For Whom the Bell Tolls:
Great Hanging events to coincide with Depot Day
By SARAH
EINSELEN Register Editor editor@gainesvilleregister.com Oct 7, 2019
Organizers of annual events recalling “The Great Hanging”
are planning them on the same day as Depot Day this year.
On Saturday, Oct. 12, the North Central Texas College Social
Science Department and the Great Hanging Memorial Foundation will host two
programs exploring the Civil War turmoil in Cooke County that led to the
execution of 42 men in 1862.
At 10 a.m., Ron Melugin, author of the book “Heroes,
Scoundrels and Angels: Fairview Cemetery, Gainesville, Texas,” and Steve
Gordon, president of the memorial foundation, will lead a tour of Fairview
Cemetery focusing on the grave sites of those involved in the series of hangings.
“New information has come to light so we will include
additional grave sites this year,” Gordon said in a press release.
The local cemetery is home to several graves of prominent
figures in the historical event, including Bob Scott, the slave who drove the
“hanging wagon”; James A. Dickson whose murder launched the last wave of
hangings; J.B. Davenport, the sheriff; and several of the men who served as
jurors.
At 2 p.m., a commemoration ceremony at the Great Hanging
Memorial in the Georgia Davis Bass Park will honor the victims with a
bell-ringing service. An antique cast iron bell is being mounted this week at
the park, located between California and Main streets near the east bank of
Pecan Creek.
“New improvements to the park will enhance this event and
make the memorial more meaningful for the community,” Gordon said in the
release.
A concrete and brick base for the bell was put in at the
park late last week. The bell itself and a steel frame to mount it are expected
to be put in place this week as soon as the mortar has set, Gordon said while
supervising the bricklaying Thursday, Oct. 3.
Private donors procured the bell, the Register previously
reported. Gordon believes based on its markings that it was made sometime
between 1894-1970 at the C.S. Bell Co. foundry in Hillsboro, Ohio. The monument is
being installed by the memorial foundation with approval from Gainesville City
Council.
Gordon said its installation follows through on plans made
in the 1990s to develop a memorial park on the site.
Richard McCaslin, author of “Tainted Breeze,” a book about
the hangings, will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony at the park and will
offer a special tribute to Leon Russell, longtime supporter of the memorial.
McCaslin will be available to answer questions about Civil
War history after the event, according to a press release. Organizers are not
hosting a dramatization of McCaslin’s book this year, as they have in years
past, NCTC social science instructor Pat Ledbetter said.
Gordon said a new concrete pad that was also recently laid
at the memorial will provide additional seating, either benches or chairs, for
the afternoon ceremony.
“Our organization is devoted to acknowledging this tragedy
and raising community awareness of these men’s story,” Gordon said of the
memorial foundation. “We have made significant progress in the past few years
by establishing and improving the monument in Bass Park and by organizing this
day of commemoration.”
Previous Years' Events:
No comments:
Post a Comment