LEE MONUMENT BEQUESTS NOT TO BE MERGED

Committee Decides Ferguson-White Funds Be Kept Separate

OBSTACLES RAISED BY TERMS OF WILLS

Plans Pushed For Statue Of Jackson’s Parting With His Chief

Two Gen. Robert E. Lees will not blend into one in a monument in which the South’s most beloved hero is to be pictured bidding farewell to Gen. Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, a committee considering $140,000 in bequests for two statues decided last night.

In 1928 the will of J. Henry Ferguson provided $100,000 for a statue commemorating the parting of Lee and Jackson just before the Battle of Chattanooga, and eleven years earlier a fund which since has grown to $40,000 was left by Mrs. Elizabeth B. White for an equestrian statue of Lee alone.

When the Ferguson money became available as i result of the death, on October 10, of Mrs. Ella F. Ward, his sister, it was suggested that the two funds be combined to provide one monument.

Meet At Marburg Home

Last night’s meeting to decide the question was held at the home of Theodore Marburg, 14 West Mount Vernon Place. It was attended by a committee of the Municipal Art Society, the advisory committee named in the Ferguson will to arrange plans for the Lee-Jackson monument, and by Robert Garrett, executor of Mrs. White’s will.

Robert W. Williams, president of the Municipal Art Society, said after the meeting that there were very serious difficulties in the way of accomplishing a combination of the two funds.

Separation Specified

“In the first place, Mr. Ferguson’s will specifically states that his bequest is to be kept as a separate fund and used without being mingled with any other funds or money’s derived from any other source,’ ” Mr. Williams said. “That alone would seem to prevent joining the Ferguson fund with the White fund.”

Although Mrs. White’s will is not so specific, Mr. Williams explained, it t say’s that the Lee monument should t be erected in Druid Hill Park “in my name.” That clause, too, the committee seemed to think, would make the erection of a joint monument difficult.

“The general feeling was that while combining the two funds might be desirable, it was felt that both wills contained direct expressions that the funds given were for erecting separate monuments,” Mr. Williams said.

The subject was not closed, however, the committee indicated, although little hope of joining the funds is entertained. Meanwhile, the advisory committee named by the Ferguson will stated it would name an advisory committee of artists and sculptors to assist in preparing plans for the Lee-Jackson monument.