Gen. Andrew Lewis’ bust will take rightful place in Richmond
SALEM – After 78 years, Andrew Lewis will take his rightful place in Richmond next week.
A bronze bust of Salem’s favorite son and friend of George Washington will be unveiled with full pomp and circumstance on Monday, March 22, in The Old Hall of The Virginia House of Delegates.
Representatives of Pitzer Transfer and Storage and House of Delegates' staff place the bust of Salem's Gen. Andrew Lewis on the pedestal in The Old Hall in Richmond last week. Photo courtesy House of Delegates Deputy Clerk George Bishop
Gov. Bob McDonnell will officially accept the bust on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Getting Revolutionary War hero Brigadier Gen. Lewis there has been quite a journey.
Legislation was passed in 1932 authorizing busts of famous Virginians to be placed in The Old Hall. Legendary Indian fighter Lewis, the man who received the first land grants for what became the village of Salem from the British king, was on the list with Patrick Henry, Stonewall Jackson and Meriwether Lewis, the explorer of Lewis and Clark fame.
But years passed and Andrew Lewis’ spot remained empty.
Salem Delegate H. Morgan Griffith discovered there was still room for Lewis, and after 13 months of fundraising efforts by the Salem Education Foundation and Alumni Association, Lewis is taking his rightful place.
“Gen. Lewis’ bust is very impressive,” said George Bishop, deputy clerk for administrative and support services in the Virginia House of Delegates. “We’ve only had two busts delivered since 1954,” explained Bishop, who was on hand when the bust arrived last week, “and both were in the last 18 months. As it happens, it was Meriwether Lewis in 2009 and now Andrew Lewis.”
The SEFAA began raising $25,000, with initial gifts from members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the man who may be Lewis’ greatest fan, Dr. Richard Fisher of Salem. The Sons of the American Revolution also contributed.
The foundation commissioned Salem native and internationally known artist and sculptor Anne Bell to create the bust of Lewis.
Bell’s heroic-proportioned full figure of Lewis with nautical cannon stands in front of the Salem Civic Center. She also did the painting of him that is inside the civic center, and a bust of Lewis mounted just inside the front door of the Salem Library.
For the latest work, though, Bell said she went back to descriptions of Lewis written by contemporaries, and other sources she didn’t have access to when she sculpted the previous statue and individual ones for Lewis descendants.
Bell will be present for the unveiling of the bust next week, said Betsy McClearn, project director, along with a full cast of Salem and Roanoke County dignitaries.
One person who won’t be able to be there, but will be in spirit is Dr. Fisher. “I’m just thrilled that the general is getting a place of honor,” the 87-year-old said this week. “Lewis getting there is delayed, but it’s appropriate. I think it’s so great that Morgan Griffith was aware there was a place for the statue that was authorized in 1931.”
Fisher spent three decades praising Lewis and generating interest in him. Among other projects he pushed for the statue at the Salem Civic Center, and heads this current project, McClearn said. “He and I talk just about every day,” she added.
Griffith will preside over the ceremony Monday. Retired Salem School Superintendent Wayne Tripp who is president of the SEFAA, will make the presentation to Gov. Bob McDonnell, before a contingent of Salem City Council members, Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, and other dignitaries.
A representative of the West Virginia governor’s office will talk about how that state honored Gen. Lewis for the Battle of Point Pleasant he led.
The bust was delivered to the capital earlier this week by Pitzer Transfer and Storage, including Lewis descendant Lewis Pitzer of Martinsville.
Another member of the Pitzer family, Andrew Pitzer, commissioned a flag that goes back to Lewis’ service. That will be presented with the bust and will be placed in the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond with 50 other flags, McClearn said.
Miniatures of Lewis’ bust will be presented to Virginia’s 64th governor, Charles Robb – who is also a Gen. Lewis descendant – the West Virginia Governor for the governor’s mansion, to Gov. McDonnell for the Virginia Mansion, and to Bruce Jamerson, clerk of the House of Delegates, McClearn said. Andrew Lewis served in the House of Delegates after his Revolutionary War duties.
Roanoke Delegate Onzlee Ware will present the flag flown over the capitol that day to Salem Mayor Randy Foley and Vice Mayor John Givens, she said.
Salem High School students who will take part in the ceremony will be Michael Robertson, a member of the Forensics Team, who will tell of Lewis’ life in a first-person oration, and trumpet player Kyle Crowell, who will play “Hail, Columbia,” the unofficial national anthem from Lewis’ time.
A flute ensemble from the Roanoke Symphony Youth Orchestra will play “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Members of the ensemble are Glenvar High School students Delali Agblevor and Ali Clark, and Cave Spring Middle School student Megan Pasquarell and Hidden Valley High School student Emily Seibert.
The colors will be presented by five students from Fishburne Military School in Augusta County, where the John Lewis family originally settled.
