GEORGE CRAIG (?)

"CIVIL WAR MONUMENT"

1896

grey granite, 14' base, 6'8" figure.

Located: Hope Cemetery, corner of W. Main & Academy Streets, Galesburg, Illinois

Among the tallest and the oldest monuments in Knox County is what is generically called the "Civil War Monument." A soldier in dress uniform poses at "parade rest" with rifle atop a 14' granite base. George Craig, a local monument dealer, claimed the sculpture as his own, though it is doubtful. The foot of the monument bears the inscription: "In Memory of Our Soldier Dead, 1861-65, by W.R.C. [Women's Relief Corp] & GAR [Grand Army of the Republic] Post 45." Beneath the inscription are crossed rifles with a sheaf of grain over them, a symbol of after-life. The back of the monument is carved with the dedication, "Honoring Men & Women of All Wars."

Robert Todd Lincoln came to town to inaugurate the monument. When the "soldier" did not arrive in time, a photo was made of Robert Todd Lincoln with only the base in back of him.

Hope cemetery, historically called Founders (Pioneer) Cemetery, is an outdoor museum of memorial art. Many names on grave markers are the same as local street names.