Chief Keokuk Statue Unveiling - October 1913

KEOKUK, WALKER, MITCHELL, REEVES, EVANS, TAFT, DAVIS, HARLAN, STORY

Posted By: Pat Ryan White (email)
Date: 11/17/2019 at 09:03:22

OF INTEREST TO SALEM PEOPLE.

Salem has more than a passing interest in the bronze statue of Chief Keokuk, which is to be unveiled in Rand Park in Keokuk on October 22nd. The statue is ten feet in height and is a portrait likeness of the old chief and is historically and artistically correct. It will surmount a pedestal fifteen feet tall, making the full statue a very imposing one.

The sculptor of the statue is Miss Nellie V. Walker of Chicago who is a great-granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ira Mitchell and a granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Welcome Walker and a daughter of Everett Walker, all of whom were residents of Salem for many years. Miss Walker is an artist of national fame and Salem is very proud to claim some connection with her.

On the pedestal of the statue will be a bronze tablet bearing the names of the eight Keokuk women who form the committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution through whose influence and energy the statue is erected. Mrs. Winona Evans Reeves, a former resident of Salem, is one of the eight women.

The statue is to be unveiled by two children, one of whom is Agnes Evans Reeves whose grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. J.M. Evans and Mr. and Mrs. I.C. Reeves and whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry J. Reeves were all former Salem residents.

There will be many speakers of note who will have part in the ceremony of dedication, among them Lorado Taft of Chicago, Hon. James C. Davis of Des Moines, Edgar R. Harlan, State Historian, of Des Moines; Mrs. William Cumming Story of New York and John Keokuk of Oklahoma, a great-great-grandson of the old chief.

[Undated, unnamed newspaper clipping, probably October 1913]