Sale of cannons fodder for debate
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Summit Hill artillery in hands of collector in western Pennsylvania.

By Chris Parker
Of The Morning Call

October 13, 2002

Bruce Stiles had been trying for nearly two years to arrange the sale of two Civil War cannons that stood in Summit Hill's Ludlow Park for at least 85 years.

He told officials of American Legion Post 316 the cannons would be vulnerable to theft, vandalism and the harsh weather if they continued to stand in the borough park.

They'd be much better off in a museum in Emmaus, where people could still see them, he said, according to resident David Hiles and Legion Commander John Kennedy.

Legion officials sealed the deal in March 2000, selling the cannons for $70,000. Months later, they discovered the artillery was in Pittsburgh, a five-hour drive from Summit Hill.

''It was kind of disheartening,'' Kennedy said. ''We assumed they were in Emmaus when they were out in Pittsburgh.''

In addition, the Legion's ownership of the cannons has been questioned by Borough Council and a Civil War preservation organization. The dispute has escalated to the point where the state attorney general has opened an investigation of the cannons' ownership and sale.

''They are raping our history,'' Charles C. Kuhn Jr. of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War said of the sale of the cannons.

The debate is not new to Stiles as he scours the nation looking for Civil War cannons that have become hot collectibles, experts say.

In several cities and towns nationwide, Stiles has been setting off verbal skirmishes over artillery that hasn't been fired for more than a century:

In Pittsfield, Maine, Stiles wrote to officials who were considering a cannon sale and told them they should ''handle the transaction quietly'' so as ''not to stir up the citizens.'' Town Council voted against selling the cannons.

In Pembroke, N.H., Stiles wanted to buy cannons owned by the local Daughters of the American Revolution, which also owned the park in which the cannons were displayed. Stiles' proposal fractured the group, which eventually donated the park to the town on the condition that it never sell the artillery.

And in Jim Thorpe, officials in 1995 deflected conflict by immediately handing Stiles' proposal over to the borough's veterans groups, which decided to keep the cannon.

Stiles says he has ''no ulterior motives.''

''If you could see the amount of vandalism -- scratching initials into bronze cannons at our national battlefield sites and elsewhere, rusting away of cannons through lack of painting,'' he said.

The Summit Hill sale was divulged to the public in August, when residents asked about it at a Borough Council meeting. The news took council President James Crampsie by surprise, and the revelation set off a firestorm, pitting the Legion against some residents, council and Kuhn's organization in the dispute over ownership of the cannons.

Crampsie said the cannons were given to the borough in 1915 by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, descendants of Union Army soldiers who inherited all Grand Army of the Republic property. The group wants the cannons returned to Summit Hill.

''Those tubes are placed there in honor of the men who fought and died,'' said Kuhn, department commander of the group. ''It's the same as somebody digging up a grave.''

But Kennedy has said the cannons were given in 1913 to Summit Hill veterans who fought in the Civil War, and the Legion produced paperwork to back its contention that it owned the cannons.

Legion officials, though, apparently did not do their homework on the paperwork involved in the 2002 sale of the cannons. They said they did not realize the cannons were headed to Kenneth Watterson's private museum in Washington County.

''We found out after we contacted Ken Watterson -- his name appeared on the bill of sale,'' Kennedy said. ''We figured Watterson owned the Emmaus museum. Then we read the fine print.''

Despite the mistaken belief that the cannons would be in Emmaus, Kennedy said the Legion is fine with the artillery being in western Pennsylvania.

''They're safe,'' he said. ''We were worried about them being stolen.''

''For two years, they had been gone,'' Kennedy said. ''They were taken away in broad daylight, on the morning of May 15, 2000. Nobody said anything. It's surprising how easily those cannons could have been stolen that morning and nothing left in their place.''

''After two years of debate over it, we thought, these things could be missing in the middle of the night.''

The money from the sale, he said, will benefit Summit Hill Scout troops, its historical society and beautification committee, Little League, girls softball and the Panther Valley JROTC.

Hot items

The dispute over selling cannons typically arises from two points: ownership and whether they should stay in public places or private collections.

Veterans organizations and some residents are outraged to lose what they believe is local history.

But collectors say the artifacts, often exposed to the elements and vandals in public parks and cemeteries, are better preserved in collections such as the Civil War Artillery Museum owned by Watterson and the Museum of the Union and Confederacy owned by Ron Weaver of Emmaus.

