by Michael D. Wynne
LSU is a very important institution in Louisiana and everything that is LSU is naturally just as important too. Many books and articles have been written about ever facet about LSU, especially on LSU’s athletic programs and LSU’s history. I say “practically,” as some historians have clearly overlooked many important stories about LSU, especially regarding its founding here in Central Louisiana, near Pineville. This writer will cover several important investigations over the next 12 months.
One of the truly important LSU stories that has been forgotten is: Where is the original cornerstone of the Louisiana State Seminary of Learning and Military Academy building near Pineville, the predecessor of LSU? Think about it. Almost every building back then had an specifically carved cornerstone that was laid, usually by Masons, in an elaborate public ceremony. The equivalent today is a “groundbreaking” where important people shovel a lump of dirt in a ceremony. The Seminary, as we will call it, also had a fancy ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone on March 25, 1856 after a tumultuous building process that took nearly a decade.
After the Seminary (LSU) opened in January of 1860 and then closed in 1861 with the beginning of the Civil War, the building laid mostly dormant until the Seminary’s reopening after the war until its tragic burning in 1869. After that date, the salvageable bricks from the building were taken by whoever wanted them. The site of the Seminary later became part of the grounds of Camp Stafford during World War I and even later given to the federal government in 1930 by Huey Long for the creation of the VA. It is now managed by the Kitsachie National Forest office. under the U. S. Forest Service.
In a time where historic preservation sadly consisted of taking souvenirs from historical locations, not only were tens of thousands of bricks taken from the site by local people, but some of the large marble foundation stones were taken also. Two of these massive marble stones were dug up in 1921 and moved to what is now the LSU campus in Baton Rouge and are on prominent display with newly engraved words on them. They are located in front of the Campanile (AKA Memorial) Tower. The Colonial Dames also dug up one of this marble foundation stones in June of 1926, carved words on it and replaced it on a cement pedestal at the Seminary site. Locally, one of the Seminary’s stone steps, engraved with the words “Louisiana State Seminary” was dug up and moved to the then-new St. James Episcopal Church in Alexandria also in 1926 and now rests in the chapel as a kneeler.
But what about the actual true Seminary cornerstone? In never-before-done research on the cornerstone, we learn that the original cornerstone had specific wording carved into it including a reference to the “Act of General Assembl” and the names of the members of the original Board of Trustees. It also uniquely lists John Reynolds as the architect of the Seminary.
According to an June 30, 1888 Town Talk article, “The old cornerstone of the State Seminary … was shipped to Baton Rouge by steamer John D. Scully last Sunday. From this it seems that Baton Rouge knows that the University in equity belongs to Rapides, but to assist to (owning) a poor title (on the University), someone in Baton Rouge thinks (taking) this old cornerstone a necessity.”
Initially, the cornerstone was on display at the old Baton Rouge campus site which is now the grounds of our State Capitol building. When the new campus was build in 1921, the Seminary cornerstone was again moved. In a May 1933 article in the Shreveport Journal, the article mentions that the cornerstone was on display in a make-shift museum inside the Campanile building and describes it then as “battered and broken,” probably damaged from its many moves. In 1960, according to Catherine Ballio Futch’s book on the Baillio family, she says the cornerstone had been ” … removed for the
renovation of the building (the Memorial tower).” This most important, irreplaceable treasure is sadly now missing.
Where is this most significant and important “rock” in all of Louisiana’s history?
Do LSU graduates and historians even care to have it found?
By the way, did I mention also that the old carillon bells that use to ring in the Memorial Tower I’m told are possibly missing also?
