The ''Amiable Child Monument'' is a monument located in New York City's Riverside Park. It stands west of the southbound lanes of Riverside Drive north of 122nd Street in

Morningside Heights, Manhattan Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningsid ...

. It is a monument to a small boy who died in a fall down the adjacent steep bluff, in what was then an area of country homes near New York City. One side of the monument reads: “Erected to the Memory of an Amiable Child, St. Claire Pollock, Died 15 July 1797 in the Fifth Year of His Age.” The monument was erected above St Claire's grave by George Pollock, who was either the boy's father or his uncle. It is across the street from

Grant's Tomb Grant's Tomb, officially the General Grant National Memorial, is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, and of his wife Julia. It is a classical domed mausoleum in the Morningside Heights neigh ...

. The monument is composed of a urn on a pedestal, both of stone, enclosed by a wrought iron fence. The original monument was marble, enhanced by the additional of a marble urn a few years later, around the time that the Pollock family sold the property to Cornelia Verplanck. The monument has been replaced twice due to deterioration, first in by the city in 1897, also in marble, and then in 1967, in granite. During

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningsi ...

’s Golden Age, when the nearby Claremont Inn served luminaries that included

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

Lillian Russell Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922) was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, praised for her beaut ...

and Mayor

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Jimmy Walker and Beau James, was an American attorney, lyricist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 97th mayor of New York City from 1926 until his resign ...

, the site inspired pilgrimages and poetry. Of the many verses written about the memorial is Herman George Scheffauer’s “An Amiable Child,” which describes the grave as being “like a song of peace in iron frays.” An identically named poem by Anna Markham, wife of proletarian author and critic

Edwin Markham Edwin Markham (born Charles Edward Anson Markham; April 23, 1852 – March 7, 1940) was an American poet. From 1923 to 1931 he was Poet Laureate of Oregon. Early life and education Edwin Markham was born in Oregon City, Oregon Oregon Cit ...

, opens with the lines that defined the monument for her contemporaries: “At Riverside, on the slow hill-slant / Two memoried graves are seen / A granite dome is over Grant / and over a child the green.” The monument is also the inspiration for

Irene Marcuse Irene Marcuse was an American author of mystery novels. She was a finalist for the Agatha Award in 2000. She died March 8, 2021. Marcuse held a BA in Literature and Creative Writing and a Master of Social Work from Columbia University. She was ...

's novel ''Death of an Amiable Child''. By one late nineteenth-century account, as related by Donald Reynolds, an attempt to relocate the grave in order to clear space for General Grant's tomb, which was quickly abandoned by the city after a groundswell of public opposition, transformed the “tribute to the gentleness that underlies the apparent brutality of the great city” into “almost a national institution”. Monumental inscription of the Amiable Child Monument

Monumental inscription of the Amiable Child Monument

Nearby St. Clair Place, originally the western end of West 129th Street, was renamed in 1920, likely in reference to young St. Claire. The monument is thought to be the only single-person private grave on city-owned land in New York City.

Notes

External links

Monumental inscription on back side of the Amiable Child Monument

Daytonian in Manhattan blog
{{Public art in Manhattan 1967 sculptures Granite sculptures in New York City Monuments and memorials in Manhattan Morningside Heights, Manhattan Outdoor sculptures in Manhattan Riverside Park (Manhattan) Washington Heights, Manhattan