The Shemwell Family

William Emmett, one of several brothers noted for their consummate skill with mallet and chisel, spent a large portion of his earlier life in the construction of the noted Liverpool docks, the massiveness and permanent character of which are not surpassed by even the pyramids of Egypt. Later he came to America, and after pursuing his vocation for some time in Seneca Falls, New York, he went to Galveston, Texas, where he embarked in the marble and tombstone business, on a large scale, becoming very prosperous, and also famous for the excellence and beauty of his workmanship and designing. The Civil war came as a crushing blow to his high aspirations and dreams of the future, and he finally found his way to the north land, to re-enter the battle for fame and fortune. After serving several of the principal marble dealers in Indiana and states adjoining, he settled in Logansport, and on January 1, 1864, was married to the mother of Lycurgus, Miss Mary M. Powell, daughter of Lycurgus and Hannah (Foster) Powell. During his business career in Logansport he executed, from his own designing, such celebrated pieces of work as the unrivaled monument to the memory of the gallant Captain Palmer Dunn, which consisted of an Italian marble shaft, fluted and molded, upon which hung in has relief a counterpart of the sword carried by this gallant officer when he was killed at Chickamauga; the figures on the clasp, the rings and straps, even the stitches in the leather, were so plainly reproduced in the marble that people looked upon it as one of the proudest achievements of art. It would be impossible to numerate here all of the celebrated pieces of carving and designing executed by this wonderful man, but his last and greatest work was a design and drawing for a monument to the memory of our martyr president, Abraham Lincoln, which was awarded the prize, as the best and most appropriate, but on account of a lack of funds they were obliged to adopt a cheaper monument. Page 126