After missing from Muncie’s landscape for more than 50 years, the statue of Charlie Willard has finally returned to Muncie by Delaware County’s very own “Indiana Jones.”
At least, that’s what other members of the Delaware County Historical Society call board member Bob Good after he located the statue in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Good spent nearly one and a half years investigating the disappearance of the statue from the area — which is made in the likeness of one of the first businessmen in Muncie.
Charles Willard, born in New Hampshire in 1812, came to Muncie in 1831 on a business trip for the general store company he worked for.
Good said Muncie “couldn’t have been no more than a few dozen log cabins” at the time. Despite that, Willard soon bought out the general store company and worked out of a brick building on the northeast corner of what is now Main and Walnut streets in downtown Muncie, also known as the Willard Building.
While Willard died in 1871, his family wouldn’t commission the statue until 15 years after his death. It was made by stone carver Duncan Russell.
The statue sat on the third-story alcove of the Willard Building until the 1960s when the building was demolished and the statue was sold off by the construction company.
It was then that Willard’s statue wandered down to Tennessee, and hope of its return was lost until another relic-seeking adventurer in the 1980s by the name of Edmund Petty, then-president of the department store chain Ball Stores, found the 8-foot, 1,600-pound limestone statue at a flea market in Tennessee.
Petty tried to buy the statue, but the vendor refused to part with it and Petty came back empty-handed.
The statue vanished until nearly 30 years later when Good, who combed through old newspapers and joined online social media groups, found it.
A quick Google pictures search of statues in Tennessee gave Good what he was searching for, but Delaware County Historical Society President Chris Flook thought the news was too good to be true.
“At first I didn’t really believe it simply because it’s one of those things where we knew it was gone, and there were rumors it was in Tennessee … Sure enough, there it was,” Flook said.
Charles was waiting to take a train ride back home outside the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel, a former railroad station whose last departure was in 1970.
While Charles was in no rush to get back, the mystery of how he got to Chattanooga still remains. Chattanooga locals knew as much about the statue’s origins as they did about who the statue was of.
Rumors spread and speculation percolated among the community. The local newspaper published a $100 reward to any adventurer worth his salt who could discover the statue’s forgotten history.
Was he Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederate States, or maybe a Confederate general who defended the town during the war?
When Good arrived in Chattanooga for the first time in 2016, the mystery statue’s identity was revealed to be none other than a grocery store owner from Muncie.
Fifty years later, the statue is now back in its original home and available for public viewing in downtown Muncie next to the Delaware County Historical Society. However, an official unveiling will be held at this year’s ARTSWALK Oct. 4.
While Good was unsure of his new “Indiana Jones” title, he said he couldn’t be more thrilled to have the statue back for the enjoyment of the local community.
“It’s pretty exciting when you discover something that was created 130 years ago and it’s been missing for 50 years,” he said. “And to find it and be a part of bringing it home for Delaware County and the people of Muncie? It makes you feel good.”
Contact Adam Pannel with comments at arpannel@bsu.edu.
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