a description by a Georgia man who said his grandfather acquired the land in the 1940s or 1950s.

“At the time of the purchase there were still doors inside the home with damage from a small skirmish fought on the property and within the home itself. Many floor boards were missing, and the house was in a general state of disrepair,” wrote Martin Jordan.

“It was not uncommon at all during the ‘60s and on for my grandfather to have to chase off relic seekers from the property surrounding the house, which was lined with trenches and earthworks,” Jordan added.

They don't build 'em like they used to

Willkens, the Georgia Tech professor, said the project has provided an ideal way for students to engage in preservation work. Bordeaux spent several days scanning the site, which was “very difficult” because of tree cover. The lack of other historic buildings nearby provided challenges on context.

Willkens (right) describes the house as a standard vernacular cottage, though its construction is a bit of a mystery. She thought at first it may have been a gable and saltbox style, but that is not the case. “It has some atypical arrangements.”

For some reason, the builders did not remove a massive tree stump before construction, she said.

The team took paint samples, ascertaining the original colors and is working with experts at the Smithsonian Institution to learn more about wood used in the dilapidated building.

“That house was probably built a lot better than something built five years ago,” said Willkens. “They have old growth trees, some additional redundancy in the structure.”

Postwar additions include a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and back porch. Roche said no decision has been made about their fate, though the 2021 report suggests removing modern features.

The park would not provide photos of the home’s interior or Georgia Tech’s model and drawings, saying it wants to be careful in disseminating information and to safeguard the integrity of the site. Roche would not speak to the condition of the house. “You can walk inside it.”

The archaeologist and Willkens believe the structure can be saved.

Next steps in making the idea a reality

As stated earlier, the effort to save the house, give it permanent protection and have it help tell the story of the Atlanta Campaign is a long one.

A 1953 Wallis house marker along busy Burnt Hickory Road (Picket photo)

Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta, for years saw an incredible housing boom and development. While that was a boon for newcomers, preservationists and historians decried the loss of Civil War sites or land to development.

Now there’s an opportunity to offer something new in the telling of the battle.

“We are excited things are going on at the house,” said Roche. NPS historians visited the site just last week.

Much remains to be done. An engineer will need to study the feasibility of making repairs and restoring the Wallis house to its wartime appearance.

Thousands of cars travel past the house each day (Picket photo)

And officials will need to consider the cost of the project, its risks (concerns about vandalism) and rewards (enhanced interpretation). Major improvements on both sites could run into the millions of dollars. One feature now in place is a parking lot at the entrance of the subdivision allowing access to Signal Hill.

All of this will go in to the historic structure report (HSR), which is an involved process involving a lot of back and forth. “When we receive the recommendations from the HSR on how to proceed with either rehabilitation or restoration of the house, we will release the plans to the public for comment,” said Roche.

The archaeologist said acquiring such a historical treasure this many years later is not common, “which is why it is exciting.”

“We are really excited about hopefully being able to interpret this to the public,” said Roche.

B*ATL still raising money to restore monuments to US, Confederate generals; city advisory panel suggests keeping both

Monument to Confederate general is only a battered remnant (Picket photo)

Vintage post card shows it had more features (Courtesy of B*ATL)

A neighborhood group that wants to restore two Battle of Atlanta monuments – one to a Federal general, the other to a Confederate – is carefully navigating the national conversation about what to do with monuments that honored Southern generals and leaders.

“The Battle of Atlanta can be the beginning of a conversation about race,” leader Henry Bryant wrote last year in a Zocalo Public Square article.

“Our group’s mission has always been to explore American history -- not just the Confederacy and not just the Union,” Bryant wrote. The nonprofit Battle of Atlanta (B*ATL) Commemoration Organization includes multiple aspects of the city’s history, including civil rights, in its neighborhood tours and activities, he said.

A monument fund-raising hike about the battle is planned for this Sunday afternoon (April 29).

Months after Bryant’s article, B*ATL spoke before a study committee appointed by then-Mayor Kasim Reed. That panel was tasked with making recommendations on what to do with city-owned monuments and street names paying tribute to the Confederacy.

15 -- McPherson marker, 16 -- Walker (Picket map)

B*ATL for several years has been raising money to cover a $192,000 restoration of old monuments to Union Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson and Confederate Maj Gen. William H.T. Walker. McPherson was killed when he rode into Confederate lines early during the July 22, 1864, Battle of Atlanta. Less than a mile away, Walker was knocked out of his saddle by a sniper.

Battle marker, or one with a message?

It’s the Walker monument, of course, that came under scrutiny.

“It was pointed out that both monuments, by marking the sites of the deaths, had as much to do with the shooters” as with the killed officers, Bryant recently told the Picket.

The advisory committee, while recommending changes for other monuments, recommended that what’s left of the weathered Walker monument – dedicated in 1902 and located on a small city patch of land – be kept.

The McPherson monument on McPherson Avenue (Picket photo)

How it looked in its early years (Courtesy of B*ATL)

In its report submitted in November, the committee said it considered a monument’s purpose and whether it omitted key information or glorified the Confederacy. The Lost Cause view of the war, promulgated by white Southerners in the decades following the conflict, contends the conflict was justified and about defending states’ rights. Such a view, the advisory committee found, “ignores the moral atrocities of slavery.”

