The Tale of the Washington Square Deer

Good morning, everyone. I thought this morning I would share with you a story from my latest book, "Hidden History of Mobile". The book - available at all of your favorite books stores like the Haunted Bookshop in Mobile and Page and Palette in Fairhope, or online - tells little and unknown historical tales of Alabama's Port City. This one is about the infamous Washington Square deer.

Mobile is divided up into seven historic districts, each with its own special charm and history. One of the most popular is the Oakleigh District, where the stately Oakleigh Mansion stands, recalling the city’s antebellum days. In this historic district, only two blocks south of Government Street and two blocks west of Broad Street, there is a beautiful little park—Washington Square. Along its walkways there are castiron castings of a small Civil War cannon. Cherubs rim the park’s central fountain along with one more cast-iron statue that is a true survivor of the war, that of a deer.

The antebellum period that began in the early 1820s and ended with the outset of the Civil War spawned a renaissance in architecture that was based on either Greek or French Colonial styles. Tall houses featured large windows, sprawling balconies, grand staircases, decorative plaster work and tall porticos with decorative columns. Naturally, this style became known as antebellum architecture.

Another feature of antebellum architecture was the use of cast iron. Most balconies were lined with cast-iron railings, the portico might have cast-iron flower and plant vases welcoming guests inside and their sprawling property may have decorative cast-iron statutes of animals.

George A. Tuthill Sr. resided in one such home on Springhill Avenue. His yard was adorned with two majestic cast-iron deer, each being tended to by two cast-iron African American boys. These statues were considered the handsomest of all in the city.

Following the Battle of Mobile Bay just south of the city at Fort Morgan and the Battle of Blakeley on Mobile Bay’s eastern shore—the last major battle of the Civil War—Union troops moved across the bay and the last Confederate port city, Mobile, surrendered. Eventually, Union soldiers made

their way from downtown to the Springhill area and came to the Tuthill home. The Union officer in charge of the brigade spotted the statues in the yard and took them as a challenge.

“It is an affront to our cause,” he said. “Look, two Negro boys in bondage, and cast in iron at that. Free them!”

The soldiers removed the statues from the yard, and with the mission to remove all vestiges of slavery, they decided to “free” these statues from their “bondage” on the Tuthill property. The statues were unceremoniously hauled downtown to the Mobile River then thrown into the river’s dark green waters.

Tuthill went into grieving, mourning the loss of his prized statues. As Union troops stationed throughout the city began to stand down, Tuthill made it his mission to find the missing artwork. He would spend thousands of dollars and an incredible number of hours trawling the river in search

of the statues.

The two African American statues and one of the twin deer were never located. He was, however, able to find the other deer, and it is now standing proudly beneath the gnarled live oak branches at Washington Square.