The Soutter Memorial Fountain

CEDAR RAPIDS -- A fountain sits in the far corner of Redmond Park with just its circular top showing above overgrown bushes. It stands about five feet high and has a large bowl in the front and a smaller one in the back, hidden behind those bushes. Across from it is a bench, a place to reflect on what this sculpture with its green patina and obvious missing parts means.

On the back, almost unnoticed, is an inscription, barely readable:

IN MEMORY OF ROBERT THOMPSON SOUTTER

1875-1892

"His going hence hath given

Serener thoughts and hearer to the skies,

And opened a new fountain in my heart

For thee, my friends, and all."

The fountain originally was placed at the east end of Redmond Park at the corner of Third Avenue and 16th Street in August 1909 by Charles Soutter and his wife, Fannie Thompson Soutter, in memory of their son, Robert Thompson Soutter.

When it was placed, an Evening Gazette story described it as "made of solid bronze, with drinking basins for horses and for dogs, and at the rear are suspended, by means of bronze chains, bronze drinking cups of most unique design."

Robert Soutter was 17 in 1892. He had just come home to Cedar Rapids after a vacation in the south with his parents. They had gone on to New York to visit family and friends.

Robert was riding his horse on First Avenue between 14th and 15th streets when he noticed his friend and Coe College classmate, H.E. Moffitt, leaning out of the second-story window of his home. Robert stopped to talk. At some point during the conversation, Robert indicated that his horse was skittish around electric streetcars.

The No. 3 Marion car of the Cedar Rapids and Marion City Railway Co. was approaching the young men at 15th Street, slowing for a potential rider. Robert turned his horse and started in the direction of his home at 20th Street, when suddenly the horse lunged and leapt onto the track, crouched down and refused to budge. The streetcar at that point was only about 25 feet away, and stopping was not an option. It hit the horse and its rider, knocking Robert off the horse and under the wheels of the streetcar, killing him instantly.

Passengers on the streetcar disembarked immediately and extricated man and horse from under the wheels, carrying Robert to a nearby home. The first people on the scene other than Moffitt and the passengers on the streetcar were the coroner and a representative of The Gazette.

Charles and Fannie Soutter were expected to leave New York for Cedar Rapids at 4 p.m. that afternoon. So it was decided not to notify them of their son's death by telegraph. William Douglas planned to go to Chicago to meet them and deliver the news in person. The Soutters, however, left New York early to go to Albany and meet with a friend who lived there. Amid flying telegrams with the news of Robert's death, the Soutters were made aware of their terrible loss. They arrived May 17 in Cedar Rapids.

On May 19, Robert was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.

Charles Soutter, a Virginia native who was raised in New York, became a partner with John Sinclair & Co. of New York, a large commission house representing several large packinghouses, including T.M. Sinclair & Co. of Cedar Rapids. When Thomas Sinclair died in an accident at the packinghouse, Soutter, his brother-in-law, was selected to become vice president and manager of T.M. Sinclair.

He also was a director of Cedar Rapids National Bank and vice president of Cedar Rapids Savings Bank. After giving up his position at Sinclair in 1900, he became president of the board of trustees of Coe College. He had been president of the Cedar Rapids Water Works for about 15 years before it was purchased by the city. The city in turn appointed him to the board of trustees of the water works on July 1, 1903.

In the 1960s, the fountain was moved to storage at Bever Park and then later to Ellis Park. In 1966, water department officials discovered it and had it brought to the water department building on J Avenue NE. It was refurbished and displayed inside the lobby of the filter building. Water Superintendent George Lee said that the memorial plaque on the back was either lost or stolen.

At some point, it was moved outdoors at the water works.

In August 1995, after a campaign by Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association, it returned to Redmond Park. The plaque must have been recovered, because it is in place on the fountain today.

MISCONCEPTIONS SURROUND FOUNTAIN

Over its 104-year history, the story surrounding the fountain dedicated to the memory of Robert Thompson Soutter is filled with inaccuracies.

It started just days after Soutter was tragically killed in an accident involving his horse and a streetcar.

On May 20, 1892, a story about his death said, 'Robert Soutter was scarcely 20 years of age …' In fact, Soutter was 17.

On Aug. 28, 1909, a published picture of the memorial fountain had a caption that read: 'As is well known, this beautiful fountain is the gift to the city of Charles B.

Soutter, capitalist and member of the board of water works trustees, and is given in memory of his son, Robert Thompson Soutter, who was accidentally drowned in the Cedar River.' The confusion may have been THE result of a memorial service conducted by the YMCA for several members who had died the previous year, including Robert Soutter and a young man named Harry Leverich, who drowned while swimming in the Cedar River.

On Dec. 17, 1967, The Gazette ran a story with the headline '1892 fountain resurrected by water works' and went on to say: 'The memorial fountain … apparently stood near the old YMCA building from the date of its dedication to sometime around 1910, when it was moved to Redmond Park. Some of the city's older residents have told Water Works Superintendent George S.

Lee that the fountain was at A Avenue and First Street NE.

In fact, the Soutter Memorial Fountain was placed directly in Redmond Park in August 1909, at the intersection of Third Avenue and 16th Street.

Research shows the fountain downtown was a gift from the National Humane Alliance. It was made of granite and was nearly three times the size of the Soutter fountain. It was placed in the middle of the intersection of Second Avenue and First Street, and intended for horses and dogs.

A photo that ran April 13, 1976, showed the fountain at city water works. The photo said the fountain was given to the city 84 years before and stood near the old YMCA on First Avenue until 1910. It was 67 years old in 1976 and never stood anywhere but Redmond Park until it was removed in the 1960s.

On Sept. 29, 1994, the Humane Alliance and Soutter fountains again were confused with one another. An article called the Soutter fountain 'a 102-year-old horse trough' and said its dedication was 1892. It said: 'George Soutter commissioned the 2,000-pound fountain in 1892. …' In fact, Charles Soutter erected the fountain in 1909 in Redmond Park.

It's possible names were confused because of George Lee, who was water works superintendent at the time the fountain was there.