The National Monument to the Forefathers

The National Monument to the Forefathers

 

      Mom and I were talking today and she was telling me about The National Monument to the Forefathers, once called the Pilgrim Monument, which honored the Mayflower Pilgrims and to commemorate the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing in the New World in Provincetown, in November 1620. She asked me if I had seen Kirk Cameron new film, Monumental. She went on to ask me if I had ever been taught about the Monument in school and I said, “No, never heard of it.”  After our conversation I wondered why not?  I have been around the United States, and have personally seen many monuments that our country celebrates as part of our heritage, so why not this one.  My Mom’s expressed curiosity prompted me to Google it.  As a Believer in Jesus, and his word, The Holy Bible, I was thrilled to run on this piece of history. 


The cornerstone was laid August 2, 1859, and was completed in October 1888. It was dedicated on August 1, 1889. Today the National Monument to the Forefathers stands in Provincetown, Massachusetts and was built between 1907 and 1910, thirty years after the corner stone was laid. It was built to honor the Pilgrim’s life principals that were recorded to have been “later embraced by the United States”.  

The National Monument to the Forefathers postcard

In further research I ran across the Pilgrim Memorial Book on the MassHistory web-site which spoke of the the Pilgrim Society's determination to see this monument raised.  The following it a quote from the Pilgrim Memorial Book, "nothing will overshadow in pure, grand solemnity of thought and action their determination to leave forever the scenes of civilized life, to battle, perhaps, with famine,and disease-certainly with unused to labor, to settle in a savage wilderness, and all to plant the seeds of a pure faith and of universal religious, social, and civil freedom".  This is the kind of "old way determination"  that this blog is all about.  What an Ebenezer Stone that was raised by our forefathers!

The following from Wikipedia describes the monument:

The monument, which faces northeast to Plymouth Harbor (and, roughly, towards Plymouth, England), sits in the center of a circular drive, which is accessed from Allerton Street from the east. The plan of the principal pedestal is octagonal, with four small, and four large faces; from the small faces project four buttresses. On the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of "Faith" with her right hand pointing toward heaven and her left hand clutching the Bible. Upon the four buttresses also are seated figures emblematical of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth, each having a symbol referring to the Bible that "Faith" possesses; counter-clockwise from the east are Liberty, Morality, Law and Education. Each was carved from a solid block of granite, posed in the sitting position upon chairs with a high relief on either side of minor characteristics. Under "Liberty" stand "Tyranny Overthrown" and "Peace;" under "Morality" stand "Prophet" and "Evangelist;" under "Law" stand "Justice" and "Mercy;" and under "Education" are "Youth" and "Wisdom." On the face of the buttresses, beneath these figures are high reliefs in marble, representing scenes from Pilgrim history. Under "Freedom" is "Landing;" under "Morality" is "Embarcation;" under "Law" is "Treaty;" and under "Education" is "Compact." Upon the four faces of the main pedestal are large panels for records. The front panel is inscribed as follows: "National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty." The right and left panels contain the names of those who came over in the Mayflower.

(I have separated the last paragraph from the rest to share with my husband, who is a proven direct descendant of William Bradford; he is going to love it!)

The rear panel, which was not engraved until recently, contains a quote from Governor William Bradford's famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation:

           "Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise."

The National Monument to the Forefathers

 

      Mom and I were talking today and she was telling me about The National Monument to the Forefathers, once called the Pilgrim Monument, which honored the Mayflower Pilgrims and to commemorate the Mayflower Pilgrims’ first landing in the New World in Provincetown, in November 1620. She asked me if I had seen Kirk Cameron new film, Monumental. She went on to ask me if I had ever been taught about the Monument in school and I said, “No, never heard of it.”  After our conversation I wondered why not?  I have been around the United States, and have personally seen many monuments that our country celebrates as part of our heritage, so why not this one.  My Mom’s expressed curiosity prompted me to Google it.  As a Believer in Jesus, and his word, The Holy Bible, I was thrilled to run on this piece of history. 


The cornerstone was laid August 2, 1859, and was completed in October 1888. It was dedicated on August 1, 1889. Today the National Monument to the Forefathers stands in Provincetown, Massachusetts and was built between 1907 and 1910, thirty years after the corner stone was laid. It was built to honor the Pilgrim’s life principals that were recorded to have been “later embraced by the United States”.  

The National Monument to the Forefathers postcard

In further research I ran across the Pilgrim Memorial Book on the MassHistory web-site which spoke of the the Pilgrim Society's determination to see this monument raised.  The following it a quote from the Pilgrim Memorial Book, "nothing will overshadow in pure, grand solemnity of thought and action their determination to leave forever the scenes of civilized life, to battle, perhaps, with famine,and disease-certainly with unused to labor, to settle in a savage wilderness, and all to plant the seeds of a pure faith and of universal religious, social, and civil freedom".  This is the kind of "old way determination"  that this blog is all about.  What an Ebenezer Stone that was raised by our forefathers!

The following from Wikipedia describes the monument:

The monument, which faces northeast to Plymouth Harbor (and, roughly, towards Plymouth, England), sits in the center of a circular drive, which is accessed from Allerton Street from the east. The plan of the principal pedestal is octagonal, with four small, and four large faces; from the small faces project four buttresses. On the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of "Faith" with her right hand pointing toward heaven and her left hand clutching the Bible. Upon the four buttresses also are seated figures emblematical of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth, each having a symbol referring to the Bible that "Faith" possesses; counter-clockwise from the east are Liberty, Morality, Law and Education. Each was carved from a solid block of granite, posed in the sitting position upon chairs with a high relief on either side of minor characteristics. Under "Liberty" stand "Tyranny Overthrown" and "Peace;" under "Morality" stand "Prophet" and "Evangelist;" under "Law" stand "Justice" and "Mercy;" and under "Education" are "Youth" and "Wisdom." On the face of the buttresses, beneath these figures are high reliefs in marble, representing scenes from Pilgrim history. Under "Freedom" is "Landing;" under "Morality" is "Embarcation;" under "Law" is "Treaty;" and under "Education" is "Compact." Upon the four faces of the main pedestal are large panels for records. The front panel is inscribed as follows: "National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty." The right and left panels contain the names of those who came over in the Mayflower.

(I have separated the last paragraph from the rest to share with my husband, who is a proven direct descendant of William Bradford; he is going to love it!)

The rear panel, which was not engraved until recently, contains a quote from Governor William Bradford's famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation:

           "Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise."