On October 17, 1870, five days after Robert E. Lee died, the Ladies Lee Monument Association organized in a Richmond parlor. On October 25 the Lee Monument Association formed. By an act of Assembly, January 14, 1871, the Lee Memorial Association incorporated and on January 25 an act incorporated the Lee Monument Association.
The Association could raise money by subscription and contribution to acquire a plot of ground on which to erect a monument to Lee, and provide a final resting place for Lee's remains with the assent of members of his immediate family.
In May 1886 $3,000 in prizes was offered for the best models by sculptors from America and abroad. In the summer of 1887 Jean Antonin Mercie, a French sculptor, was selected. Otway S. Allen gave land for the site at the end of Franklin Street which became the beginning of Monument Avenue. While masons laid the cornerstone on October 27, 1887, the equestrian statue did not arrive until May 4, 1890. On May 7 Richmond citizens pulled the twelve-ton statue, shipped in pieces, in wagons by ropes from the Broad Street railroad station to the site. General Joseph E. Johnston unveiled the statue on May 29, 1890.
From the description of Subscriptions, January 19-June 14, 1878. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122632172
