IOWA

 

Geode Stone from Burlington, Iowa. The geode is the state rock of Iowa. Donated by Eugene Douglas Shaw, Ph.D., Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, Retired. Shaw, a native of Iowa, is a past Grand Commander, Grand Pup Tent of Massachusetts, Military Order of the Cootie (Degree Program of VFW). The Geode Stone was found in his grandmother's creek outside of Burlington, Iowa. The Geode Stone is given in honor of Shaw's great Grandfather, Private Frederick Christoph Schrei, Company E, 25th Infantry Regiment of Iowa. Eugene knew Private Schrei's second wife "Granny" quite well. "Granny" lived to be 82 years old. Eugene remembers when he was 11 years old his mother picked "Granny" up from her home in Burlington, Iowa for a Sunday Dinner. Eugene recalls placing the over stuffed foot stool under "Granny's" left foot with the gout, turning on the Victrola and playing "Carry Me Back To Old Virginy." When she placed the metal ear horn to her ear, she would always comment, "Your Grand Pa was in the War, and he went down South to free the Slaves!" She also often related how when he returned from the War, he had two flag poles in front of the house: one flying the Stars & Stripes and the other flying the Stars & Bars! He had great respect for the Confederate soldiers.

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Private Schrei saw his first action against Vicksburg in December, 1862. In November of 1863 he fought in the Battle of Mission Ridge near Chattanooga then participated in the Atlanta Campaign and the March to the Sea. His unit entered Savannah on December 21, 1864. He skirmished with the rebels near Little Congaree Creek, SC on January 15 and at the capture of Columbia, SC on February 17. The Battle of Bentonville, SC was the last general engagement. From Goldsboro, The Twenty-Fifth Iowa moved with its Brigade and Division to Raleigh, and thence, after the surrender of General Johnston, to Washington. On May 24, 1865, Private Schrei participated in the greatest military pageant of modern times, The Grand Review at Washington. On June 6, 1865, the soldiers of the Twenty-Fifth Iowa were mustered out and provided with train transport to Davenport, Iowa. Private Schrei died on October 4, 1911, at 71 years of age and is buried in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington, Iowa.

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SOUTH CAROLINA

 

Winnsboro Blue Granite from Winnsboro in Fairfield County is the state stone of South Carolina. It was originally quarried at the Anderson granite quarry west of the town of Winnsboro during the 1800s. The Winnsboro Blue is actually a gray colored granite; however, the darker minerals in the rock exhibit a blue hue when polished. This granite has been used over the years as a building material for monuments, houses, churches and skyscrapers. Donated by John Magera, SGT, Service Battery, 5th Battalion, 60th Artillery, U. S. Army Reserve, 1960-1966. The Winnsboro Blue Granite is given in memory of his uncle, Bert Nowinski of South Bend, Indiana. Seaman 1st Class Nowinski served in the U. S. Navy in WW II.

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GEORGIA

 

Savannah Gray Granite donated by Shirley A. Magera of Greer, South Carolina in honor of her uncle, U. S. Navy Seaman Arthur Clauert. Seaman Clauert served on the USS Missouri during WW II and was aboard during the Japanese surrender ceremony.

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CONNECTICUT

 

Schist and Granitic Gneiss from Darien, Connecticut. Schist and granitic gneiss are among the stones used to build the stone walls of Connecticut. These stones were found along Tokeneke Trail near Long Island Sound. Given by Pietro del Fabro in memory of his father, Elwin E2 Smith. 1Lt Smith was a member of the 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division, Pacific Theater, WW II. His unit was the first ashore in Japan and served as the honor guard during the Japanese surrender on the Battleship Missouri in September, 1945. He spent two additional years in Japan during the U.S. occupation, then was assigned to the 82d Airborne upon his return to the United States.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

Tapestry Granite quarried at Milford, New Hampshire and given by Riono Stone Works of Nashua. The granite was sent by John A. La Rosee, Adjutant, Grand of New Hampshire and Eugene A. Pawlik. Both John and Eugene are Past Grand Commanders of The Grand Pup Tent of New Hampshire, Military Order of the Cootie (the Honor Degree Program), Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.

