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Restore the Jerome Township Soldiers Monument and Help Recognize Other Veterans.

As most of you know, the Soldiers Monument that has stood at the corner of Route 42 and Industrial Parkway since its dedication on Memorial Day, 1913, has been removed to be restored and relocated. The monument is being restored by Columbus Art Memorial and will be placed on a new base 50 yards from where it was formerly located. Lighting and a handicap-accessible walkway will also be installed to allow visitors to examine the monument more easily and safely (without cars whizzing by within just a few feet).

A one-acre park will also be developed around the monument with trees, benches, historical markers, and markers recognizing veterans of the more recent wars. A Wall of Remembrance will be erected to honor those Veterans from Jerome Township who served after the Soldiers Monument was dedicated in 1913. The Jerome Township Monument Park Committee is currently working to collect the names of those veterans.

Around the Wall of Remembrance will be a walk of paver stones. Paver stones can be purchased with the names of any business, person, or family member you would like to honor. The pavers will be available in four sizes: 4 x 8 for $50; 8 x 8 for $100; 12 x 12 for $200; and 24 x 24 for $1,000.

The Soldiers Monument was originally erected to honor Jerome Township citizens who served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. Of the 400 citizens listed on the monument, 367 of them served in the Civil War. Jerome Township, with a population of 1,400, had one of the nation’s highest per-capita enlistment rates in the Union military. Many of the Civil War volunteers enlisted near the site of the monument in April 1861 at the New California Presbyterian Church. The New California Church, which is located just behind the former site of the monument, strongly supported the anti-slavery movement.

The back of a historical marker for the New California Church states: “On April 24, 1861, in the sanctuary of the second Presbyterian church built on this site, a congregational meeting was held to respond to the call from President Abraham Lincoln for volunteers to defend the Union. On the pulpit lay the ‘Bible and munitions for war,’ and behind the pulpit stood the Reverend B.D. Evans who delivered a stirring patriotic address and sermon. As a result more than forty men came forward to volunteer for military service. David Taylor was the first to enlist. He served for three years and was killed on a battlefield in Georgia. Before the Civil War ended, more than 367 men from Jerome Township served the Union cause, giving it one of the highest per capita rates for military service in the nation. Seventeen Civil War veterans are buried here in the New California cemetery.”

In 1913, when the monument was dedicated, surviving Civil War veterans attended and a time capsule was enclosed in the monument. A new time capsule will also be included when the monument relocation project is complete.

A Fall 2013 rededication ceremony is planned.

I want to end with something Joe Hofbauer told me about the Soldiers Monument. The base of the monument used to feature cannon balls from the Civil War. However, many of those cannon balls were stolen over the years and had to be replaced with….bowling balls! Yes, bowling balls that were painted to look like cannon balls. Joe Hofbauer told me that he knows where many of the original cannon balls are located and if I looked carefully in yards around Plain City, I would be able to figure out their location, as well. I am still looking!

For more information, visit the Jerome Township web site HERE or call 614-873-4480.

You can also download a form to order the engraving of the name of a Jerome Township Veteran on the Wall of Remembrance or purchase a paver stone by going HERE.

For nice articles about the monument’s move and photos in The Plain City Advocate, the Dublin Villager, and The Columbus Dispatch, go HERE, HERE, and HERE.

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