Honoring Their Memory
Levi T. Scofield, Cleveland’s Monumental Architect and Sculptor
Photography and Text by Lauren R. Pacini Foreword by John J. Grabowski, Ph.D. 2019
Levi T. Scofield, Cleveland’s Monumental Architect and Sculptor
Dedication This volume is dedicated to all who answered the clarion call; to those who gave all for the cause; to their families whose lives were forever changed; to Cleveland son Corporal Franz Frey, Company H, 37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at Vicksburg, Mississippi; to William J. Gleason, founding President of the Monument Commission, who documented every detail of the project from the initial proposal through the dedication to the benefit of future generations of historians; to Levi T. Scofield, whose design of the structure, creation of the sculpture, supervision of the construction, and selfless benevolence, combined to make the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument a reality. It is also dedicated to the past, present, and future generations of Commissioners, staff, and volunteers who have welcomed families and school children to honor those whose names are inscribed on the walls. The Author
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Levi T. Scofield, Cleveland’s Monumental Architect and Sculptor
Table of Contents Introduction 1 Preamble 3 The Planning of a Monument 3 In Search of a Location 4 A Location Approved 7 Levi Tucker Scofield, Veteran, Architect, and Sculptor 9 The Early Years, 1842-1861 11 The War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 11 The Scofield Family, 1867-1917 12 Notable Architecture, 1868-1906 12 The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument 15 Scofield’s Best-Known Work 17 Building the Monument 41 Restoring The Monument’s Beauty 43 The Changing Face of Public Square 49 Other Standing Projects 55 Asylum for the Insane - “The Ridges,” Athens Ohio - 1868 56 Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home, Xenia Ohio - 1870 60 Ashtabula County Probate Building, Jefferson Ohio - 1870 64 Grand Arcade, Cleveland Ohio - 1882 68 Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield Ohio - 1886 72 Page vii
Honoring Their Memory James Woods Craig Residence, Mansfield Ohio - 1886 76 These are My Jewels, Columbus Ohio - 1893 80 Scofield Residence, Cleveland Ohio - 1898 84 Schofield Building, Cleveland Ohio - 1902 88 YWCA Building, Cleveland Ohio - 1906 92 Afterword 97 Changing the Spelling of Names 99 Commodore Oliver H. Perry Monument 101 A Changing Architectural Landscape 103 The City Beautiful Movement 103 The Family Mausoleum 109 Appendices 111 A - Population of the Western Reserve 113 B - Scofield Architectural Projects 115 C - Cleveland’s Group Plan Buildings 117 D - Monument Commissioners (1888-1894) and Trustees 1894-2019 119 E - 2008-09 Monument Restoration Team 121 F - Interments in the Schofield Mausoleum 123 G - Sequence of Scofield Residence Ownership 125 H - Remaining Millionaires’ Row Residences 127 Notes 129 Bibliography 131 Index 133 Other Works by the Author 139
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Levi T. Scofield, Cleveland’s Monumental Architect and Sculptor
Foreword It Takes a Veteran The town commons is the center of many communities in America, the site of courts of law, of churches and assembly halls, and a site where citizens have honored the famous and the fallen with plaques, landscapes and monuments. This is particularly so in northeastern Ohio. The region’s roots as Connecticut’s Western Reserve insured that settlements as diverse as Cleveland, Mesopotamia, Medina, Bedford, and Burton would center on a New England style commons. And the region’s outsized role in the American Civil War is often memorialized on those commons. In most instances the monuments to those who served and died in the Civil War are relatively simple, often a mass manufactured statue of a common soldier, purchased from a catalog, and other times a non-figural memorial. Whatever the source, the erection of the memorial was a significant event in the community’s postwar history, a time when the sacrifice of service was fresh in the memory of the community, a memory often reinforced by the sight of legless and armless veterans who populated almost every town and city in late nineteenth century America. Cleveland’s Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument is a creation of that era, but one that is far different than the more common memorial. Its size and the richness of its design and decoration make it one of the most outstanding Civil War memorials in the United States. Perhaps this is so because of the strong pro-Union sentiments that characterized Cleveland and Cuyahoga County during the War; perhaps it is because of the outsized sacrifice in dead and wounded from the region; or perhaps, it is simply because the city and the region had grown large and wealthy in the Gilded Age. Page xv
