County of marker: Johnson County
Location of monument: N. Holden St. & Hout St., courthouse lawn, Warrensburg
Erected by: Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce
Artist: Sculptor, Reno Gastaldi
Erected: September 23, 1958
Marker Text:
TRIBUTE TO THE DOG
(BY SENATOR GEORGE GRAHAM VEST)
"Gentlemen of the Jury, the best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.”
Gentleman of the Jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and the sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation fall to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.”
"Before he was killed Oct. 28, 1869, Old Drum had been the constant companion of farmer Charlie Burden, 45. It was Burden’s brother-in-law and next-door neighbor, 40-year-old Leonidas Hornsby, who ordered a hired hand to shoot and kill Old Drum, claiming the dog was bothering his sheep.
"Burden sued Hornsby for damages in four bitterly fought court trials. He first filed suit before a justice of the peace, but no decision was reached. At a second trial, Burden was awarded $25. Hornsby appealed and won, prompting Burden to sue again.
"Old Drum was immortalized at the fourth trial held at the Old Johnson County Courthouse, located a mile from the modern-day courthouse. The historic courthouse, built in 1842, is now a shrine to Old Drum.
"The saga came to an end on Sept. 23, 1870, as a crowded courtroom listened intently to attorney George Graham Vest deliver his spontaneous final appeal.
"Within minutes, the jury returned an unanimous verdict in favor of Charlie Burden and awarded him $50 for the loss of his pet. Hornsby appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict." ~ Los Angeles Times,