THE HEWER
by George Grey Barnard, an American Sculptor
Located in Halliday Park between 9th & 10th Streets on Washington Avenue in Cairo.
Donated by Rachel Farris
The Hewer was presented to the city of Cairo in
1906 by Mrs. W. P. Halliday and children in memory of Capt. W. P.
Halliday. The Hewer was displayed at the St. Louis World's Fair
in October 1904. Miss Mary Halliday, a Cairo artist and personal
friend of George Grey Barnard, had commissioned The Hewer in
1901. Barnard decided to execute the statue in bronze and not
marble because of the cold winters in Cairo. Barnard is quoted as
saying, "My Hewer was created (strangely but true) from a
vision of men laboring on the shore of a flood hewing and
dragging wood to save the people from death and
destruction." Barnard also designed and executed 31 figures
at the main Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pa, as well as
exhibiting work at the Cloister, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and
Fort tyron Park, New York.
George Grey Barnared was born in Bellefonte, Pa., May 24, 1863
and died April 24, 1938 in New York City. After studying in
Chicago and Paris he exhibited at the 1894 Paris Salon. Another
of his better known works is a vigorous statue of Lincoln, which
was the center of criticism when it was unveiled in 1917. It was
sent to Manchester, England.
©2005-2006 Anna Newell
©Illinois
Trails History and Genealogy
../alexander/