Vice President Richard M. Johnson's Memorial, (sculpture).

Vice President Richard M. Johnson's Memorial, (sculpture).

Launitz, Robert E., 1806-1870, sculptor.

Vice President Richard M. Johnson's Memorial, (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: carved Italian marble; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. 15 ft. x 4 ft. 9 in. x 4 ft. 9 in.; Base: approx. 12 in. x 6 1/2 ft. x 6 1/2 ft.

(Lower front of base:) R.E. Launitz, New York (East side:) Richard Mentor Johnson, born at Bryan's Station, Kentucky, 1781; died in Frankfort, Kentucky, on the 19th day of November, 1850. (West side inscription gives a short biography of Johnson) signed

The north side has a relief bust of Richard Johnson in a nineteenth century suit. The south side has a relief showing Johnson in a military uniform and riding a horse in a forest. His proper right hand fires a pistol at a kneeling Native American, Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh, who falls backward, holding a tomahawk in his proper right hand. The east and west sides have inscriptions. Cannons are on each corner. Set atop the relief section is a column with a flag around its top. It is crowned with an eagle holding a laurel wreath in its beak.

Portrait male -- Johnson, Richard Mentor -- Bust

Occupation -- Political -- Vice President

Occupation -- Military -- Colonel

Portrait male -- Tecumseh -- Full length

Ethnic -- Indian

Object -- Other -- Flag

Animal -- Bird -- Eagle

Architecture -- Detail -- Column

Object -- Weapon -- Cannon

Outdoor Sculpture -- Kentucky -- Frankfort

Administered by State of Kentucky, Office of Historic Properties, Berry Hill Mansion, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601

Located Frankfort Cemetery, 215 East Main Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601

The sculpture was commissioned by the Kentucky Legislature for $900 in 1851. It was one of the first monuments erected by the State of Kentucky on land it purchased in 1851 in Frankfort Cemetery, the first rural landscape cemetery developed in Kentucky. Richard Mentor Johnson, 1781-1850, was a colonel of the Kentucky regiment during the War of 1812, and is credited with developing the strategy that led to the U. S. victory at the Battle of the Thames in 1813. He built his political career on his hero status and is credited with killing the Shawnee Indian chief Tecumseh. He later served in the Kentucky legislature and the U.S. House of Representative (1807-1819) and U.S. Senate (1819-1837), before running for Vice-President in 1837 as Martin Van Buren's running mate. With no candidate receiving a majority of the electoral votes, he was elected by the Senate. IAS files contain related information from L.F. Johnson's "History of the Frankfort Cemetery," Frankfort, KY: Roberts Printing Co., 1921, pg. 22-23, including a complete transcription of the west side's inscriptions.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Kentucky survey, 1995.

Inventory staff, 2001.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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