Enoch Tanner (E.T.) Wickham was born in 1883 and lived as a farmer most of his life in the small town of Palmyra, TN on the western side of Montgomery County. After retiring in the early 1950's, E.T. started quite a hobby.
Starting then and continuing for nearly two decades, he started making concrete statues. After each statue was built, it was places on the side of the road on his property. Soon, after he started building these, he put up a sign that said Wickham Park, and that is what the place became known as. The statues started with animals and family members but soon became famous Tennesseeans and Americans.
E.T. Wickham died in 1970.. The many statues were enjoyed by the locals, but unfortunately the elements and more importantly frequent vandalism took their toll on the statues. (which is the obvious reason why there are things missing from these pictures.)
Luckily, the family has stepped in to preserve the statues (or what's left of them) and the memory. In 2006, some of these statues were moved to a better location, making them easier to see, but also behind a barbed wire fence to cut down on vandalism. They also have a website wickhamstonepark.com/ which provides very thorough information on the statues.
Pictured here is the statue of Civil War heros Sam Davis and Bill Marsh. Sam Davis is the famous Civil War hero who grew up about a mile from my house and was executed for not giving up the name of his informant. Bill Marsh, you've never heard of, so it's explained on the side:
BILL MARSH WAS BORN IN TURNBULL CREEK DIXON CO. TENN. ON JUNE 8TH 1861. IT WAS LEFT TO A VOTE WHETHER TENN. WOULD REMAIN OR WITHDRAW FROM THE UNION. WHEN THE POLLS WERE OPENED IN THE 18TH DIST. OF MONT. CO. TENN. THEY ANNOUNCED THEY WERE GOING TO HANG THE FIRST MAN THAT VOTED A UNION TICKET. MARSH VOTED THE FIRST ONE. R. L. WICKHAM (E.T.'s father) THE SECOND ONE. THE ONLY TWO IN THIS DIST.
On the front:
IT IS ALL OVER WITH NOW BILL AND WELL THAT IT IS AS IT IS
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