o " m^^m^^m^^mm'^^m o^ Ceremonies of the Unveil- ing of the Monument to JOHN TYLER, Tenth President of the United States HOLLYWOOD CEMETERY RICHMOND, VIRGINIA OCTOBER 12, 1915 © ft e^-j a- An Acrount of the Action of the Congress of the United States in Providing This Monument. W\ an act approved March 4, 1911, Congress authorized the erection of a suitable nioiuuucnt over the ^I'livc of tlie late John Tyler, former President of the United States, in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va., and, by an act approved August 24, 1912, an appropriation of $10,000 was made for the purpose, provided that no part of the amount so appropriated should be expended until the Secretary of War was satisfied of the existence of a responsible legal association for the care and main- tenance of the monument, and provided further, that when the said monument was erected, the responsibility for the care and maintenance of the same should be with such association, and without expense to the United States. In pursuance of this law, the Hollywood Cemetery Company agreed to take charge of the Tyler lot in Hollywood Cemetery as soon as the monument it was proposed to have placed in the lot was completed, and to keep the lot in perpetual care, having full regard to its sightly and respectable appearance, as is done in all other lots in said cemetery that are under the perpetual care of said company, it being understood that the responsi- bility for the care and maintenance should be without expense to the United States. The Secretary of War, under date of November 26, 1912, directed the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, to select an officer of the corps of engineers, United States Army, to take charge of the construction of the monument, the advertising for bids and designs, conducting all necessary correspondence regarding design of monument and the inscriptions, and the disbursing of the appropriation made by the sundry civil act approved August 24, 1912, for the construction of the monument. In accordance with the orders of the Secretary of War, the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, under date of December 10, 1912, designated the district en- gineer officer at Norfolk, Va., to carry out the instructions given. On December 16, 1913, competitive designs for the monument were invited by the Secretary of War, and, as a result of this competition, and on the recommenda- tion of the Commission of Fine Arts, Washington, D. C, the design submitted by The T. F. McGann & Sons Company, of Boston, Mass., was accepted. A contract was entered into with the successful competitors, which was approved by the Chief of Engineers on June 23, 1914. The erection of the monument was com- pleted on June 9, 1915. The following is the sculptor's description of the monument: "Essentially the monu.meRt will consist of a monolithic granite shaft rising from a granite pedestal, before 'which will be placed a bronze bust of the President, and surmounting which ^yiIl be, a 'bronze finial. "'rhe bronze finial will be visible from a considerable distance and as it is seen to consist of a Greek urn sui)])orted between the spread wings of two American eagles. It will indicate at once the burial place of a man of national character. "Upon a closer approach an heroic bronze bust of the President will be observed resting in a dignified manner upon a pedestal of the monolith after the excellent manner of the ancient Greek sarcojihagii. "On each side of the monolith there will be a bas-relief, the one being a life-sized figure of the Hepiibhc with a .shield bearing tlie seals of the United States and of the State of \ M-ginia, significant of his relations with the national government and Iiis iialiyc State. The other will be a draped female figure representing memorv, hold- ing m one hand a laurel wreath and cultivating with the other the young tree of the Republic, which during Tyler's administration began to grow and expand in an excei)tional nianiier. "The four faces of the monolith will be panelled as indicated on the model and especially will the one on the rear be suitable for an inscription." Trancfcrrad from L!j:--riar)'5 Office. CEREMONIES Parade Maj. W. McK. Evans, Chief Marshal Capitol Square to Hollywood ORDER OF EXERCISES AT THE MONUMENT His Excellency Henry C. Stuart, Governor of Virginia, Presiding Invocation Rt. Reverend Robert A. Gibson P. E. Bishop of Virginia Rii.MARKs Hon. John Lamb Patron of the Bill in Congress for the ereciion of the monument Music — America Coast Artillery Band Fort Monroe, Va. Address Hon. Armistead C. Gordon Music — Aithl Lang Syne Coast Artillery Band Fort Monroe, Va. UnVRILIXG OF THE MONUMENT. .MrS. Wm. MuNFORD ElLIS Only surviving daughter of President Tyler Presidential Salute Richmond Howitzers Music — The Star Spangled Banner .Coast Artillery Band Fort Monroe, Va, BenI'Dk tion Rt. Reverend Collins Denny Bishop M. E. Church, South JOHN TYLER, Tenth President of the United States, was born in Charles City county, Virginia, March 29, 1790. His father, John Tyler, Sr., was one of the most active and prominent patriots of the American Revolution. He was captain of a militia company, speaker of the House of Delegates, judge of the State Admiralty and General Courts, vice-President of the Convention of 1788, Governor, and at the time of his death was judge of the United States District Court. As a leading member of the legislature he was instrumental in securing the passage of the resolution for calling the Annapolis Convention in 1786; as judge he was one of the earliest to champion the over-ruling power of the judiciary, and as Governor he earnestly favored the cause of education. The "Literary Fund" resulted from his strong representations to the legislature on the subject. His son , John Tyler, passed through even a greater stretch of honors. He was member of the House of Delegates, member of the Executive Council, member of the House of Representatives, Governor of the State, senator of the United States, Vice-President, President of the United States, member of the State Conventions of 1829-30 and 1861, presi- dent of the Peace Conference, member of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States and member-elect at the time of his death of the Confederate States House of Representatives. This is only an im- perfect enunciation of his honors. In politics he was a consistent States rights man and believed that the Union's only escape from civil war lay in scrupulous regard for the Constitution. Like his father, he was a strong friend of education, and as Governor favored a system of public schools. As member of the United States Congress he op- posed the Missouri compromise, and the other so called National measures — protective tariff, national bank, and internal improvement as certain to lead to ill-will among the States and imperil the existence of the Union. He regarded them as sectional, not really national measures. He was especially conspicuous in the role of peacemaker in 1833 when he suggested to Clay the principle of the compromise tariff, and in 1861 when he got up a Peace Conference of delegates from the States who met in Washington. On the question of slavery, while he denied the right of Congress to intermeddle with the subject, he looked to its eventual abolition by peaceable means and strongly opposed the slave trade. Thus, as chairman of the Senate Committee for the District of Columbia, he drafted a provision for the al)olition of ihe slave trade in the District, and as President caused an article to be inserted in the Treaty of Washington (1842) for the maintenance of a squadron by the United States and Great Britain respectively for the suppression of the slave trade off the coast of Africa. As President he was a strong factor in determining the policies of the country. By his vetoes he prevented the establishment of a moneyed monopoly represented in the United States bank, and by his close personal surveillance of the different departments of the Government abolished all corruption and reduced the national expenditures one-fourth. He originated the system of finance known as the exchequer, which in its essential features is reproduced in the present banking reserve s>'stem. and to him is chiefly due the success of the Treaty of Washington (1842) settling the northeastern boundary, the right of visitation, and the suppression of the slave trade, and the annexation of Texas which measure so greatly extended the confines of the Union and gave to the United States the virtual monopoly of the cotton plant. Ke closed the war with the Seminole Indians, settled the difficulties in Rhode Island, made the first treaty with China, and vindicated the Monroe Doctrine as to the Hawaiian Islands. Mr. Tyler married twice — first Letitia Christian, of New Kent county, and second Julia Gardiner, of New York, who is buried under the monument by his side. He had seven children by each marriage. He died in Richmond, January 18, 1862, and a great public funeral witnessed the interment of his remains in Hollywood Cemetery. Of Mr. Tyler's powers as an orator, Jefferson Davis declared that he was the most eloquent he had heard. Alexander H. Stephens said that "his State papers compared favorably in ability with those of any of his predecessors." And Charles Dickens who saw him at the White House in 1842 wrote of his interview: "I thought that in his whole carriage and demeanor he became his station singularly well." Committee on Unveiling Ceremonies HENRY C. STUART Governor of Virginia GEORGE AINSLIE Mayor of Richmond LIEUT. COL. J. P. JERVEY United States Army WM. H. ADAMS President Board of Alderman R. L. PETERS President Common Council BARTON H. GRUNDY Member Board of Aldermen FRED. H. POWELL Member Common Council EDGAR B. ENGLISH Member Common Council 4(? • J' \ . * A <^ * ^^ J'^ ^t^^^^M^* '^M rS "-'^^iM^^^ '>!U <■?> o k^' "^ 'bV^ • . < " ' '^^ ' ^■♦^ . •• ' * ^ '^^ ' ^<^^ c "».".«* '^^ " o^ . ^ ' - '^- -^° ^ "^