Transient Cornerstone
On 17 June 1825, the cornerstone of the monument was laid with impressive ceremonies. As the colorful procession marched up Bunker Hill to the stirring rendition of “Yankee Doodle” by the drummer of Colonel William Prescott’s regiment, who, 50 years before, had been in the battle, the rear of the procession was just starting from distant Boston Common. The little Boston of over a century ago was crowded with visitors who had come from places as remote as South Carolina by stagecoach, sailing vessel, or on foot, to hear the great speech of Daniel Webster, President of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, and America’s first orator of the day. Years earlier, Chaplain Joseph Thaxter had paid the last offices to dying soldiers in the battle; now, he invoked God’s blessing on the young American republic, as 40 veterans of the battle sat in a place of honor.
The most important visitor, of course, was General Lafayette, who, as a good Mason, spread the mortar on the stone when it was laid by Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, John Abbot. As the battle’s only monument up to this date had been erected by the Masons, it was considered appropriate that the permanent monument should have its cornerstone laid with the Masonic ceremony. A little later, this procedure was sharply criticized during the Antimasonic period, which occurred before the monument was finished.6
Many of the spectators knew that the cornerstone records would later have to be moved, for the plans of the monument were hardly started. Now, the box with its old newspapers, Continental currency, and other data is within a stone at the monument’s northeast corner, and the original cornerstone stands in the center of the foundation.
With his usual generosity, Daniel Webster presented the copyright of his famous speech to the Bunker Hill Monument Association. The copyright was sold for $600, which was the second largest single contribution up to that date.
Notes
6 Joseph Warren, the outstanding hero of the battle, was Grand Master of Freemasons for North America.