Laura Smith Haviland

Location: Lenawee County Historical Museum
Permanent sculpture
Donated by the Haviland Memorial Association
Construction/Material: Granite
Value: In 1909 it cost $1,714

Funds were raised by Haviland Memorial Association. The inscription on the sculpture reads “A Tribute to a Life Consecrated to the Betterment of Humanity”. There is also a drinking fountain at the base with an inscription “I was thirsty and ye gave me drink”.

Laura Haviland is one of Lenawee County’s best-known and most-admired citizens. Born in 1808, Mrs. Haviland’s life was dedicated to helping others. She was a teacher, a nurse, a missionary, an abolitionist, a humanitarian, a temperance reformer and a mother. Laura Haviland organized one of the first stations on the Underground Railroad in Michigan, for which she earned a $3000 bounty on her head, and she was also devoted to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

The idea for the Laura Haviland statue was first conceived in 1907 by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Haviland Association. Six hundred people made donations from 5 cents to 500 dollars in order to raise the needed funds of $1740 to create the statue in 1907. The Laura Haviland Statue unveiling took place on June 24, 1909.

Artist Information

Artist: H. Barnicoat
Quincy, MA