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TENNESSEE

 

Travertine Limestone quarried in Crossville near Knoxville. Limestone is the state stone of Tennessee. The stone was given by Debbie and Jim Szewczyk of Chattanooga in memory of Jim's father Walter, a WW II Army veteran. Walter was in armored reconnaissance serving under General Patton and was involved in the chase of General Rommel across Africa and later participated in the invasion of Sicily.

 

LOUISIANA

 

Hearth Brick from a dog-trot house located near Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. The name of the house refers to the low open front porch which dogs could run through. The house was built in the 1840s and was used as a Union hospital after the battle of Pleasant Hill. This battle was part of General Bank's Red River Campaign. New York unit's that were part of the Army of the Gulf included the 19th Corps: 90th, 114th, 116th, 128th, 153rd, 156th, 159th, 160th, 161st, 162nd, 165th, 173rd and 175th Infantry, 2nd, 14th and 18th Cavalry and the 26th Battery. The Hearth Brick is given by Captain Scott Solice, 3rd Louisiana Infantry and dedicated to Private Felix Solice, also of the 3rd Louisiana Infantry.

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MISSISSIPPI

 

Vicksburg Court House Brick sent by George "Bubba" Bolm, Director/Curator, Old Court House Museum, Vicksburg. The brick is dedicated to Gordon A. Cotton, the Director/Curator/Historian of the building for the past 30 years.

In front of the courthouse in June, 1861, Major M.G. Watts, representing the Confederate government, rode forward to address the Volunteer Southrons. As each soldier raised his right hand, Watts charged them "on honor solely, the strongest that can bind a soldier," to uphold their country's constitution and obey all legal orders from their officers. "You have now your country's honor, your country's flag, and your individual names to protect" the Major admonished. "Look to your God, your country and win the bright, approving smiles of those left at home."

On July 15, 1862, the homemade Confederate ironclad, the Arkansas, came out of the Yazoo River to run the gauntlet of Farragut's fleet to get to Vicksburg. When the Arkansas reached the enemy fleet, causing serious damage to numerous Union vessels, among the Confederates watching the action was Kentuckian Gen. John C. Breckinridge, Gen. S. D. Lee, and Gen. Earl Van Dorn, who had a commanding view from the dome of the courthouse.

On board the flagship Black Hawk, Adm. David Dixon Porter, saw the courthouse and ordered St. Cmdr. James A. Greer to take action, "by shifting your 40-pounder to the bow, you can easily throw shell into the town." He advised "the object is to throw shell about the courthouse, if possible." One shell soon found its mark, striking the building near the portico roofline on the southwest side. Union prisoners, however, were kept in the upstairs courtroom, and legend persists that two of the blue-clad boys were sent under a flag of truce to inform Porter that if the building were destroyed, a large number of Union men, the prisoners inside, would be killed, thus the building was spared. The courthouse was only slightly damaged except for the cupola where the Stars and Bars fluttered in the breeze, making it a tantalizing sight to the attacking Army and Navy.

It was a joyous day on July 4, 1863, for the Northern troops to watch the Confederate flag lowered from the courthouse after the surrender of Vicksburg. New York correspondent De Bow Keim described the event: "Upon arriving at the Court House, the troops were drawn up in line facing the building. This done, the ceremony of possession was completed by the display of the flags of the 45th Illinois infantry and the headquarters of the Seventeenth Corps, from the dome of the Court House. Upon the appearance of the flags the troops cheered vociferously, making the city ring to its very suburbs with the shouts of the votaries of liberty."

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NEW JERSEY

 

Princeton Ridge Granite is a dark gray granite from the northwest hills of Princeton along the Great Road. The Princeton Ridge granite is given by Maria del Fabro in memory of her father, George Kenneth Hullfish. Kenneth, a tool and die maker by trade, was a Machinist's Mate 3d Class in the US Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor during World War II.

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​VERMONT

 

Vermont Granite from Jericho, Vermont. Three different stones in the colors red, brown and white were sent by Douglas Daeffler, a Major in the New York Air National Guard. The stones are given on behalf of the Ethan Allen Range of Jericho, Vermont and The Vermont Army National Guard.

