Page:George Washington National Monument.djvu/7



A site for the National Monument having been granted by Congress, the Board of Managers soon after adopted a resolution, declaring that the corner-stone of the proposed structure should be laid on the 4th of July, 1848, as the day most appropriate to so patriotic an object. Application was made, at an early period, to the Hon. R. C. Winthrop, to deliver an address on the occasion, to which a favorable answer was received; a committee was appointed to make all necessary arrangements for the interesting ceremonies, which consisted of Messrs. Henderson, Maury, and Lenox, and a Building Committee was also, at the same time, created, consisting of Messrs. Carbery, Watterston, and W. A. Bradley, and to which was afterwards added Col. Abert.

The former Committee proceeded to appoint a marshal in-chief, Mr. Joseph H. Bradley, and with him to make the necessary arrangements for laying the corner-stone on the day designated. Invitations were sent to the different States of the Union, requesting the attendance of delegates with banners, and other insignia; to the President of the United States, the heads of departments, distinguished individuals, army and navy officers, the corporate authorities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, &c., and to some of these invitations answers were received, which will be found in the Appendix.

The Building Committee proceeded to appoint an architect, Mr. Robt. Mills, who had furnished the design of the monument; to cause the foundation of the structure to be excavated, a railway to be formed, and to contract for the materials required for the construction of the edifice. Mr. Thomas Symington, of Baltimore, influenced by a spirit of patriotism, presented to the Society a massive block of marble, weighing 24,500 lbs., taken from his quarry near that city, for the corner-stone, which was conveyed, free of charge, by the Susquehanna, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Companies to the depot in Washington, and thence by the citizens to its place of destination. Three industrious marble cutters, Messrs. Dougherty, Berry, and Rutherford, of Washington, undertook to prepare the cover and excavate the stone gratuitously, a duty which they performed to the satisfaction of the Committee. The casing or lining of the cavity, made of zinc, was prepared without charge, by Mr. Clement Woodward, and the stone set, and other masonry executed by several public-spirited stone masons of Washington, without cost, under the direction of Mr. James Dixon, who had volunteered to act as superintendent till another should be permanently appointed. Mr. J. Pettibone undertook, gratuitously, to let out sites on the ground (which the Board of Managers has, by resolution, designated "Monument Place") to individuals for the purpose of erecting booths,