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NASHVILLE, GEORGIA
(the first metal Viquesney Doughboy to be fabricated)

N 31° 12.429 / W 83° 15.005

Copyright version 1920, pressed copper.

Smithsonian Art Inventory Control Number: 47260015.

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On the Northwest corner of Berrien County Courthouse Square – near the intersection of East Marion Avenue and North Davis Street.

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The engraving on the front of the tall granite base reads:

ERECTED IN HONOR OF
THOSE WHO WENT FROM
BERRIEN COUNTY
TO SERVE OUR COUNTRY IN THE
WORLD WAR
1917-1919
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LEST WE FORGET

An engraving on the Doughboy’s left side reads:

HONOR ROLL
OTRANTO VICTIMS

(followed by a list of 25 county soldiers lost when the troop ship Otranto sank off the coast of Scotland following an October 1918 collision with the Kashmir during a storm.)

An engraving on the Doughboy’s right side reads:

HONOR ROLL
DIED FROM OTHER CAUSES
(followed by a list of 25 names)

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This is Viquesney’s first metal Doughboy (a variant stone version may have preceded it; see Eufaula, Alabama). Nashville's statue was ordered in August of 1920 (before it was even finished) and erected in the middle of Marion Avenue just behind its current location in late July or August 1921, but left unveiled until late 1923 when payment for the sculpture and impressive base was finally received. The statue was moved to its current location starting on February 28, 1939. The move took three days because of rain delays. Before being placed in Nashville, it was displayed in the lobbies of the Rylander and Windsor Hotels in Americus, Georgia, and toured on a national exhibition.

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Earl Goldsmith at Nashville, GA.

That’s me (Earl Goldsmith) standing in front of the original Viquesney "Spirit of The American Doughboy" early on the morning of April 13, 1999. After photographing the Waycross, Georgia Doughboy the day before and spending the night in Waycross, I had driven to Nashville and arrived there about 7 a. m. As I was surveying the monument and taking photos, a man came down the street and entered the Courthouse. A few minutes later he exited the courthouse and walked across the street to a restaurant. After making notes at the Doughboy, I walked over to the restaurant to see if anyone there could tell me any local history relative to the monument. The man was having coffee with about six others early coffee drinkers. What luck! He was former county Probate Judge, John P. Webb, and he had a lot of information. The name of his uncle, Shelly L. Webb, is included among those lost in the sinking of the Otranto.
After talking a while, we went to the Courthouse offices of the then current Probate Judge, Susan W. Griner (Mr. Webb’s daughter). She showed me through some of her files about the Doughboy and suggested I go to Nashville’s Perry County Library for more information, which I did. But first, she insisted that we go out to the monument so she could take my picture standing in front of it (above, left).

Interestingly, the names of those lost in the sinking of the Otranto also includes that of Bennie E. Griner. I don’t know if he was a relative of Susan Griner’s husband or not.

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Links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/42956117/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/144830409/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/judybaxter/44065355/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/courthouselover/5338017454/in/set-72157625438966420/
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMAQ1F_World_War_I_Doughboy_Nashville_GA
http://www.pentaxforums.com/gallery/photo-spirit-america-wwi-doughboy-statue-monument-20245/
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMBRXG_Spirit_of_the_Doughboy_Statue_Nashville_Georgia

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