This old soldier won't fade away: Residents of Ohio village can now look eye-to-eye at Civil War statue reassembled after a big rig crushed monument into pieces

The old statue was moved into village administration building (LHS and Village of LaGrange)

“Sherman,” the Ohio Civil War statue that was shattered by a big rig and put back together again, has come in from the cold.

LaGrange village and township employees – using machine and muscle – late last week moved the granite man from the unheated old fire station to the village’s administration building.

“They rented a gun safe dolly. They used a lot of muscle, too,” said Jan King, treasurer of the LaGrange Historical Society. “He is inside where it is temperature controlled.”

The new home for the statue brings the story full circle for the Picket, which first reported on the matter in summer 2022 after a tractor trailer driver apparently fell asleep at the village’s traffic circle. The rig smashed the 1903 memorial into pieces.

The community was determined to make things whole.

Master stone carver Nicholas Fairplay glued “Sherman” back together and used him as a model for a replica. Cleveland Quarries rebuilt the monument base below the soldier.

Both were installed on the rural village’s circle in May 2025.

The old “Sherman” was moved around the same time to the fire station (photo, left), where he stood for seven months before the recent move.

The statue, which weighs about 1,500 pounds, is now in a hallway close to the historical society (he’s too big to fit inside the group’s small museum and learning center). It is being kept for now in a protective wooden frame.

“We will have to anchor him down,” said King. “There is a possibility he could be pushed over.”

That would be especially tragic for the old fellow, having already suffered the indignity of losing his head (it broke off) when the truck pulverized the original memorial. (Photos below from LaGrange Township)

Local folks call the statue “Sherman,” but King was quick to quash that moniker during our phone call.

The correct name is “the statue” or “the flag bearer,” she said.

So how did the stone soldier come to be called “Sherman”?

The monument base carried the names of LaGrange area residents who served during the war, the names of a few battles and of Union generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas. Sherman was an Ohioan.

Sherman’s name on the monument base was directly below the front of the statue, so that name stuck.

I asked King, whose family has lived in the community southwest of Cleveland for generations, to describe the old statue, now that he is on ground level.

The retired seamstress is impressed by the craftsmanship – the flag’s carved stars, stitch marks on his lapel and the deep-set eyes. “There is a lot of detail to it.” (Photos above, LaGrange Historical Society)

The society and village office are in a former school building on Liberty Street. “Sherman” is next to a trophy case.

The historical society is open on the third Sunday of each month and on special request. There are old records, photos and a buggy inside, all signaling LaGrange’s rural roots. “It used to be an agricultural city but it is getting more away from that,” said King.

A group of third-graders once stopped by and King was able to show some of them graduation photos of their grandparents.

New statue at studio in Vermilion and monument installation in LaGrange (Courtesy Cleveland Quarries)

Safety measures have helped reduce intrusions into the traffic circle, which is at the intersection of routes 301 and 303 (Main Street).

Villagers used to blow horns and drive around the circle when they got married; school buses still take victory laps when athletes return victorious from competitions elsewhere, King added.

Whatever he is called, the replica Union flag bearer is a fixture in LaGrange and watches over those passing through.

Following Memorial Day parade, a Ohio community near Cleveland will dedicate a replacement for its Civil War statue shattered by a big rig in 2022

The new monument is at left in first photo, right in second image (Photos courtesy N. Fairplay)

Nearly three years after a tractor trailer slammed into a Civil War monument in northern Ohio, knocking it to pieces, a replica will be unveiled on Memorial Day, a symbol of community pride in veterans and their sacrifice.

Officials in LaGrange were determined to replace the 1903 granite memorial that was obliterated in June 2022. The monument, which was made up of several pieces, topped by a Union soldier, was shattered. Even his head was broken off.

The metro Cleveland and farm community determined the damage was too severe for a repair.

After finalizing a $923,244 settlement with the trucking company’s insurance company, LaGrange Township hired master carver Nicholas Fairplay and Cleveland Quarries to make new versions of the statue and other parts of the monument in the downtown square.

They worked from the original statue -- painstakingly glued together by Fairplay and an assistant to use as a template for the new one. He worked in a studio at Cleveland Quarries, which milled the raw form of the replacement statue at its operation in Vermilion.

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

Fairplay told the Picket he expects to have the work completed late this week. He provided a few photos showing results of the detail work he and the assistant performed.