While considering emotional attachments to monuments, the committee made distinctions about their purpose, and that thinking was evident in the Walker monument recommendation.

Gen. Walker

“This monument represents an important companion to the McPherson monument when telling the story of the Battle of Atlanta. The committee recommends that B*ATL be responsible for appropriate contextualization of this monument. It is the opinion of the committee that this monument is a battlefield marker and does not serve a purpose of glorification, but rather is a reminder of an important historical event. Public comments indicate that the neighborhood has embraced the two monuments and its site on the location of the battlefield as an important part of its identity. The committee supports retention of the monument and its continued support by B*ATL and the adjoining neighborhoods.”

Walker monument in limbo

The Walker monument’s fate is not certain. Reed left office without taking action in December, as had been expected. The matter is now under the administration of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

The issue of Confederate monuments, more than five months since the recommendations were filed, does not appear to be a priority. City Hall is under criticism or investigation for a number of reasons, including a bribery probe that predates when Bottoms took office.

The Picket asked Atlanta officials for a status update.

“As of now, there aren’t any scheduled meetings of the committee, or possible updates or announcements confirmed,” said Melissa J. Martin, public information officer for the Department of City Planning.

Walker monument is off-center and near a busy road (Picket photo)

Bryant acknowledged that the issue remains sensitive, given the McPherson and Walker memorial are in small city parks. But he contends B*ATL provides an inclusive story about Atlanta and its residents.

“It’s not a story of black and white, but a story that is shaded with a wide range of tones,” he wrote last year. “We want to tell the whole story, not just one side. Our events have long featured programming about East Atlanta’s civil rights history as well as its Civil War history.”

George Barnard photo of McPherson death site (Library of Congress)

Aging memorials need a facelift

The East Atlanta monuments each feature a cannon.

Time and, in one case, traffic have taken a toll on the memorials. They sit on dislodged or structurally weak foundations. The cannons have water damage and are rusting in places. In recent years, the McPherson cannon has taken on a green color from what appears to be lichen or moss and a surrounding fence and posts are aged and cracked in places.

Gen. McPherson

After McPherson's death, Union Brig. Gen. Andrew Hickenlooper rode to the mangled woods where McPherson died. There were no homes in the area at the time. Hickenlooper nailed a sign to the tree at the death site, which was photographed by Atlanta Campaign photographer George Barnard.

An early fence surrounding the 1877 monument featured gun barrels at the corners, said Bryant, but they disappeared. “From the very beginning there was problem with vandalism,” he told the Picket in 2012.

The McPherson monument, now surrounded by homes, was moved in 1906. Eventually, it was raised to make it more visible.

The Walker monument to the east is more easily seen, but doesn’t get the protection the McPherson monument receives. It sits on a busy road (Glenwood Avenue at Wilkinson Drive) near Interstate 20. Walker was shot will leading his troops across the backwaters of Terry's Millpond in Kirkwood and East Atlanta.

Motorists have hit the marker several times, knocking it off-kilter on its pedestal. The red granite monument’s steps and plaque are gone. At least two feet of water and gunk are in the cannon barrel.

The memorial used to rest on a nearby hill, to make it convenient for visitors, but was moved to its current, more accurate location, in the late 1930s. B*ATL would like to move the monument to the center of a triangle and build steps to raise it, so it will match the appearance of the McPherson monument.

Proposed upgrade for memorial near Interstate 20, courtesy of B*ATL)

Bryant said the tiered steps were buried when the surrounding land was raised during road construction. “Only the top of the top tier is visible. The fencing and cannon balls were not moved from the original site.”

“Hopefully, we can clean whatever is below ground and reuse it. If it matches the above ground base it will be orange (rust and red clay), both above and below ground stone to be returned to their gray granite color.”

Walk this weekend benefits effort

The campaign to restore the monuments has been a long march; the Picket first wrote about it in 2011.

B*ATL has about $150,000 to $155,000 in pledges and in the bank, Bryant said. Grants from the Frances and Beverly DuBose Foundation and matches account for $40,000 of that. The city’s parks department has pledged $32,000. but has not issued formal funding, he said.

McPherson monument has cracks at base, on features

(Picket photos)

“I do not have all of the money needed, but feel that we could come up with the remainder by going only to the neighborhood to pass the hat. There are other deadlines that might require that we begin before we have all of the money. We are trying not to lose any of the money that we have been given,” Bryant said.

B*ATL might consider reducing some landscaping and other features, or use concrete instead of granite curbing if it doesn’t reach the $192,000 target.

This Sunday is an opportunity for those who want to learn about the Battle of the Atlanta and support the monument restoration effort. B*ATL is doing a 5-mile “Battle in Reverse” hike at 3 p.m. “We start at the end of the battle traversing the Union front lines, seeing historic sites as we go towards the beginning where the Confederates entered the scene to challenge and then returning to the end,” Bryant said.

The tour will take up to three hours and costs $15. You can register here.

Current plans for restoration on McPherson Avenue (B*ATL)

Re-enactors hope to restore flag

A flag that represented some of the first soldiers from York County, Pa., during the Civil War exists in a collection at the York County Heritage Trust. Some members of the Civil War Reenactors of Hanover, 16th Pennsylvania Volunteers, wish to restore that flag to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. • Article