''The Civil War is prime now,'' said Kuhn, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War official. ''It's been going on for some time, but it's more so now because the big dollars are there for it.''

He said the number of Civil War era cannons disappearing into private collections is increasing.

''There are a lot of collectors,'' said Civil War era cannon expert Wayne Stark of Baden, Beaver County. ''A lot of people who own one or two, several own a half dozen and about 12 who own 20 or more.''

Stark created and maintains the ''National Register of Surviving Civil War Artillery'' and co-wrote the book ''The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast and Naval Cannon.''

Stark said 5,636 cannons remain -- including a few in foreign countries -- from the 11,000 to 12,000 used in the Civil War.

''In the late 1860s through 1916, towns or organizations just asked for them,'' he said. ''They applied to their local congressman or state senator. The cannons were given to whoever wanted them for free. But they were rarely given to individuals.''

Between World War I and World War II, many were destroyed for their metal, he said.

''Communities donated to scrap drives, mostly in 1942,'' he said. ''That's the way most of them went.''

About 2,000 to 2,500 of the surviving cannons are under government control -- battlefield or military academy, Stark said.

He said he started looking for cannons 23 years ago. Of the first thousand he found, 620 were in cemeteries in the northeast United States. Cannons found farther west and south are usually in parks or at courthouses, he said.

About 450 Civil War cannons are privately owned, he said.

The monetary worth of the cannons ''varies all over the place, from $10,000 to $200,000,'' Stark said. ''Whether they are Union, Confederate, iron, bronze, and what kind of condition they are in all affect the value.''

Stark said he is ambivalent about the artifacts ending up in private collections.

''Most cannons that are purchased are in cemeteries,'' he said. ''They are the ones that seem to be neglected the most. I was glad to see them sold because they would be rusting away. But generally speaking, I'd rather see them stay where they are.''

The finder

Stiles also has a model train shop, Lehigh Valley Train Service, at 402 Broad St., Emmaus. According to Lehigh County records on the business, incorporated in 1983, the mortgage on the building was foreclosed.

''Lehigh Valley Train Service is alive and well,'' Stiles said. ''Although with the cannon-finding, I do not have the time to devote to it as before. I am making mortgage payments, so that private matter is resolved.''

Stiles said he began scouting for cannons in 1994.

''I love Civil War artillery and it was a hobby that blossomed,'' he said.

While Stiles could not say how many cannons he's found, he said he has discovered 24 not on Stark's list. He said he travels the country, hunting down small-town Civil War cannons for private collectors.

Stiles lists his title on business cards as ''assistant curator'' for the Civil War Artillery Museum.

But Watterson, the Washington County collector, and Stark, the Civil War artillery expert, both described Stiles as an independent broker.

Stiles disputes the title.

''I do not broker,'' he wrote in an e-mail response to a reporter's question. ''I find the cannons for the museum and I get paid for my efforts.''

He said Watterson ''had the cards printed up for me and assigned me the title, assistant curator.''

Stiles said he's also found cannons for Weaver's private Museum of the Union and Confederacy in Emmaus. But Weaver said he stopped doing business with Stiles in 1999 -- two years before Stiles bought the Summit Hill cannons.

''We did not know that the cannons would be in Pittsburgh,'' the Legion's Kennedy said. ''We actually expected the cannons were going to be in Emmaus.''

Weaver said he began having doubts about Stiles' methods of arranging the sales. His doubts coalesced when he received a telephone call from a cannon source in California who was upset about the way Stiles tried to arrange the sale.

Weaver wouldn't discuss details of the matter, but ''I was upset, really upset,'' he said. ''That was the beginning of the end.''

On Aug. 12, 1999, Weaver sent Stiles a letter ending the business relationship. In the letter, he told Stiles to stop using his museum's name in transactions.

When the Summit Hill cannons were sold, ''I was not offered the guns,'' Weaver said. ''I was not even aware of what was going on.''

''I'm not accusing Bruce of anything,'' Weaver said. ''Bruce was a finder. I had very limited knowledge of what he was doing and how he was doing it. He was just a guy looking for cannons and I gave him a finder's fee.''

Weaver wouldn't disclose the fees.

Controversy elsewhere

Stiles says the squabbles over buying public cannons to sell privately are few.

''They represent a minor percentage and arise from people relishing status quo thinking over the preservation of an historic artifact,'' he said in a recent e-mail interview.