Honoring Their Memory All of these factors figure into Lauren Pacini’s outstanding review of the origins of the monument in this volume. But the author points to something more important – these factors needed a catalyst, and that catalyst, Levi Scofield, a talented largely self-taught architect, was a veteran of the Civil War. So was his cohort in the cause, Irish-born William J. Gleason, who joined the army even though he was initially underage. It took several attempts, but Gleason ended up serving in both the 60th and 150th Ohio Volunteer Infantry units. Scofield brought his skills and idealistic vision, and Gleason his dogged persistence to the monument project. They would need these, for the placement of the monument on Cleveland’s Public Square was not without its detractors. The story of the battle for the placement of the monument is a key component of this volume. It is a story of contention between committees; between memories of an old conflict in 1812 and the more recent war; and a debate about the best use for the commons. It would take fifteen years to move the monument from idea to completion and when dedicated on July 4,1894 the Soldiers and Sailors Monument displayed an astounding late Victorian richness of figural and symbolic imagery both within and without. Lauren Pacini’s images go well beyond words in detailing and helping the reader understand the nuances of the recently restored structure. He also takes the reader beyond the monument in an examination of multiple other surviving works designed by Scofield in and outside of Cleveland, for this book is as much about Scofield, the veteran and architect, as it is about the monument, and fittingly so. Today, a visit to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument reminds us of the sacrifices made in America’s bloodiest war. However, a short walk beyond the monument to the south end of Cleveland’s Mall – a Progressive Era “commons” --will take one to Marshall Frederick’s Fountain of Eternal Life which lists and honors those who have died in America’s conflicts from the Spanish American War to the present. It is there, perhaps, that the author’s muse for this volume dwells, for ultimately it takes a veteran to comprehend the passion that motivated two other veterans of a more distant war to create a monument that preserves the lived memory of that conflict. John J. Grabowski, Ph.D. Krieger-Mueller Associate Professor of Applied History Case Western Reserve University Senior Vice President for Research and Publications Western Reserve Historical Society
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The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument
Honoring Their Memory
Plate 4 - Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument Page 14
Honoring Their Memory
The Interior of the Monument
Plate 10 - The Northern Ohio Soldiers’ Aid Society, Sanitary Commission, and Hospital Service Corps South Panel
The pedestal on which the column stands inside the Tablet Room measures 12’ square. On each side of the pedestal are 7’ high by 10’ wide bronze panels, depicting life-sized scenes. Upon entering the Monument through the south entrance, the “The Northern Ohio Soldiers’ Aid Society, Sanitary Commission, and Hospital Service Corps” panel depicts the Sanitary Commission, the Soldiers’ Aid, and the Hospital Service. The figures shown are Mrs. Rebecca Rouse, President; Miss Mary Clarke Brayton, Secretary; Miss Ellen F. Terry, Treasurer; Miss Sara Mahan, Clerk; and Mrs. John Shelley, Mrs. Rosemond Melhinch and Mrs. J. A. Harris, Vice-Presidents. The hospital scene includes Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes, Mrs. Sarah Adams Thatcher, and a nurse, possibly a Sister of Charity, dressing the arm of a wounded soldier lying on a cot. Proceeding in a clockwise direction, the panel on the west side portrays “The Beginning of the War in Ohio.” The three figures in the center are the war governors, William Dennison Jr., David Tod, and John Brough. On the right are Generals George B. McClellan, Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr., and James A. Garfield, and on the left, Generals William Starke Rosecrans, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Quincy Adams Gillmore. In the background on one side is the recruiting service and on the other, the troops marching to the front.
Plate 11 - The Beginning of the War in Ohio West Panel Page 20
The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument
The Busts Above the tablets are eight life-sized bronze busts standing on decorated plinths sculpted by Levi Scofield. Those above the north and south doors are set in lunettes (a half-moon-shaped space) in front of beautiful stained glass windows in a sunburst pattern. The common Victorian motif expresses faith, life, and perpetuity. Bright yellow and gold rays of the sun radiate into white clouds and blue skies. Fourteen additional stained-glass windows, also designed by Scofield, and created by H. W. Lewis and George P. Bradley, reflect the themes of the bronze battle groupings on the esplanade outside of the tablet room. The bust above the north door is that of General James Barnett. Barnett joined the Cleveland Grays and then as a member of the Cleveland Light Artillery was commissioned as a Colonel, and took part in the battles of Shiloh, Stone’s River, and Murfreesboro. In addition to having been the County’s highest ranking officer, Barnett was a banker, a politician, and a philanthropist. He served as a Vice President of the Society for Savings, and president of the George Worthington Company and the First National Bank, and as a director of the Cleveland Iron Mining Company and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad. He was a member of the board of managers of the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and a trustee of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home in Xenia. Above the south entrance is the bust of Capt. Levi T. Scofield. As he had when offered compensation for his role in the design and construction of the Monument, Scofield declined the recognition. Only when it became clear that the Monument Commissioners were not going to give in, Scofield agreed to include his own bust.