“The space between the legs and hand are now pierced. We are now working on the surface detail,” he said. Of one photo he sent, the carver said, “You can see red pencil marks showing where we have to carve deeper shadow.”

LaGrange Township trustee Rita Canfield said the plan is to have the so-called Sherman statue installed the week of May 12. The soldier's figure will be covered until Memorial Day (May 26).

Return of the fixture at the intersection of routes 301 and 303 (Main Street) coincides with the 200^th anniversary of the township and the 150^th for the village. (They are separate political entities).

Joint events on May 24-26 include a car show, pancake breakfast, 5K run, carnival, parade and the statue unveiling on Memorial Day. Members of the LaGrange Historical Society will be present all three days. (More details here)

Faint red marks on new statue (left) show areas needing refining (Photo courtesy N. Fairplay)

“We hope to have a good turnout and will be hosting fireworks and other events as part of the return celebration and the founding of the community at the same time,” said Canfield.

Below the statue is the monument base, which carried the names of LaGrange area residents who served during the war, the names of a few battles and of Union generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas. Cleveland Quarries replaced all of the pieces comprising the base.

“I must say that Nick has done a fabulous job,” said Canfield. “His work has been impeccable. Cleveland Quarries owner Zach Carpenter and his team have given us our heritage back. They have been the type of partner that we all want to work with: Transparent, honest, fair and very highly skilled with an insane attention to detail in their recreation of our monument.”

He has stood tall for more than 120 years

To say the Sherman statue, 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.

The memorial, made of Vermont granite, was erected in 1903 (some sources say 1904) for about $3,000. The project was a joint project of LaGrange Village and LaGrange Township, a separate political entity. They are in Lorain County.

The monument is owned by the township and is the center point of the village. (At left, the monument before its destruction, photo LaGrange Township)

The township was determined 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.

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.

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.

I asked him why the new statue is lighter than the original.

“The original statue is darker due to pollution on the surface which could be cleaned off. You could see the original color of the granite when the statue was in pieces.” By that, he means granite below the surface was not discolored and when the memorial was broken, you could see the difference (photo below).

Safeguarding the soldier's future

Canfield said the insurance settlement will fund the monument, a new flagpole, lights and other infrastructure on the circle. 

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.

In the 2022 incident, an incident report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the driver told a responding officer that he fell asleep and went through a stop sign. The driver was not found to be impaired.

Cleveland Quarries is donating 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.

The Sherman statue suffered another indignity 65 years ago, according to a Lorain County nostalgia blog. A newspaper article in November 1957 said pranksters tarred and feathered the base.

So what will happen to the original monument after Memorial Day?

“At this time, the … old statue of Sherman will be placed in the old Society Hall/fire station. The remaining base pieces will be placed in the cemetery,” said Canfield. “The epoxy used to glue the statue back together will not tolerate the weather and would degrade over time.”

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

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.

Armored truck was at site of FBI search for gold, witnesses say

New eyewitness accounts are raising questions about the FBI’s secretive 2018 dig for a legendary cache of Civil War-era gold. Two men who were near the excavation site in rural Pennsylvania have told The Associated Press they heard loud noises. Later, they say they saw a convoy with an armored truck that appeared heavily weighed down. A treasure hunter who led FBI agents to the site accuses the agency of conducting a secretive overnight dig and spiriting away hundreds of millions of dollars in gold. The FBI denies it worked overnight and says its excavation didn’t produce gold. The treasure hunter is suing the FBI over access to records about the dig. -- Article

Town outside Cleveland is moving forward with plans to replace Civil War monument smashed last year by tractor trailer

Shattered Sherman statue, including severed head, in storage (LaGrange Township)

Bright yellow poles – known as bollards – warn motorists in LaGrange, Ohio, to pay close attention as they approach the busy intersection of routes 301 and 303 (Main Street). They were put up after a series of crashes, including one that took out the downtown square’s Civil War monument in June 2022.

Residents are determined to replace the granite monument that was left in pieces, including the Union soldier’s severed head, when a truck barreled into it. Township officials want to use the same quarry that supplied the granite in the early 1900s.

“They want it restored to the original way,” says township administrator Vince Sigmund. “Everything was destroyed.”

Restoration won’t literally happen, because officials in this metro Cleveland and farm community determined that the damage to what locals call the Sherman monument was too severe for a repair.

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

“We have received three qualified bids to carve a new monument. Since the first monument was over 120 years old we cannot have the same company carve a new one,” LaGrange Township trustee Rita Canfield told the Picket in an email.

