Photo Times Observer by Josh Cotton This statue of the Dr Warren Statue in General Joseph Warren Park was unveiled in July 1910.

By JOSH COTON

[email protected]

With all that has been said and written in recent weeks about the county’s namesake, Dr. Joseph Warren, two questions remain relatively answered that have local implications.

The first is what will follow here – how the statue came to be which is currently in Gen Park. Joseph Warren in downtown Warren.

The second, which I think will take a little longer but will stay on my radar, is how the name of the county came about. We know who it is named for, but how was this decision made? Who was involved? Were there other names considered?

But the statue…

The day of the dedication was July 4, 1910.

“An invitation is extended by the Tidioute Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution to all citizens of Warren County and surrounding area to be present at the unveiling ceremonies of the rejected monument in memory of the Revolutionary heroes who are buried in Warren County. Warren, and to General Joseph Warren, for whom the city and county are named,” according to the Tionesta Forest-Republican.

“At 11 a.m., July 4, at the Library Theater, a patriotic and appropriate program will be given. Ex-Lieutenant. Governor Charles Warren Stone has consented to speak on the life of General Warren, and Mrs. Donald McLean, former President of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, will speak, and possibly Mrs. Matthew T. Scott of Chicago, the General President and other notables.

The Warren Evening Mirror published an article about the event on July 5, 1910: “GEN. WARREN DULY HONORED.

The newspaper called him a “SPLENDID MEMORY. »

“Prior to the unveiling of the monument and statue of Major General Joseph Warren, appropriate drills were held at the Library Theatre,” reports the newspaper.

“The town we live in takes its name from General Warren. It is a real honor that we are named after a patriot who stood in the redoubts at Bunker Hill until the third charge of the British soldiers and died as one who had been offered a high command, but who served as a volunteer. General Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury, Mass. and the date was June 11, 1741. He graduated from Harvard in 1759. His bravery, honesty, love of country, and genuine devotion to a cause of true patriotism cannot be disputed. »

“The Daughters of the American Revolution has asked Charles W. Stone to deliver the keynote address for the occasion. He was born in the same county as Joseph Warren, the patient of the revolution, and spent the childhood years of his life there. Coming from a family of revolutionary ancestry, no one could have been better chosen to deliver the main speech of the occasion.

I’ll summarize Stone’s address in next week’s edition. It’s long so it will be an abridged version, although the newspaper has published the speech in its entirety.

The Evening Mirror said they were broadcasting the full text so “All, especially young people, can find inspiration in it for true devotion and loyalty to our country and the flag that stands most high.”

The day’s events began at 11 a.m.

“The exercises started at eleven o’clock and the chairman of the day was Hon. Henry H. Cumings. There was music by the band followed by an invocation by the Reverend HM Conaway. The patriotic song, “Americawas sung by the audience, accompanied by the band.

Since the DAR sponsored the festivities (General Joseph Warren’s current chapter was an offshoot of the Tidioute chapter as I understand it), Mrs. May Gwin Eaton presented an article

“In the article there was a lot of information regarding the organization of the DAR. Its establishment dates back to the year 1893 in the city of Washington. The current membership is 75,000. It was pointed out that the organization represents American freedom….

The Tidioute chapter had formed 10 years earlier and already had 111 members, making it the fourth largest chapter in the state.

Unfortunately, other elements of the ceremony reported by the Evening Mirror, were illegible.

While Stone’s speech will be here next week, I would be open to any thoughts or potential sources you may have on the original naming of the county. There were no logs here in 1895, so I expect it’s a little harder to dig up.

DAR’s General Warren Chapter added a plaque to the statue in 2018 to recognize the sculptor who, among other things, was an associate of world-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

From a 1910 article: “When the chapter had decided on sufficient plans to call for tenders, a number were submitted, but that of Messrs. Peterson and Frick, of Jamestown, NY, was by far the lowest and offered the best promise of most satisfactory performance, so the contract was awarded to them.

“MM. Peterson and Frick donated to the American Art Foundry, MM. Jules Berchen & Co. of Lake Street, Chicago commissioned the portrait statue of General Joseph Warren and they in turn commissioned Mr. Richard Bock to model the statue.

“Mr. Bock is a renowned sculptor, having exhibited works at all subsequent World’s Fairs and received a number of medals in recognition of his excellence.

According to a biography from the University of Greenville, location of the Richard W. Bock sculpture collection, Bock established his first permanent sculpture studio in downtown Chicago in 1891 after years of study in Berlin and Paris.

His first major commissions were for the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, a sculpture at the Indianapolis Public Library, and an interior sculpture in Chicago, where Bock first met Wright.

A few years later, Bock was “Engaged by Frank Lloyd Wright and commissioned to execute several sculptures for the architect’s home in Oak Park, and other work for several of Wright’s architectural commissions.”

The Times Observer then reported that the statue was restored in 2011 by the DAR, in part to restore the missing sword.

But a host of other problems were discovered – the statue had been painted over which meant it couldn’t breathe, so it was deteriorating from the inside out and only one of the bolts holding it down remained. originally the monument based on Vermont granite.