The E. M. Viquesney "Spirit of the American Doughboy" Database
AXTELL, KANSAS
N 39° 52.3557 / W 96° 15.4647
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260038.
Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.
Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260038.
At the corner of Fifth and Maple, a primary Axtell intersection.
The plaque reads:
AXTELL BOYS
WHO SERVED IN
THE WORLD WAR
1914 – 1918
(Followed by 150 names in two columns)
Two nurses are named first.
Four names have stars indicating they were killed.
AXTELL BOYS
WHO SERVED IN
THE WORLD WAR
1914 – 1918
(Followed by 150 names in two columns)
Two nurses are named first.
Four names have stars indicating they were killed.
The monument's acquisition was initiated by the R. R. Hendricks Post 214 of the American Legion. It was dedicated in the center of the intersection May 31, 1925 and relocated in 1960 to a small piece of land that had been leased from the railroad for that purpose in 1955. The total cost was about $1,850, of which $1,175 was for the sculpture and the rest for the base, the plaque and freight. Except for $150 paid from the town treasury, it was paid for by a public subscription project that took two years of raising funds by box-socials, raffles, and other events.
The Doughboy is in relatively good condition, although the bayonet is missing (the rifle sling has been replaced; see Panoramio.com link).
Each year, the R. R. Hendricks American Legion Post begins its Memorial Day services at the Doughboy.
The Doughboy is in relatively good condition, although the bayonet is missing (the rifle sling has been replaced; see Panoramio.com link).
Each year, the R. R. Hendricks American Legion Post begins its Memorial Day services at the Doughboy.
* * *
Left: That’s me (Earl Goldsmith) with my daughter, Jennifer Goldsmith Ho, and Jennifer’s younger two children, Sam, Jr. and Sydney, at the Doughboy on May 29, 2001.
The photo was taken by a friendly man from the Axtell Grain Company across the street, but I didn’t get his name. He told us there was an identical statue in Onaga, a few miles south of Axtell. I responded that the one in Onaga was very similar, but was a different statue by sculptor John Paulding, and that if he would look closely the next time he was in Onaga, he would see the differences. Then we went to Onaga to see if I was correct. So the grandchildren got to see a Paulding, too. (Two other grandchildren, Kevin and Melissa McBeth, had already seen the Paulding at Albany, Missouri when they went there with their parents looking for what I thought at the time might be a Viquesney Doughboy. Another granddaughter, Elaina Grantham,saw a Paulding with me at Leavenworth, Kansas.)
The photo was taken by a friendly man from the Axtell Grain Company across the street, but I didn’t get his name. He told us there was an identical statue in Onaga, a few miles south of Axtell. I responded that the one in Onaga was very similar, but was a different statue by sculptor John Paulding, and that if he would look closely the next time he was in Onaga, he would see the differences. Then we went to Onaga to see if I was correct. So the grandchildren got to see a Paulding, too. (Two other grandchildren, Kevin and Melissa McBeth, had already seen the Paulding at Albany, Missouri when they went there with their parents looking for what I thought at the time might be a Viquesney Doughboy. Another granddaughter, Elaina Grantham,saw a Paulding with me at Leavenworth, Kansas.)
Links:
http://www.marshallco.net/axtell/sites.html#World%20War%20I%20Doughboy
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17288304
http://www.marshallco.net/axtell/sites.html#World%20War%20I%20Doughboy
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/17288304