Plate 28 - Bust of General James Barnett North Entrance
Plate 29 - Bust of Capt. Levi T. Scofield South Entrance
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Scofield: His Life His Work His Legacy •
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Plate 42 - Infantry
(North Wall, Left Side)
Plate 43 - Infantry
(North Wall, Right Side)
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The Infantry The windows that flank the bust of General Barnett on the north wall depict the Infantry, with muskets and fixed bayonets, a cartridge case, a drum and bugle, a canteen, a bed-roll and backpack, and, of course, flags.
Levi T. Scofield, Cleveland’s Monumental Architect and Sculptor
Progressing in a clockwise direction, on the west side: The Cavalry group, “ The Advance Guard,” represents a detachment that has struck the line of the enemy. A trooper is still astride his horse that has fallen with a bad wound. A venturesome Confederate soldier has noticed his predicament and has made a rush for the guidon, but the cavalryman has whipped out his revolver, has given “ Johnny Reb “ one in the face, and is prepared for another shot. A fine looking Confederate officer has seized the rebel flag from the fallen bearer, and is cheering his men to the assault. A dismounted trooper in front, on one knee, is covering his man with his carbine. The bugler has been sent forward from the reserve by his officer to see how matters are progressing at the front; finding them hard pressed, and stubbornly trying to hold their ground, he has dismounted, and is sending back a bugle call for assistance. The Confederate soldiers were introduced in this historical group to show to posterity what they and their flag were like.6
Plate 47 - The Cavalry Group
Plate 48 - “The Advance Guard”
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Other Standing Projects
Other Standing Projects
Plate 65 - Athens Asylum for the Insane Administration Building, 1873 Page 57
Other Standing Projects
Plate 68 - Ohio Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphans’ Home, Xenia Ohio, 1873 Page 61
Other Standing Projects
Plate 71 - Probate Court Building, Jefferson OH Page 65
Other Standing Projects
Plate 74 - Grand Arcade Page 69
Other Standing Projects
Plate 77 - Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield Ohio Page 73
Other Standing Projects
Plate 80 - James Woods Craig Residence, Mansfield Ohio Page 77
Other Standing Projects
Plate 83 - These are My Jewels, Columbus Ohio Page 81
Other Standing Projects
Plate 86 - Scofield Residence on Mapleside Page 85
Other Standing Projects
Plate 89 - Schofield Building, East 9th Street and Euclid Avenue. Page 89
Other Standing Projects
Plate 92 - YWCA Building, 1710 Prospect Avenue Page 93
Honoring Their Memory
Plate 100 - Schofield Mausoleum, Lake View Cemetery Page 108
Early Readers’ Impressions “Reading this book has given me such insight into not only the monument itself but also the context in which it was constructed. The attention to detail that allows this monument to honor each arm of the military active during the Civil War is a tribute to Levi Scofield’s understanding of what it meant to fight for the Union and the respect that he and the Commissioners wished to bestow upon those who fell. Lauren Pacini helps us as readers to continue "Honoring their Memory”. Catherine Bennett Artist and Teacher Ruffing Montessori School
"This in-depth look at how one artist changed the face of Cleveland, Ohio will utterly captivate both history buffs and architecture enthusiasts alike. Through his beautiful photographs. meticulous research, and lively narrative, Pacini tells a fascinating story of American history, politics, and urban development as seen through the lens of one man and one city. Simply a must-read!" D.M. Pulley Bestselling author of The Dead Key
Honoring Their Memory is a real treat – both scholarly and beautiful. Lauren Pacini’s lens captures images I have seen, yet never truly appreciated before. Through his narrative, you get a sense of the immediacy of the Civil War, its effect on the men who fought in it, their deeply felt need to honor and remember their comrades and their desperate fight to accomplish the memorial before the war faded from memory. A feast for your eyes, mind and heart. Laura Stack former member of the Board of Trustees Western Reserve Historical Society
Lauren Pacini does it once again as he successfully uses magnificent photographs and compelling text to tell the story of Cleveland’s most prominent monument, The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, and its creator, Levi Scofield. Readers of Honoring Their Memory: Levi Scofield, Cleveland’s Monumental Architect and Sculptor are in for a delightful photographic journey through Cleveland history. Pacini weaves the history of the monument with that of Scofield’s contributions to the architecture of the city and the history of Cleveland’s Public Square and Group Plan. It is a rare opportunity to see images of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument and to learn what it stands for. The book describes the amazing ways in which Cleveland’s leaders and architects, Levi Scofield in particular, realized their vision of public spaces that inspire the community to both honor those who have made sacrifices and to gather to enjoy the city. Julie Agar History and Humanities Teacher Hawken School