2 Bronze Cannon Stolen From Memorial

By Kathryn Jorgensen

LAWRENCE, Mass. — There’s debate about whether Sumner H. Needham of Lawrence was the first soldier to die in the Civil War or the first to be mortally wounded, but no debate that his monument was desecrated.

Two bronze crossed cannons that were placed atop the 7-foot granite shaft when the monument was restored five years ago were stolen during the night of Oct. 9. The 29-inch cannons made by Royalston Art Foundry cost $7,500 and replaced the original barrels that disappeared in the 1940s.
Elizabeth Charlton, vice president of the Lawrence Civil War Memorial Guard that led the fundraising and restoration of the Needham monument, said the theft has received a lot of media attention. Her group is asking reenactment units and others to pass the word in the Civil War community.

Whoever took the barrels cut a hole in a fence and had to work to get them down from the monument. Charlton said they were welded together and mounted to the granite shaft with a long bolt.

She said the theft was not a prank. The thieves treated the monument “with respect,” putting boots on the ladder so that it did not damage the stone.

She said marks in the ground show that the cannons were dropped or slipped and landed between the monument and Needham’s wife grave, then rolled down an embankment.

Scrap value of the barrels is about $ 1,000 each, according to police. Area scrap metal dealers have been alerted to the theft.

Needham was a native of Maine who was a carpenter in Lawrence when he enlisted at age 33 in Co. I, 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. The unit was attacked as members traveled through Baltimore on their way to defend Washington on April 19, 1861. Needham was hit in the head with a paving stone and died 10 days later.

Charlton said the city donated the monument and burial plot in Bellevue Cemetery, an early landscaped cemetery that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Needham’s widow, who was pregnant when he died, unveiled the monument. One hundred forty years later the refurbished memorial was unveiled by the widow of Lawrence Memorial Guard founder William Fontaine who initiated the restoration project.

Anyone with information can call the Lawrence Police at (978) 794-5900 and ask for Det. Mary Bartlett or Chief John J. Romero.