Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-04-23
PRESIDENT ARTHUR
takes His Children 10 See the M0nu.
ment OF Their Grandfather

The President on Wednesday took his
! children to Annapolis to see the monument
erected there TO the memory of their grand
| father, the brave Captain Herndon, the story
of whose heroic death has been told often
enough to have lost its interest if such
stories were not endowed with perpetual
freshness. He entered the navy at fifteen,
none too early, it happened, to have accom-
plished the deeds of daring and romance
that crowded his short life. A lieutenant's
commission rewarded his services in the
Mexican war when he was but thirty-three.
Three years later he was sent by the
Government with Lieutenant Gardner Glib
bon TO South America, where, landing in
Peru, he crossed the Andes vnd explored
the Amazon valley eastward. That occu-
pied him until 1852, after which he
prepared a report which has since been
standard upon that subject. At this time
there were few naval vessels, and occupation
for graduates of the academy was not to be
furnished by the government. 1t thus be-
came customary for officers unassigned to
engage with steamship companies pending
a chance for regular service. This is how
Lieutenant Herndon became captain of the
Central America, one of the line of steamers
from the isthmus and the West Indies to
New York. Lieutenants Baldwin and Shut
feldt, now both commodores, were similarly
employed. The Central America, on her
on September IL, 1857. There were 500
passengers aboard. Pumps became useless
on the afternoon OF September 18th. Life
boats were lowered for the women and
children and they were all saved. Captain
Herndon foresaw what was coming and could
have saved himself had he chosen to leave
passengers behind. He chose otherwise and
attended TO the wants OF others 80 long as
anything could be done. At evening he
went down with the ship, standing on the
bridge in full uniform. The sea covered 427
bodies in that disaster. Not long afterward
a committee of naval officers, known az the
Herndon Monument Committee, began to
receive subscriptions from their associates,
which aggregated enough to justify con-
tract with the Quincy Granite Company
for a monument, consisting of base and
shaft, the former six feet square at the top
and three feet high, and the latter pyramidal,
eighteen feet high, four feet square at the
base and one foot six inches square at the
top. The name "Herndon" was to extend in
raised letters across the front of the shaft
and the date, September IL, 1857" across
the back. The work was pc rformed accord
ing TO contract at a cost TO the committee of
Sl26l, including freight, and in June, 1860,
the monument was placed where il row
stands. Until that time the academy grounds
were not much more than half their present
width and the monument was situated ON
the site of the officers quarters that had
lately been get back The widesing of the
grounds left il about midway across on a
slight knoll and in the most favored spot
within the gates. There are two other mon
uments, both OF marble, more snowy than
this, and telling in long inscriptions Of the
yalor of the Tripoli heroes and of others who
gave up their lives off Vera Cruz, but
only Herndon's name and the date of
hls death pay the tribute that inscriptions
could not convey. A low iron railing hss
been built around the monument, and on
each side young tree is growing.