By Howard Greninger
TERRE HAUTE — While the county bears his name, few paintings of merchant and Revolutionary War hero Francis Vigo are on display here. That soon may change with new murals slated for the historic 19th century Vigo County Courthouse.
“It has always concerned me that we don’t properly recognize him around here,” Vigo County Historian B. Michael McCormick told county commissioners earlier this week. He said a monument overlooking the Wabash River in Vincennes is the only site that provides a majestic remembrance of Vigo.
McCormick was joined Wednesday by Keith Ruble, superintendent of the Vigo County Park and Recreation Department, artist Bill Wolfe, and John Daniel, president of the Francis Vigo American Italian Club, to seek approval from commissioners to paint four murals inside the county courthouse.
The murals would cost $12,000 and be paid for entirely with private funds.
“We want to keep the cultural aspect and memory of Francis Vigo,” Daniel told commissioners. Daniel said the Francis Vigo American Italian Club, chartered in 1972, would help pay for the murals. Daniel also serves as president of the Vigo County Park Board.
Any group wishing to contribute to the murals project may contact Ruble at the park department at (812) 462-3391.
Ruble said the idea is to paint four panels in the rotunda of the courthouse, two of Vigo and two featuring selected historical events of the county. Wolfe has suggested including a speech by then-Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy on the courthouse steps.
The podium used by JFK on the courthouse steps also was used last year by Barack Obama when he spoke at Terre Haute North Vigo High School as a presidential candidate.
Ruble said each panel is about 12 feet long and 5 feet high.
Commissioner President Paul Mason said the county has marble purchased from the former University Laboratory School at Indiana State University, which served as a high school from 1936 to 1991. Mason said the marble could be cut to replace plastic splash guards along interior walls.
Commissioners originally had intended to put up several feet of the marble along the walls, but can use the polished stone in other areas of the courthouse. Commissioners Mason and Judy Anderson gave approval for the work. Commissioner Mike Ciolli was out of town.
“Vigo came here one time that we have record of and he was an elderly man by that time,” McCormick said.
Vigo visited Terre Haute on July 4, 1834, as part of an Independence Day celebration. At the time of his visit, Vigo was approaching his 87th birthday. On Dec. 9, 1834, about five months after his visit, Vigo penned a will, bequeathing $500 to acquire a bell for the Vigo County Courthouse, according to McCormick. Vigo died March 22, 1836.
The two-ton bell was made in 1887 at a cost of $2,500 and remains in the upper dome of the courthouse, which is not open to the public. Construction on the county courthouse began in 1884 and was dedicated in 1888.
Vigo was born Dec. 3, 1747 in Mondovi, Sardinia, in what is now northern Italy. Named Giuseppe Maria Francesco Vigo, he entered the Spanish army as a private and served at Havana and New Orleans. He left the army and went to St. Louis and engaged in the fur trade industry, often trading with Indians.
Vigo took up the American cause in the Revolutionary War, aiding George Rogers Clark with money, supplies and information to help Clark recapture Vincennes from the British. In 1783, Vigo settled in Vincennes, where he became an American citizen. He continued to work in the fur trade and served as a colonel in the militia.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
