The Daniel Bean Statue in Brownfield, Maine

About Standing in Brownfield, Maine, since 1911, the Daniel Augustine Bean statue is a unique Civil War monument honoring not a general, but a local soldier. The bronze figure depicts a young, clean-shaven, unarmed youth raising his right hand, capturing a fresh-faced, rather than battle-hardened, expression while taking his oath. Most Civil War monuments are forged in, well, aggression—screaming, rifle-wielding, or dramatic death scenes. Daniel Bean, however, looks like he’s just politely asking for directions to the cafeteria, or perhaps pledging his allegiance to a rather intense game of high-stakes marbles. The statue’s existence is thanks to a touch of survivor’s guilt and a lot of loyalty. Daniel’s best friend, Elias P. Morton, enlisted alongside him. While Daniel died at age 18 following a series of skirmishes outside Richmond, Virginia, Elias survived and eventually became a successful bookkeeper. Decades later, Elias commissioned Boston artist John A. Wilson to sculpt his friend back to life using an old photograph, ensuring Daniel would remain a teenager forever in the heart of their hometown. (function () { if (document.querySelector(".place-body-ad")) return; const adContainer = document.createElement("div"); adContainer.classList.add( "flex", "flex-col", "items-center", "justify-center", "place-body-ad", "min-h-[250px]" ); const adTag = "<div data-aaad='true' data-aa-adunit='/22181265/atlasobscura_300v_1'></div>"; adContainer.insertAdjacentHTML("afterbegin", adTag); const firstP = document.querySelector( ".place-body p:first-of-type" ); if (firstP) { firstP.insertAdjacentElement("afterend", adContainer); } })(); Places Discover your next amazing Atlas Place. Get more unusual and extraordinary places each week with the Atlas Obscura Places newsletter. // Define function so that we can call it again later if we need to reset it // This executes reCAPTCHA and then calls our callback. function executeRecaptchaForPlacesNewsletterModule() { grecaptcha.ready(function() { grecaptcha.execute('6LfMneoZAAAAAOMRYLYER0vpGwsFBCmoDE6PPWKw', {action: 'places_newsletter_module'}).then(function(token) { setInputWithRecaptchaResponseTokenForPlacesNewsletterModule('g-recaptcha-response-data-places-newsletter-module', token) }); }); }; // Invoke immediately executeRecaptchaForPlacesNewsletterModule() // Async variant so you can await this function from another async function (no need for // an explicit callback function then!) // Returns a Promise that resolves with the response token. async function executeRecaptchaForPlacesNewsletterModuleAsync() { return new Promise((resolve, reject) => { grecaptcha.ready(async function() { resolve(await grecaptcha.execute('6LfMneoZAAAAAOMRYLYER0vpGwsFBCmoDE6PPWKw', {action: 'places_newsletter_module'})) }); }) }; var setInputWithRecaptchaResponseTokenForPlacesNewsletterModule = function(id, token) { var element = document.getElementById(id); if (element !== null) element.value = token; } Your newsletter subscriptions with us are subject to Atlas Obscura's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. .places-newsletter-form{ width: 80%; } .places-newsletter-standalone{ border: 1px solid #C2C2C2; } .places-newsletter-branding{ background-color: white; padding: 10px 20px !important; border-bottom: 1px solid #C2C2C2; } .places-newsletter-branding-link{ display: flex; align-items: center; margin-left: 0px; letter-spacing: 1px; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 400; } .places-newsletter-branding i{ font-size: 26px; }…

This excerpt is published under fair use for community discussion. Read the full article at Atlas Obscura - Latest Articles and Places.