Tuesday, July 24, 1888, was a full day of festive excitement in Methuen as several thousand people from around the area gathered in the village for the dedication of the magnificent Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Charles and Pleasant streets, donated to the town by millionaire hat merchant Charles H. Tenney.
Tenney had moved from Methuen to New York City several years earlier to manage his lucrative business operations there. He returned in the summer months to his elegantly renovated stone house on Pleasant Street (now known as the Tenney Gatehouse, 37 Pleasant St.). This was still a few years before he built his majestic Grey Court mansion on the hill behind that house.
In early 1887, he purchased the triangular section of land across the street from his home at the junction of Pleasant and Charles streets and began preparing the site for a monument to honor those who had served in the Civil War. Neither he nor anyone else in his immediate family served in the war, so this was a very generous and rather remarkable gesture to the people of Methuen.
Site preparation began in the summer of 1887. Tenney hired local stone masons, Horace S. Blake and Mark Webster, to lay the foundation and build granite perimeter walls with a beautiful granite staircase connecting the two streets. He also contracted with the Bodwell Granite Company of Hallowell, Maine, to provide the massive monument. The company, one of the largest granite producers in the United States, was headed by Maine Gov. Joseph R. Bodwell, formerly of Methuen. His Hallowell quarry produced some of the finest, light-colored granite used in many monuments around the country. Sadly, Bodwell died in December 1887, several months before the project was completed.
The monument arrived in Methuen by train in several large sections in June 1888. While it was being erected, Tenney coordinated with Methuen’s Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Civil War veterans’ organization, for a grand dedication ceremony. And grand it was!
The day of the festivities began at 10am in Exchange Square (now Gaunt Square) on Broadway with a two-division parade through the streets of the village. Among those participating were several well-represented GAR organizations from Methuen and the surrounding communities, fire companies from Methuen and Lawrence, a police platoon, a marching band and dignitaries in horse-drawn carriages. Methuen’s Col. Henry C. Nevins served as grand marshal. Many homes and businesses along the parade route were nicely decorated with bunting and other trimmings for the occasion. Stores and factories closed for the day. Even the Methuen Post Office received permission from Washington to close.
An estimated 7,000 people converged on the village for the occasion, an impressive number considering Methuen’s total population at the time was less than 5,000. The horse-drawn railroad running along Broadway from Lawrence had a busy day transporting out-of-town visitors.
As the parade reached the monument site, a large crowd gathered under the majestic elm trees lining the street for the dedication ceremony. Invited speakers recounted the hardships and sacrifices made by many during the great conflict and expressed gratitude to Tenney for honoring their service to the nation. Tenney spoke of how saddened he had been over the loss of so many “noble boys” and by the suffering of those who returned with terrible scars and lifelong injuries. He expressed his “honor to have the privilege of erecting a monument in memory of the gallant soldiers and sailors who left their homes, families and friends, to offer their lives as a sacrifice to preserve this glorious union.” (Methuen had provided 325 men for the war, losing 52, excluding those serving in the Navy.)
The massive, elegantly carved monument stands 32 feet tall from the base to the top of the bronze eagle mounted atop a highly polished Quincy granite globe. The eagle’s wings are spread out to the north and south, symbolizing peace between the two sides of the war.
Mounted atop a shelf on the south side of the monument, facing Charles Street, rests a lion with an expression of anger, indicating the start of the war. The date 1861 is inscribed below. On the north side, facing Pleasant Street, rests another lion with a peaceful expression, indicating the end of the war. Below is the date 1865.
Carved in exquisite bas-relief on the front and back of the monument are images of various items from the war, including flags, rifles, drums, cannonballs, etc. The inscription on the front reads: To the Soldiers and Sailors Who Fought in the Defense of the Union. An inscription on the back reads: Presented by C. H. Tenney – 1888. One speaker claimed the monument to be “unmatched in rural New England.”
The ceremony closed with an artillery salute from the hill behind Tenney’s home. The assembly then reformed for a parade back to its conclusion on Broadway. Tenney invited several of his friends and special guests back to his home for an elegant dinner.
In the afternoon, an open-air band concert was held on the grounds of the palatial home of Tenney’s brother, Daniel, at the corner of Broadway and Pleasant Street. The festivities then moved to the Nevins property on Broadway, where some 1,000 guests enjoyed a dinner under an open-sided tent. Later that evening, about 800 people enjoyed a concert performed by an 11-piece band under the tent, which was brilliantly lit by “scores of Chinese lanterns suspended from above.” The day concluded with a spectacular fireworks display provided by Mr. Nevins.
It was certainly one of the greatest celebrations in Methuen’s history. The monument, one of the finest in the area, remains as impressive as it was on the day of its dedication.
It’s interesting to speculate if Edward F. Searles was inspired by Tenney’s monument to erect his own Washington Monument at the corner of Lawrence and Park streets in 1900.
UP NEXT: First Baptist Church fire (a fiery sermon).
Ken Doherty is a lifelong resident of Methuen. He served on the Methuen Fire Department from 1980 to 2010. He is the Fire Department historian and a former member of the Methuen Historical Commission. He wrote “Á History of Methuen and its Fire Department” in 1996. He is retired and still living in Methuen with his wife, Paula.
