The Clay County Courthouse is home to a Civil War soldier monument that has been in place since 1911. The base was crafted by longtime monument craftsman, William Schaubel, Jr., who landed in Clay Center in the 1880s.
Schaubel’s father, William Sr., was the sexton of Greenwood Cemetery before dying in 1888 of consumption. William Sr.’s second wife and William Jr.’s mother, Emma, took over as Sexton. In 1911, she was paid $35 per month, and by 1919, that had been increased to $75. (About $1,190 and $1,400 today.)
Emma died in 1934.
William Jr. lived at the north end of 6th Street, where discarded monuments were placed in his yard as either décor or to keep ditches from eroding. Some still remain there today. He built the home and lived there with Emma. He built a second home with his wife, Bessie, located two doors south. He lived in the first for 35 years, then moved to a ranch style, which they built when Bessie could no longer go up and down stairs. Both still stand today.
Rather than follow his parents’ footsteps as sexton, William Jr. went into the monument business. By 1906, he was working under Clay Center Granite and Marble Works on Court Street in the former Gollober garage. It was also listed as Monument Works or just Schaubels Monuments.
In 1914, he advertised his address as 424 Court, which is a parking lot today. However, the building at 430 Court reads “Schaubel 1921” today, where Vyve Broadband is located.
Schaubel made a name for himself with the Civil War statue, which cost $1,500 ($51,000 today.) He created the base portion. It was paid for entirely with donations; he used it in business ads for decades to showcase his work.
The piece consists of nine separate stone pieces, including three bases, two granite pieces that are all pieced together. Today, the piece would cost at least $125K installed, said Robyne Colton, owner of Colton Monuments. She said this is due to market prices, intricacies of the piece, and safety regulations of today’s market.
In 1912, he sold a $700 monument (more than $23K today) that would be placed in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Clifton; it was slated to be the largest and finest monument in the cemetery.
In 1913, he sold two three-ton monuments in one day; one to be placed in Lincoln, NE, and the other in Abilene. (Approximately three-by-four feet, depending on the type of stone.)
In 1915, Ed Cody, who was already in business on 5th Street, bought out Schaubel to be the only monument business in town. However, Schaubel soon reopened, then began taking out ads to undercut Cody’s prices.
In 1921, Schaubel sold a stone worth $1,500 to be placed near Leonardville. (Around $27,000 today.)
William and Bessie were placed in a mausoleum in Greenwood Cemetery. William Sr. and Emma are buried beside them.
Research via Susan Hammond
