Focus on Annie C. Stewart Memorial Fountain and discuss the Memorial fountain.
Mary C. Stewart died on 21 November 1905, a few months after Annie. Mary bequeathed a gift of US$2,000 (equivalent to US$65,141 in 2022) to the Madison Park & Pleasure Drive Association to commission a drinking fountain in memory of her only child, Annie. The gift was to be used to construct a drinking fountain and in the will it stipulated that Annie's name was to be visibly inscribed on the fountain and that it be erected at an appropriate place in Madison in memory of her daughter. In 1911, while working with the Madison Park & Pleasure Drive Association, John Nolen advised the Board of Directors to place the fountain in front of a proposed structure on the highest point of a parcel of land recently purchased with a gift from Mrs. Henry Vilas.  The location for the fountain suggested by John Nolen offered a commanding view to the south and west and was intended to be the center of interest in Henry Vilas Park. Mr. Nolen felt that this location was appropriate due to the Stewart and Vilas families being close acquaintances.  Like the Stewart family, the Vilas family had also lost their son, Henry (28 May 1872 – 2 July 1899).
A committee created by the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, commissioned Frederick J. Clasgens (1879 – 7 April 1955) of Cincinnati, Ohio, for his fountain design after looking at the plans from multiple other proposals. Work on the sculpture began in 1917. The fountain was constructed by Mr. T. C. McCarthy under the direction of Clasgens. The fountain was divided into separate smaller projects to be then be assembled when it was all done.
The fountain has a circular basin made of white concrete with a diameter of 12 feet (3.7 m). In the center of the basin on a raised pedestal are dolphins and sea nymphs. Small tritons on the edges of the circular basin emptied water from their conch shells into smaller basins containing drinking fountains. The figures in the center were cut from white marble by Clasgens and his team. Work on the fountain was completed in late 1924 and was assembled in early 1925. The Annie C. Stewart Memorial Fountain was unveiled that spring.
Frederick J. Clasgens Madison John Nolen tritons Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati