Like a brave soldier in battle,

the monument in the heart of

Doylestown does not waver.

The marble obelisk has surviv-

ed almost a hundred winters—

even an attempt three months

ago by the county commissioners

to move it back by 40 feet.

It stands, an inscrutable fa-

cade, dwarfed by a rising, new

edifice less than 300 feet away,

the judicial wing of the court

house.

Courageous hearts are entomb-

ed in the monument.  Courageous

hearts helped to build it.

Regimental history was written

on Morris Island, S.C., according

to W.W.H. Davis, commander of

the 104th Pennsylvania Regiment.

During siege operations there,

the men saved, out of a bakery

fund, more than $2,000.

Involved In Red Tape

It was used for the monument

—but only after a lot of red tape.

Davis had to ask the Secretary

of War for permission to appro-

priate the sum.  Consent was giv-

en after a few months.

Subsequent to this the men au-

thorized the appropriation to be

made and the money placed in

Davis’s hands.

This was the nest egg, which

private subscriptions, a donation

from Company E, and interest

on the investment increased to

about $3,000 in 1867.

The personal subscriptions were

from one dollar up, the two larg-

est being by General Henry M.

Naglee, California, and J. Gilling-

ham Fell, Philadelphia, one hun-

dred dollars each.

Davis looked for a place on

which to erect the monument. 

Doylestown cemetery seemed the

most desirable at the time.

So, he sent a letter to the Rev.

Silas M. Andrews, D.D., on Jan-

uary 30, 1867.

Records of the cemetery com-

pany show that the letter was

not considered until May 23.

By that time, a new site had

been chosen—the heart of the

borough.

The contract was made with

Struthers and Son, Philadelphia,

for building it on July 17, 1867. 

The price: $2,500.

Specifications called for “white

American marble, sound and free

from flaw or defect.”

Work was completed in the fall,

but the weather was too stormy

and cold to erect it before the

spring of 1868.  The foundation

was laid in April, cement being

used several feet under ground.

Dedication ceremonies were

A CENTURY-OLD MEMORIAL — The monument, a remind-

er of Civil War dead, on State and Court Sts., Doyles-

town.

Held April 30.  Several hundred

military were present from Phil-

adelphia and a procession was

formed on State St.

General Emory, the orator of

the day, paid a tribute to the en-

listed men in his opening ad-

dress:

“There is a monument still

more enduring than the marble

shaft around which we are as-

sembled,” he said.  “It is found

in the record of the 104th Regi-

ment.

“You are doubtless so familiar

with this history as to render it

unnecessary for me to talk about

it.”