The Beriah Magoffin Monument, in Spring Hill Cemetery of Harrodsburg, Kentucky

Harrodsburg, Kentucky

Harrodsburg is a city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,014 at the 2000 census. It is the oldest city in Kentucky.-History:...

, commemorates Beriah Magoffin

Beriah Magoffin

Beriah Magoffin was the 21st Governor of Kentucky, serving during the early part of the Civil War. Personally, Magoffin adhered to a states' rights position, including the right of a state to secede from the Union, and he sympathized with the Confederate cause...

, who was governor of Kentucky

Governor of Kentucky

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...

 when the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 started. Although sympathetic to secession

Ordinance of Secession

The Ordinance of Secession was the document drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861 by the states officially seceding from the United States of America...

, he sought to retain neutrality for Kentucky for the conflict, until pro-Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

 forces compelled him to resign from the governorship.

History

The Beriah Magoffin Monument was dedicated around 1900, many years after Magoffin's 1885 death. Its cast zinc and tribute to the "Lost Cause" is typical of monuments to the War built around 1900. However, atypically of such monuments, Magoffin's portrait bust draped in a toga

Toga

The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...

 recalls Neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 conventions, as in Houdon's sculptural portrait of George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

; this parallel with a heroic Roman was intended by the builder of the Beriah Magoffin Monument.

Two quotes of Magoffin's were inscribed to reflect his position on Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

's role in the conflict:

"What attitude shall Kentucky occupy in the deplorable conflict looking to the constitution of the United States, the nature of our institutions and the causes of the war, I think Kentucky has a right to assume a neutral position."

"While opposed to the policy of the government and the measures used to preserve the constitution, we would not exchange the government of our fathers for any experiment on earth."

Spring Hill Cemetery, where the monument lies, was established in 1860.

National Register of Historic Places

On July 17, 1997, the Beriah Magoffin Monument was one of sixty different monuments related to the Civil War in Kentucky placed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

, as part of the Civil War Monuments of Kentucky Multiple Property Submission. It is one of nine monuments in the MPS that is a tombstone. The Confederate Monument in Harrodsburg

Confederate Monument in Harrodsburg

The Confederate Monument in Harrodsburg, located at the entrance to Spring Hill Cemetery in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, is a statue listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It depicts a life-sized older Confederate cavalryman standing ready....

, also part of the same MPS, is within the same cemetery.