New Yorker Wants State To Fix Its Gettysburg Monuments
By Ed Ballam
OLIVEBRIDGE, N.Y.

Seward R. Osborne describes himself as a "scrapper" and right now he had his sights set on New York officials, particularly Gov. George Pataki, for what he calls a shameful dereliction of duties for not taking care of the state's monument at Gettysburg.
"I am now trying to shame Governor Pataki into doing the right thing," said Osborne in a recent telephone interview. "There are not enough adjectives to describe how I feel. As a New Yorker, I feel betrayed."
Osborne wrote a letter to Pataki in February, to which he received no response, reminding him of the obligation that the state has to take care of its monuments.
"Now Governor, how do you explain away New York State's negligence in this matter?" Osborne wrote. "What plausible excuse could you offer, if one could do so, to the hundreds of New York corpses reposing in the Gettysburg National Cemetery?"
Osborne is hoping that a letter-writing campaign will help convince the governor and legislators that restoring the monument is not only the right thing to do, but an honor. He began his efforts to get the state to fix the monument back in 1986 when the whole job would have cost $59,000.
The New York State Monument at Gettysburg was dedicated in 1893 and paid for by New York. It is the tallest monument and, in Osborne's opinion, the grandest, in the park. It needs restoration and cleaning.
Last year Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg Inc. appropriated 60 percent of the funds necessary to restore the New York State Monument, according to Osborne.
The National Park Service has said it will "absorb" the remaining 40 percent of the restoration, which he estimated to be about $50,000, and complete the work this year.
Osborne said that's wrong - the money should come from New York.
"How could New York have missed her patriotic obligatory mark so miserably?" Osborne asked the governor. "It should have been a great honor, a high calling and fulfillment of duty. The restoration of the New York State Monument was an incalculable, immeasurable debt of Excelsior pride which was the obligation of New York State alone. ....Surely you don't think you can buy back the funds and the pride expended by the Friends in refurbishing 60 percent of the New York State Monument. And, so a great and honorable opportunity has been missed."
Osborne suggested the state come up with the remaining funds to save face and to regain the honor that should have been reserved for New York. He proposed "A grand and eloquent re-dedication ceremony" and called on Pataki to "lead, and by example show the deportment of New York to all Americans."
When asked which was more important, the fact that the monument gets restored, or who pays for it, Osborne said it wasn't even a question to him. He said it's New York State's duty and honor to do the restoration work.
"New York State expended more soldiers in Gettsyburg than any other state. There are more New York soldiers in the Gettysburg National Cemetery than any other state. New York should have the patriotic pride and sense of duty to perpetuate the memory of the soldiers."
Osborne is a writer who has written books on the 20th New York State Militia and had ancestors who served from New York. He privately funded a marker to the 20th, gaining final permission to erect it on the front line in 1981, making him the only individual, "living or dead" to personally erect a marker at Gettysburg since 1879. In 1986 he privately funded a marker for the same regiment at Second Bull Run.
He took care of the restoration of the 120th New York Volunteers monument on Sickles Avenue in Gettysburg, collecting $4,200 in donations and depositing them in a trust fund for the project. Osborne also privately funded restoration of big 20th New York Militia monument at Gettysburg. Still needing attention are Gettysburg's New York State Auxiliary monument, a huge state monument at Antietam and two at Chattanooga.
"This is coming from the heart," Osborne said. "I just want the state to do the right thing."
Those interested in helping Osborne convince the state to fund the rest of the restoration effort should write to Gov. George E. Pataki, Executive Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224, or send email to gov.pataki@chamber.state.ny.us