(Willie's Statue), (sculpture).

(Willie's Statue), (sculpture).

Muldoon, Doyle, and Company, fabricator.

(Willie's Statue), (sculpture).

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: Italian white marble.

Sculpture: approx. H. 5 ft.; Base: approx. H. 6 ft.

(Front of base:) (Incised lettering:) SACRED/to the Memory of/(Raised lettering:) WILLIE A./(Incised lettering:) only Child of/Wm. E. & Bettie A./HILL./Born May 31.1855./Died Oct.17,1870./Aged 15 Years./(Lower tier, raised lettering:) WILLIE. (Right side of base:) SLEEP WILLIE DEAR AND TAKE/YOUR REST,/GOD CALLED YOU HOME HE/THOUGHT IT BEST,/T'WAS HARD INDEED TO PART WITH THEE,/BUT CHRIST KNOWS ALL AND/WE ARE HIS. (Rear of base:) (...illegible 7 lines) (Left side of base:) PA MEET ME IN HEAVEN./TELL ALL THE BOYS TO/MEET ME THERE. unsigned

Portrait of Willie Amos Hill, portrayed in a relaxed stance with his proper right arm resting on a pillar, his head turned toward his proper left. He is dressed in a short, buttoned, Eton-type jacket, with vest and pants, and boots. His proper left hand is tucked into his front pants pocket, his proper right lower leg crossed in front of his proper left lower leg, toe of his proper right foot resting next to his proper left foot. The sculpture is mounted upon a tall base in a fenced cemetery plot.

Portrait male -- Hill, Willie Amos -- Full length

Occupation -- Education -- Student

Outdoor Sculpture -- Missouri -- Keytesville

Administered by City of Keytesville, Keytesville, Missouri

Located Keytesville Cemetery, Hill-Redding plot, northeast corner of cemetery, on Mulberry Street, Keytesville, Missouri

Sculpture marks the grave of Willie Amos Hill (1855-1870), the only child of William E. and Bettie A. Hill (Elizabeth A. Hill), who was a student at Mt. Pleasant College in Huntsville and who died unexpectedly after an illness of a few days. The sculpture cost $1,000 and appears to have been copied from a photograph taken of Willie around 1869, a photocopy of which is included in IAS files. The photograph depicts Willie in similar stance, but wearing additional articles of clothing, including a short cape and cap. Supposedly, William Hill sent his son's death mask to Italy for use in creating a likeness of Willie's face.

IAS files include: an excerpt from "History of Howard and Chariton Counties, Missouri," St. Louis: National Historical Company, 1883, pg. 422, 538; reprinted obituary of Willie Hill, probably from the Chariton Courier, May 29, 1980; an excerpt from Friends of Keytesville's "Keytesville, Missouri, 1833-1983, 150 Years, Vol. I," Shawnee Mission, KS: Kes-Print, 1983, pg. 167-168; and a two-page fact sheet from The Friends of Keytesville, Inc.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Missouri survey, 1994.

Friends of Keytesville "Keytesville, Missouri, 1833-1983, Vol. I," Shawnee Mission, KS: Kes-Print, 1983, pg. 168.

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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