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ALABAMA

 

Black Creek Sandstone from Gadsden, Alabama. Black Creek is significant in the history of Etowah County and Alabama. Just north of Gadsden, at the beginning of Lookout Mountain (the same Lookout Mountain that ends in Chattanooga) Black Creek goes over a 90 foot waterfall. This waterfall is located in the Noccalula Falls Park and Botanical Garden. The falls are named for a legendary Cherokee Indian princess famed for her beauty, whose father arranged her marriage to a neighboring chief in order to bring peace to their two tribes. Princess Noccalula was in love with a brave from her own tribe and refused to marry the chief. Her father refused to listen to her pleas and so on the day of her wedding she threw herself over the falls rather than marry a man she didn't love.

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Below the falls, Black Creek winds through the western part of Gadsden where other famous events took place. In May of 1863, Confederate Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest was pursuing Union Colonel Abel Streight through north Alabama. Forrest hoped to stop Streight's Vandals before they destroyed the Confederate armory at Rome, Georgia and cut the Confederate railroad south of Chattanooga. This rail line was supplying the campaign of General Braxton Bragg.

John Wisdom, the Paul Revere of the South, left Gadsden on horseback riding to Rome to warn the countryside that Streight's troops were coming. During the ride, more than twice as long as Revere's, Wisdom rode five horses to death but reached Rome and alerted the garrison.

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Meanwhile, Streight reached Gadsden several hours before Forrest and realized that if he could destroy the bridge across Black Creek, Forrest would be unable to continue his pursuit. At the time it was impossible to cross the water since the creek was swollen out of its banks following a series of spring storms. Streight went to a nearby farmhouse belonging to the Sansom family and demanded a coal with which he burned the bridge across the creek. A few hours later, General Forrest went to the same farmhouse and was informed by Emma, the Sansoms' 15-year-old daughter that there was a place where the creek could be forded about a mile away. Emma climbed on the horse behind General Forrest and showed him where the ford was located while under fire from Streight's troops on the other side. After returning Emma to her mother, Forrest pursued Streight, catching up with him just outside of Rome and taking 1700 of his 3000 men prisoner. The civil war memorial in Gadsden is a statue of Emma Sansom pointing towards the creek. In the 1920s, when a second high school was built in Gadsden, it was named Emma Sansom High School and the junior high was named General Forrest Junior High School. In 2006, the three public high schools in the system were consolidated and Emma Sansom High School became Emma Sansom Middle School.

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The Black Creek Sandstone is given by Sally Page of Gadsden. During an extended dry spell in the spring of 2007 she was able to walk to the middle of Black Creek at the top of the 90 foot falls and retrieve the stone. Emma Sansom and her story have always been special to Sally because for many years Alabama Regional Theater presented an outdoor historical drama called "In This Valley" which included the story of Emma Sansom and Noccalula. Sally Page played Emma. The stone is dedicated to Captain Lynn Holt Page, US Army Corps of Engineers, Vietnam; First Lieutenant Carl Jackson Page, US Army Air Corps, World War II, Pacific Theater and Yeoman Quinton Edgar Musick, US Coast Guard, World War II, Pacific Theater.

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ILLINOIS

 

MISSISSIPPI RIVER STONE from the river bank at Rapid City. Given by Caren and Perry Cleaveland in memory of their first trip across the Mississippi. The stone is dedicated to Caren's two sisters, Carol and Joanne who served in the US Army from 1976-1978. PFC Carol L. Cole, 35th Signal Group, 426th Signal Battalion, was a Tactical Microwave Radio Operator stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Carol was in the last graduating class of WAC's from Fort McClellan, Alabama and helped build the WAC Museum there. SP4 Joanne Leyland-Huff, was an Environmental Health Specialist stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland with the First Army Division. Joanne also was the first female Explorer in the Ridge Culver Firematics Explorer Post and received a commendation from the town of Greece, NY for her volunteer work in locating a missing person.

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OHIO

 

Ohio Split Face Ashlar (sandstone), comes from the quarries of The Briar Hill Stone Company located in the North central part of Ohio, in the town of Glenmont. The quarry has been operational since the mid 1800's. Since 1917, The Briar Hill Stone Company has quarried and fabricated sandstone for a wide variety of building projects. The combination of warm earth tone shades, textures, and durability have made it a popular building material. The durability of the stone from this unique deposit can be seen in structures dating back to the 1850's. The original tool markings are still distinct after 150 years.