He pointed to Hamilton, Maine, and Trinidad, Colo., where sales arrangements have gone smoothly.

Trinidad City Manager Jim Soltis said his Town Council sold two cannons to Stiles about three years ago for $40,000.

Stiles had contacted the city and ''said he would be interested in purchasing them and would provide us with replicas,'' Soltis said. ''He assured us they would be put in a museum where they could be seen and maintained.

''Colorado did not have close ties to the Civil War, so it was consensus that that would work,'' said Soltis, who said he did not know if the cannons are in a museum.

Stiles failed to secure a sale when he approached officials in Farmington, Utah.

Max Forbush, city manager of Farmington -- a small city north of Salt Lake City settled in 1847 -- said City Council voted unanimously to sell its cannon to the highest bidder, who turned out not to be Stiles.

''The City Council has determined it will sell the cannon to a museum or entity where it will be displayed to the public,'' Forbush said. ''It has no historical significance to us. We put it out on bid to see what kind of price we could get. We wanted to get the best price possible.''

He said the city will use the cannon proceeds to start its own museum.

In Pittsfield, Maine, resident Robert Matthews was upset at the way Stiles tried to buy his town's cannon.

According to news reports, Stiles in June sent a letter to Pittsfield officials saying ''My advice is not to stir up the citizens and veterans if not required by the town charter and handle the transaction quietly. People who are concerned after the fact must be informed that this cannon has no wartime history tying it to Pittsfield.''

Matthews, an Army veteran, said he was furious.

''He told the town officials to keep quiet about it and don't tell the vets,'' Matthews said. '' ... But Town Council voted against selling it.''

When Stiles approached Jim Thorpe council about buying a cannon displayed in the Grand Army of the Republic memorial in the Liberties section of the borough, council handed the proposal over to veterans groups, council President Michael Sofranko said.

''No way -- no way would we sell it,'' said Ed Glassic, a trustee with Jim Thorpe American Legion Post 304. ''That's a dedication honoring any servicemen. That was way back when, but they still gave their lives. I can't see any monument being given away. We will never let anyone move that cannon.''

The Sons of Union Veterans has fought cannon sales throughout the country.

Kuhn, the Sons of Union Veterans official, attended a Summit Hill council meeting in September to demand the return of the guns.

''Those gun tubes in Summit Hill were ours,'' Kuhn said. ''There's no question about that. They were resting on granite block that said 'J.F. Breslin, Camp 17, S of V.'''

Kuhn says his group inherited Grand Army of the Republic property and cited a Scranton court case that he said set a ''precedent that says that GAR property is SUV property.''

''Their blood courses through our veins, that's why we are their heirs,'' he said.

Final resting place?

Watterson fell in love with cannons when he visited Gettysburg as a child.

Now 56 and a retired president of a company that makes electrical components, he began collecting artillery, including cannons, ammunition and artifacts, about 20 years ago.

In March 2000, he successfully applied to the state for nonprofit, tax-exempt status and opened his Civil War Artillery Museum, next to his 1810 home on Bebout Road in Washington County.

The 2,500-square-foot building, on 2 acres, boasts carefully controlled temperature and humidity. It's behind an authentic log cabin.

Wooden stands display documents describing each piece.

Almost all -- except for the two bronze cannons from Summit Hill -- have been restored to a soft sheen and are mounted on hand-crafted carriages.

The Summit Hill cannons will await restoration until the legal tussle has been resolved, Watterson said.

''They are in the process of being cleaned,'' he said. ''They were neglected. the paint was peeling, kids had scratched their names on them.''

The replicas Watterson bought to replace the cannons cost $12,000, he said.

Watterson's museum is open by appointment only. Watterson said he does not promote the museum, which houses more than 20 pieces of major artillery, Civil War uniforms, ammunition and historical documents.

Watterson offers tours for schools and individuals, Scout troops and historical groups that call for appointments.

He said about 300 people visited the museum last year.

Next year, the visitors just might include some folks from Summit Hill.

American Legion Commander Kennedy believes the cannons are ''in a good spot'' with Watterson.

''People never knew they were gone,'' he said. ''I'm happy with them being someplace where they are not out in the weather or exposed to theft. And the cannons that are there today look identical to the ones that were sold.''

chris.parker@mcall.com
610-379-3224

Copyright (c) 2002, The Morning Call

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