Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument. Installed 1912. , This impressive monument, the only one in Connecticut, was given to New Milford by Edward Marsh, a New Milford native and an Army captain during the Civil War. It honors all Civil War soldiers and sailors along with Abraham Lincoln and was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1912 at a ceremony attended by Marsh. It has a prominent place at the north end of the Town Green on the front lawn of The New Milford Historical Society and Museum., It is more accurately called a Herm, meeting its definition of a sculpture in the classical tradition of a pedestal and a bust. It was sculpted by Paul Winters Morris on a 12 foot high, 18 ton pedestal of Vermont granite. The bust and side panels are made of cast bronze, weighing 800 pounds. It was decided that the sculpture would stand on a spot of historic memory in the place where, over 200 years earlier, a community meetinghouse, built for the purpose of worship, education and town meetings, once stood. Each side of the pedestal holds an oval plaque, the most significant being the south or front side on which is inscribed The Gettysburg Address. The north side is an inscription of gratitude to the donor and the Civil War heroes, our union soldiers and sailors and of course, President Abraham Lincoln, our courageous leader during these critical times. The side plaques have bas-relief life-sized figures of a sailor on the west and bugler on the east., Captain Marsh, a Civil War veteran himself, had seen President Lincoln many times during the war, and he had deep respect, love and reverence for him as well as for our country. It was always his wish to present his hometown with a symbol of the gratitude he felt. He hoped to inspire future generations while honoring Civil War service members as well as Lincoln. We are ever grateful to Captain Marsh for this treasured gift.