“We are not even certain who carved the original statue. … The cost of carving anew statue is simply shocking and we are insisting that the granite come from the same quarry that the first granite came from.”

Sigmund said the cost for a new monument and repairs for extensive damage to other parts of the square, including restoring lights that were taken out, could total $1.5 million.

Township officials are in active discussions with the insurance company for the trucking company involved in the accident and they expect a settlement.

Officials in LaGrange told the Picket that a big rig cruised through a stop sign at the circular intersection in the middle of the rural village on June 28, 2022. The stone memorial with a soldier on top was shattered and a flagpole was crushed.

An incident report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the driver told a responding officer that he fell asleep and ran a stop sign. The driver was not found to be impaired.

Canfield and fellow trustee Gary Burnett say the bollards at four spots on the traffic circle are meant to prevent accidents and protect the square.

“As you might imagine, this has been a major challenge for our community and we hope to have started the monument and settled with the insurance company by September of this year,” says Canfield.

Officials said it could take up two years to have the statue carved and installed, along with other repairs. For now, the shattered pieces, which weigh hundreds of pounds each, are stored in a township building.

The Sherman statue was erected in 1903 (some sources say 1904) for about $3,000. The project was a joint project of LaGrange Village and LaGrange Township, a separate political entity.

The monument is owned by the township and literally is the focal point of the village -- where the two main roads meet

The monument base carried the names of LaGrange area residents who served during the war, the names of a few battles and of Union generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas.

“I personally would like to put it back up. It is part of our identity in LaGrange,” Burnett said last summer. “Everyone feels a little connection to it.” (Photo above, sent by Burnett, last summer, shows crews removing monument pieces.)

The Sherman statue suffered indignity 65 years ago, according to a Lorain County nostalgia blog. A newspaper article in November 1957 said pranksters tarred and feathered the base.

Ohio community near Cleveland hopes to rebuild a 120-year-old Civil War monument crushed by a tractor trailer

The so-called Sherman statue before Tuesday's accident (Village of LaGrange)

Updated July 7: A rural community in northern Ohio hopes to pick up the pieces – literally – and rebuild a Civil War monument that was obliterated this week when a tractor trailer careened through a downtown square.

Officials in LaGrange told the Picket the big rig cruised through a stop sign at the circular intersection in the middle of the village on June 28. The stone memorial with a soldier on top was shattered and a flagpole was crushed.

An incident report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said the driver told a responding officer that he fell asleep and ran a stop sign. The driver was not found to be impaired.

“There are four or five big pieces that are there, they weigh hundreds of pounds apiece,” village Mayor Kim Strauss told the Picket. While those remain on the ground, the broken soldier figure was picked up, as well as stone chips that could help in repairs. The soldier’s head was severed by the force of the accident.

The force blew the monument into pieces (Photo by Gary Burnett)

Called by residents the Sherman statue, the monument was erected in 1903 (some sources say 1904) for about $3,000. The project was a joint project of the village and LaGrange Township, a separate political entity.

The monument base carried the names of LaGrange area residents who served during the war, the names of a few battles and of Union generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas.

Strauss and Gary Burnett, one of three trustees for the township, would like to see the monument restored, though one expert said that may not be possible. Another option is starting over with a new monument. Strauss said officials will work with insurance carriers.

The statue literally is the focal point of the town, at the intersection of routes 301 and 303 (Main Street). When it was erected 120 years ago, the soldier was facing to the north, toward the county seat.

“There was a big commotion over that you are never supposed to turn your back to the enemy. They lifted him and turned him south” to face battlefields hundreds of miles away, said Strauss.

The mayor said the driver was headed south on 301 on a route often used by trucks to reach another highway. The driver was apologetic after the incident, which occurred around 2:30 a.m., he said.

“He is OK. That is the most important thing,” Strauss said.                               

Burnett said residents of the township – a metro Cleveland bedroom community and farming area -- want officials to work with village to rebuild the memorial.

“I personally would like to put it back up. It is part of our identity in LaGrange. Everyone feels a little connection to it.” Officials said they are unaware of any opposition to putting the monument back up. 

Township trustees asked the public to stay away from the site for now.

“Nothing in the statue area can be touched and anyone attempting to take ‘souvenirs’ will be charged! The area has video cameras,” a Facebook post said.

The Sherman statue suffered another indignity 65 years ago, according to a Lorain County nostalgia blog. A newspaper article in November 1957 said pranksters tarred and feathered the base.