This stone is given by Michele and Martin Garbers, and Kathryn Garbers, all of Wauseon, Ohio in memory of the following family members who served their country during times of need:

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Luther Garbers, husband of Kathryn and father of Martin, was a Captain with Service Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 34th Artillery, in Neurenburg, Germany in the early 1960's.

Fred Garbers, Luther's father and Martin's grandfather, enlisted in March, 1918. He was a Private in the 158th DB Headquarters Company, 345th Battalion, Tank Corps. He fought at the St. Michiel Front and the Argonne Front from September, 1918 through October, 1918. He was discharged in May, 1919 and passed away in 1984.

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George D. Havens, Kathryn's great grandfather (paternal) and Martin's great great grandfather (maternal) served in Company I, 47th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.) Regiment from 1861 to 1865. He passed away 11/25/1921. The 47th O.V.I. Regiment completed its organization at Camp Dennison, Ohio in August, 1861. Colonel Poschner was elected Colonel, and reported at once to Rosecrans in Western Virginia. After experiencing a great variety of service in the Kanawha Valley and elsewhere in West Virginia, the Regiment finally, in the fall of 1862, went to join the forces operating against Vicksburg. It moved to Memphis and then to Chattanooga, and took part in the Mission Ridge battle, and in the relief of Knoxville. The Regiment returned from veteran furlough to fight in the Atlanta campaign, the march to the sea, and the assault on Fort McAllister. It marched through the Carolinas, then moved west and south again, and was mustered out at Little Rock in August, 1865. When the Regiment entered field service it numbered 830 men. At the close of the Atlanta campaign it numbered 120-rank and file.

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WEST VIRGINIA

 

Tygart Valley River Stone (Massive Sandstone) found in the Tygart Valley River under the Philippi Covered Bridge in Barbour County, WV. The bridge, erected in 1852 served both North and South in the passage of troops and supplies across the mountains into Virginia during the Civil War. This was the site of the first land conflict of the Civil War in June of 1861, resulting in Union soldiers taking control of the bridge and helping to secure the B&O and this section of Western Virginia for the Union cause. This stone is given by Jenny Beatrice Smith Barbor of Buckhannon, West Virginia in honor and memory of her great, great grandfather, Charles Edgar Smith (1840-1914), who served in the 144th N.Y. Vol. Infantry from 1862-1865. Charles was the son of Abner Smith. He married Hannah L. Sliter and was a stone mason by trade. They lived most of their lives in Masonville and Sidney N.Y. are buried in Sidney, N.Y.

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OREGON

 

Thunderegg Geode dug in the late 1950's by Lee King, proprietor of the Pier Avenue Rock Shop, Pacific City, Oregon. The geode is the State Stone of Oregon. The Thunderegg Geode is an agate filled mudball, volcanic in origin, from the Priday Thunderegg beds located east of Madras, in Jefferson County in the area now called Richardson's Ranch. The geode is given by Walter & Maryln Rigterink of Tillamook, Oregon and dedicated to Chief Petty Officer Andrew Rigterink, submariner/diver, U. S. Navy, Retired.

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PENNSYLVANIA

 

Pennsylvania Bluestone is a sandstone found in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the South Central New York region. Bluestone is a sedimentary stone grey/blue in color and is used extensively as an architectural and landscape building material. Charles Dennis Smith of Morristown, NJ has designated this stone to honor his father Henry Bennett Smith born in 1896 in Masonville, NY. It was in the woods of Northern Pennsylvania that Henry came to relax and hunt after his arduous service in World War One. The Bluestone was found in the Pennsylvania mountains that Henry once walked.

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Henry's maternal great grandfather, Icabod Palmer, was a captain in the 8th Foot Regiment of the Connecticut Militia during the American revolution. His grandfather, Charles Edgar Smith served in the Union Army 1862 - 1865 as a member of the 144th NY Voluntary Infantry.

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On June 8, 1915, at the age of 19, Henry enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force of the British Army serving four years until his discharge on May 16, 1919. During his service, he was wounded on six occasions, each time requiring extensive hospitalization. During the war, he maintained a diary recording significant events in terse phrases. The following excerpts from the diary reveal the difficulties of WW I trench warfare.

1916 ~ 3/28 move to front line Sanctuary Woods - first shell fire. 3/29 casualties - real war. 3/31 Capt. Shawnessy killed. 4/1 Ypres Salient early AM gas alarm. 4/12 heavy casualties - bury dead at night under shell fire. 4/21 heavy shellfire - casualties - rain and mud - soaked. 4/27 night bombs and strafing - German artillery blows up our grenade store. 4/30 Camp - bath - pay - drinks. 5/5 Ypres camp shelled 17 killed 8 wounded. 6/2 3rd battle of Ypres - heavy German attack on woods and Hoodge - brigade badly mauled - move up to line at night. 6/3 Ypres - living hell - terrific fire from German batteries - lost 50 % of men getting into line - heaps of dead - 3rd Div. mauled but holding line. 6/9 Woke up in hospital, gun shot wound head and shell shock.

1917 ~ 5/11 Varny Ridge, France under scorching fire from heavies. Move up 9 PM, reached front line 2 AM. Trenches full of dead and wounded. 5/12 heavy shell fire - no cover and no water. 5/14 gun shot wound right hand - close quarters - walked out. 5/17 hospital Lerster, England.

1918 ~ 8/12 we go to fight again. 8/13 arrive Beaucourt France. 8/14 shelled long range - nightly air raids strafing. 8/26 sleep in rain and mud. 9/2 Follow 5 min. barrage by attack. Tank and shelling help - many casualties. Objective at 11 AM 6 mile advance. 2nd attack 11:30 AM. I'm hit hard - gun shot wounds chest and side - drag myself to dressing station. 9/3 Arras France hospital - bad - on table - operation. 9/4 out of ether - severed ulna nerve and artery - chest blood transfusion.

After returning to the trenches in late Oct 1918, Henry was severely wounded in the upper right arm by 13 machine gun bullets. Repair of the wounds and shattered bones required lengthy hospital stays. As a result, his discharge from the Canadian Army and repatriation to the United States were delayed until May, 1919 when he returned to Newport, NY. Here he met and Married Beatrice May Spellman in 1921, then earned a diploma in chemistry. Henry worked for 30 years with Eastman Kodak in Rochester. During that period, he was awarded over 50 U.S. patents; most were novel photographic film base formulations. After retirement Henry moved to Dunedin, Florida where he died August 25,1987 at age 91.

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KANSAS

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Salina Sandstone from Salina, Kansas. Salina sandstone is a sedimentary rock made from small grains of quartz and feldspar. This particular piece is from the first tavern built in Salina, which still stands today. Sandstone was quarried and used in the construction of homes and buildings some of which had walls two feet thick.

In September of 1864, Salina was made a military post. Soldiers were stationed there to guard wagon trains crossing the plains. The following spring these men were replaced by “galvanized Yankees”, former Confederate soldiers who agreed to serve in the Western frontier in exchange for their freedom from Union prisons. For a period of months several companies of the 5th Regiment of US Volunteers, as they were officially called, performed escort and courier duties west out of Salina and Fort Riley. During this time, Salina bustled with activity. Tents and dugouts crowded the banks of the Smoky Hill River.

The Munson children donate this stone in honor of their late father, Roland A. Munson, who served in the United States Navy on the USS Garland minesweeper during World War II. In his later years, he was a collector of rocks, and would be very honored by his remembrance at the American Civil War Memorial.

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NEW YORK

 

Garnet from North River, New York given on behalf of the Barton Mine. Since about 1866, at North River, New York, the Barton family has been mining a deposit of by far the hardest garnet found anywhere in the world. The garnet came from their long abandoned pit mine #1. This deposit, near Gore Mountain, is a garnet bearing granite of uncertain, igneous or metamorphic origin. The garnet is present as imperfectly developed crystals surrounded by a rim of coarsely crystalline black hornblende with chunks of white feldspar interspersed. The garnet was sent by Bill Holmes of Waterloo, New York and is dedicated to the eight hundred and sixty-seven New Yorkers buried in the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.

