I was not aware of the Forefathers Monument in Plymouth MA, until my friend Nick Montagner told us about it in Bible Study one Friday morning. It’s also been called the “Pilgrim Monument” and the “Faith Monument” and it stands 81feet tall, which makes it the largest free-standing granite structure in the country, and the 3rd tallest statue.
It was designed by Hammall Billings, who proposed it to
the Pilgrim Society in the early 1850’s. He agreed to help raise the funds, and
by 1859 there was enough money to lay the cornerstone. However, it was not
finished and dedicated until 1889. Cash was hard to come by during the war and,
sadly, Billings died in 1874. Thankfully others continued building the
structure. Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln donated $10 to the project in 1861.
Our Pilgrim forefathers certainly deserve this honor.
Without their courage and faith and wisdom we would not have the USA as we know
it today. The plans they had for the New World were laid out in 1620 on the
Mayflower Compact, signed by both the Saints and the Strangers on the ship.
These forty-one men “joined themselves together as a community of equals for
the purpose of self-government in the new world.”
“The pilgrims believed that lawful government was
established by God to restrain evil and to advance good on the earth.” This was
further clarified in the 1636 “Pilgrim Code of Law” wherein “all its existing
laws were compiled into a single volume for greater clarity.” The Pilgrims are best described in a speech by Daniel
Webster in 1820.
“We look around us, and behold the hills and
promontories where the anxious eyes of our fathers first saw the places of
habitation and of rest. We feel the cold which benumbed, and listen to the
winds which pierced them. Beneath us is the Rock, on which New England received
the feet of the Pilgrims. We seem even to behold them, as they struggle with
the elements, and, with toilsome efforts, gain the shore.
“We
listen to the chiefs in council; we see the mild dignity of Carver and of
Bradford; the decisive and soldier like air and manner of Standish; the devout
Brewster; the enterprising Allerton; the general firmness and thoughtfulness of
the whole band; their conscious joy for dangers escaped; their deep solicitude
about danger to come; their trust in Heaven; their high religious faith, full
of confidence and anticipation; all of these seem to belong to this place, and
to be present upon this occasion, to fill us with reverence and admiration.”
All quotations are from the FOREFATHERS MONUMENT GUIDEBOOK.
