The Illinois Centennial Monument was erected in 1918. The Santee River Cypress Lumber Company processed lumber at the Town of Ferguson for about 30 years before it closed down in 1914. Benjamin Franklin Ferguson had died in 1905, and Francis Beidler died in 1924. The legacy of these two Chicago lumbermen and their historic venture into the Santee swamp is alive and well today.

According to a bequest by B.F. Ferguson, at his death in 1905 a sum of one million dollars was left in trust for the Art Institute of Chicago. Ferguson and his wife, Myra Finney who died in 1898, had no children. During the last years of his life, he traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe. He was so impressed with the statues and monuments he saw in Europe, he dedicated himself to adorn his beloved Chicago in a similar way.

The B.F. Ferguson Monument Fund is managed by a board of trustees for the purpose of "erection and maintenance of enduring statuary and monuments in the whole or in part of stone, granite, or bronze in the parks along the boulevards or in other public places within the City of Chicago, Illinois, commemorating worthy men or women of America or important events of American history." Beneficiaries of this fund include:

Portrait of a woman is the only remaining artwork by B.F. Ferguson. • Fountain of the Great

Lakes. Designed by Lorado Taft, this fountain, the first commissioned by the Ferguson Fund, contains a bas relief of B.F. Ferguson in bronze on the rear panel of the granite block. Water flows through five draped female figures which represent the Great Lakes. Dedicated in 1908 in South Park, Chicago.

•Illinois Centennial

Monument . A marble column topped by an eagle designed by Henry Bacon and sculpted by Evelyn B.L. Batchelder was erected in 1918 in Logan Square to celebrate the centennial of Illinois statehood.

•The Fountain of the

Tritons. The bronze fountain by Carl Milles was installed in the courtyard of the institute in 1931.

The Fountain of the Great Lakes by Lorado Taft was dedicated in 1908. •B.F. Ferguson Memorial Building. This 1958 addition to the Art Institute of Chicago was financed with $1,600,000 from the Ferguson Fund. It houses an expanding modern art collection.

•Nuclear Energy. This bronze sculpture by Henry Moore is located at the University of Chicago's Alonzo Stagg Stadium. It was dedicated during the 25th anniversary in 1967 at the site of the first nuclear reaction in 1942.

•Man enters the

Cosmos. The cast bronze sculpture, a functional sundial by Henry Moore outside the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, was created in 1980.

•The Bowman and Spearman sculptures. These were created by Ivan Mestrovic on Congress Parkway in Chicago.

•The Jane Addams

Memorial by Louise Bourgeois was erected in 1996. The sculpture consists of six black granite pillars, each four feet tall, and topped with a different type of human hand, ranging from that of a vulnerable child to that of an able adult. The statue was the city's first public monument to a woman.

This bronze statue is dedicated to the first nuclear reaction in 1942. •Portrait of a woman.

The only remaining work by B.F. Ferguson was painted on glass in 1867. It is on display in the Art Institute.

The most recent work commissioned by the Ferguson Fund has been a statue of Jean Baptiste Pointe for DuSable Park by the internationally renowned sculptor Martin Puryear. Profits generated from the fortune made by B.F. Ferguson at the lumber mill he owned with Francis Beidler near Eutawville, SC, continue to beautify Chicago with statuary of historical significance.

(Next week: The capital legacy of Francis Beidler)

Inscribed under this small side fountain is "The B.F. Fountain of the Great Lakes, Lorado Taft, Sculptor." A relief sculpture of Ferguson on the rear panel has not been visible since the fountain was moved. Man enters the cosmos, a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, is a functional sundial. The Fountain of the Titans is the centerpiece for the courtyard of the Chicago Art Institute.