Sherman to vote on monument’s locale

SHERMAN – In 1883, memories of the Civil War and the soldiers who fought in it were still fresh.

Today, those memories have faded, and history books, silent battlefields and memorabilia rekindle thoughts of the war between the states.

In the town of Sherman, two items stir such memories: a pair of Civil War cannons and a monument engraved with the names of the soldiers who never returned home from the war.

On June 13, residents will vote on whether the town should leave the cannons and the monument where they are or give them further prominence by moving them to a more visible location in the park in the center of town.

During the Civil War, Sherman was considered a “banner town” because of the high percentage of soldiers who lived there. More than half the population at the time was involved in the Civil War.

After the guns quieted,

In Sherman’s No. 2 cemetery the soldier’s monument was erected and the cannons were placed.

Earlier this year, Sherman residents expressed a desire to see the cannons moved to a more visible location in the park in the center of town. At the annual town meeting in March, voters decided to relocate them.

Town Manager Deb O’ Roak said Friday that after the meeting, a petition was submitted to the town requesting that a decision about whether to move both the cannons and the monument be put in the hands of voters.

O’Roak said that the petitioners felt that a decision about the future of the pieces should be made by the entire town and not just the 21 people who voted on the matter at the annual meeting.

“When voters come to the polls to vote this Tuesday, they will get a special ballot that will ask them for their vote on the issue,” she said.

The question will ask the voter if he or she would like to leave the cannons and the monument in the No. 2 cemetery where they were placed in 1883.

A “yes” vote will leave the pieces in the cemetery; a “no” vote will support moving the items to the park.

O’Roak acknowledged Friday that she has heard arguments from people on both sides of the issue. Some have maintained that the pieces would be more visible in the park and be closer to other veterans’ monuments.

Others have argued that the items should remain where they were placed more than a century ago.

“This has definitely generated a lot of interest,” the town manager said Friday. “It will be interesting to see how it turns out.”