The Melvin Memorial

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Chapters:

IntroductionMelvin Memorial Asa Melvin John Melvin Samuel Melvin Samuel's Diary James Melvin The Dedication Daniel C. French Works in Boston Lincoln Memorial Henry Bacon The Piccirillis Restoration Effort Guest Book Acknowledgments ______________ bostonbits.com

The Melvins were a farming family who lived in a simple farmhouse in Concord, Massachusetts. The head of the family, Asa Melvin, died before the Civil War began. His wife, Caroline Heald Melvin, died in 1863, before learning that three of her sons would perish during the war. After the war, the family home was eventually abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair. The only surving son, James Melvin, would enter the employ of Josiah Quincy, on the recommendation of Ralph Waldo Emerson. James would become a financial success and commission his childhood friend Daniel Chester French to create the Melvin Memorial.

A sketch of the Melvin family home in Concord, Mass., as it appears in The Melvin Memorial dedication book published by James Melvin.