After purchasing the cannon from the Ames family in Maine, Dickson had it refurbished in Marietta, Ga., and the man who did the work delivered it Sept. 28. He actually fired it to mark the occasion — without a cannonball, of course.
The barrel was still intact, but much of the carriage had rotted and had to be replaced.
“This is the only one in private hands in Ohio,” Dickson said of the newest addition to his front yard. ”There are only 250 of them in the entire world. This one’s got a real pedigree.”
He said the cannon had been moved to Oregon for a time, but he said he has the paperwork to trace its history back to the Civil War. One high point of that pedigree is that it appeared in the movie Shenandoah with Jimmy Stewart, although it was not actually fired in making the movie.
It is also recorded in a book “Big Guns,” tracing some of the large weapons still in existence.
It is actually the second cannon on display in his yard and he has two more coming after refurbishing is complete. This cannon was made to fire a 6-pound ball, but one of the cannons still to come is larger and has a barrel weighing about 1,250 pounds. It fires a 12-pound ball.
“It’s one of the most sought-after Civil War cannons there is,” Dickson said. He plans to put that one alongside his newest acquisition, adding, “I guarantee you I’m the only human being in the state of Ohio who’s got two of them.”
His yard is encircled by a quarter-mile stone wall, built by stonemason Doug Stamper. Entry is through a large gate.
The three statues in his yard are also a story in themselves. They are three of a collection of 10 statues carved from giant pieces of rock by sculptor Brice Baughman (1874-1954). His work is the subject of a book Statues on the Hill: The Remarkable Story of Baughman Park, by Aaron J. Keirns.
Baughman was a self-taught sculptor who brought huge pieces of rock from a quarry to his hilltop property in Muskingum County, near Frazeyburg, Ohio. Then he carved his larger than life-size statues. The collection included several presidents and one of a World War I Doughboy, but Dickson’s interest was in the Civil War so he wanted Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant and Major General James McPherson, Grant’s “right-hand man,” sort of the war’s chain of command.
Dickson learned of the auction being planned in 2008 and attended. The sale had been contested by local residents who wanted to keep the statues in the area.
“A man bought the property to log it,” Dickson said. “People began demonstrating, saying they did not want the statues moved to try to stop the auction. The Ohio Historical Society said it was private land and the statues could be sold. The sale drew a lot of publicity. The place was full of people who wanted to look at it. It was remote and people who lived there had not even known about it.”
Instead of each statue being auctioned individually, the 10 were in one lot and bidding proceeded. Dickson was the top bidder and chose the Grant statue, saying he was done. The remaining nine were then put to auction and while he bid, he correctly guessed the other bidder wanted the Washington statue and he dropped out.
In subsequent rounds of bidding, Dickson got the other two statues he wanted — Lincoln and McPherson — and had them delivered to his house, where they stand today.
“That is the largest single-piece statue of Lincoln in the world,” Dickson said, pointing to the statue. “It stands eight-feet tall. The only larger statues of him are in the Rotunda and the Lincoln Memorial, but they are in pieces and assembled. This was carved out of one piece of stone.”
The Rotunda statue is marble and the Memorial statue is stone, he added.
With observances currently going on to mark 150 years since various Civil War events, Dickson said his collection and recent acquisition of a cannon from the war are even more appropriate than just his interest in that period of U.S. history.
“It’s done tastefully,” he said. “I’m very, very proud of the statues. When I open the gates, I’m facing Abraham Lincoln and I give him a salute.”
About the Author