When I first saw this stone monument, I thought it was a commemoration to a real person. Then I saw the bicentennial emblem and began to wonder if that could be right. I had my suspicions, but had to wait until I returned home to confirm them. The short story was published during the Civil War to support the Union cause. The following summary comes from Wikipedia:
""The Man Without a Country" is a short story by American writer Edward Everett Hale, first published in The Atlantic in December 1863 (Hale's name does not appear at the beginning or end of the story, but it does appear in the annual index at the end of that issue of the magazine). It is the story of American Army lieutenant Philip Nolan, who renounces his country during a trial for treason and is consequently sentenced to spend the rest of his days at sea without so much as a word of news about the United States. Though the story is set in the early 19th century, it is an allegory about the upheaval of the American Civil War and was meant to promote the Union cause." source: (
visit link)
The end of the story comes with Nolan passing away at sea. Here is the final part of the story. source: Hale, Edward Everett. The Man Without a Country. Kindle Edition.
"But in an hour, when the doctor went in gently, he found Nolan had breathed his life away with a smile. He had something pressed close to his lips. It was his father's badge of the Order of the Cincinnati.
"We looked in his Bible, and there was a slip of paper at the place where he had marked the text.—
"' They desire a country, even a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.'
"On this slip of paper he had written:
"' Bury me in the sea; it has been my home, and I love it. But will not some one set up a stone for my memory at Fort Adams or at Orleans, that my disgrace may not be more than I ought to bear? Say on it: "'
In Memory of
"' PHILIP NOLAN,
"' Lieutenant in the Army of the United States.
"' He loved his country as no other man has loved her; but no man deserved less at her hands.'"
Those words are on the monument. Below is the Bicentennial emblem. Below that are the words "Sponsored by the Altrusa Club, July 4, 1975"
After an extensive web search I was not able to find any information about the placing of the monument or of the local chapter. Altrusa is a service organization. I did not see a club listed for Andalusia on the international organization web page, but I found a newpaper article from 2008 when the local club gave its meeting house to the Covington Historical Society as the members were aging and no longer were able to keep up their club charitable activities.
Without any information about the dedication, I can only guess it was placed by those who wanted people to remember how important this country is. It is fitting that a story crafted during a national crisis can still speak to us today.