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NEVADA

 

Red Sandstone from Red Rock Canyon, located a few miles west of Las Vegas within the Mojave Desert. Nevada, the last of the Civil War States to achieve Statehood, became the 36th state on October 31,1864. In clear reference to the ongoing conflict, the state motto of "Battle Born" was adopted. The Nevada Stone was sent by Roger Jablonski, United States Marine Corps Reserve, 1978-1984. Roger is a member of the Hingham, Massachusetts, American Legion Post 120. The red sandstone is given in memory of Sergeant A. P. Rozzi, United States Marines Corps, World War Two.

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INDIANA

 

Buff Limestone mined in central Indiana near Bloomington (Monroe County). Indiana limestone, one of the world's premier architectural and sculptural stones, was created 300 million years ago in the shallow seas that washed over Indiana. See the Artistic Materials Section of this website for more information on Indiana Limestone. This block of limestone was recovered from a church baptismal font and is given by Pietro del Fabro in memory of his grandfather, Corporal Edward W. Kirchmaier, a World War One veteran.

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Edward Kirchmaier enlisted in the Army on December 13, 1917, and was sent to Kelly Field for aviation training. Kelly Field opened for training on April 5, 1917, one day before the United States declared war on Germany. The new aviation training site on 700 acres of farmland seven miles south of San Antonio was named in memory of George Edward Maurice Kelly, the first U. S. military pilot fatality. Kelly died in a crash at Fort Sam Houston in 1911. Over a quarter million men were trained at the facility during the war. In 1925 Charles Lindbergh trained at Kelly Field and graduated first in his class at the U.S. Air Service Flying School.

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Edward Kirchmaier served with the 2nd Training Brigade from December 1917 to March 1918 at Kelly Field, then was sent to France with the American Expeditionary Forces. During the war he was stationed at Clichy and Romorantin with the Air Balloon Service. In January, 1918 the first American military balloon went up at Cuperly, Marne, France and in February the first facility for assembling American made airplanes began operations at Romorantin. After the war's end on November 11, 1918, Edward was stationed in Cologne with the Army of Occupation. He was assigned to the 462nd Air Squadron and HQAS 3rd Army. Edward died February 18, 1979, in Princeton, New Jersey.

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RHODE ISLAND

 

Block Island Granite donated by Ellen Bean of Buffalo, New York. The Block Island Granite consists of two stones, one purple and one gray pink, worn smooth by the ocean waves. The stones were picked up on Black Rock Beach, a rocky beach on the southern shore of Block Island near Mohegan Bluffs. The beach is covered with hard dark stones, hence the name of the beach. The stones are dedicated to Ellen's father, William Bright Jones, Jr., an officer in the U. S. Navy during World Two and Korea. He taught at Officer's Training School in Newport, Rhode Island and sailed on the aircraft carrier USS Princeton during the Korean War. The stones are dedicated in memory of two summers Ellen and her family spent with her father on Block Island just before his death in 1998.

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NORTH CAROLINA

 

Bellamy Brick given by Beverly E. Ayscue, Executive Director of the Bellamy Mansion. The Bellamy Brick is a handmade hearth brick from the kitchen fireplace of the Negro House at the Bellamy Mansion, Wilmington, North Carolina. The brick has the fingerprints of its creator embedded in its surface. The Bellamy Mansion is one of North Carolina's premier architectural and historic treasures. In 1859, Dr. John Bellamy hired local architect James F. Post to design his future 22 room residence. Post, assisted by Connecticut draftsman Rufus Bunnell, supervised the talented enslaved carpenters and free black artisans who built the mansion. The Bellamy family moved into the mansion on the eve of the Civil War only to be displaced during the conflict. Early in 1865 Wilmington fell to Federal troops (Battle of Fort Fisher) and the occupying military administration commandeered the mansion as their headquarters. After the war, Dr. Bellamy obtained a pardon from President Andrew Johnson and reclaimed his mansion. Today the Bellamy Mansion is open to the public and operates as a museum of history and design.  

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The Bellamy Brick is sent by George and Susan Gamble of Wilmington, North Carolina who dedicate it to all the men and women of North Carolina who served, are serving or will serve in the armed forces of our wonderful country. Their service should always be remembered.