Lot Flannery (1836–December 19, 1922) was an Irish-American sculptor from Washington, D.C., best known for his work in 1868 on the Abraham Lincoln statue located outside the District of Columbia City Hall and the nation's oldest extant memorial to the assassinated president.[1]
Flannery was born in Limerick, Ireland, but moved to the United States as a child. He displayed a talent for art and began studying the field in Washington, D.C. He focused his work on sculpture and traveled to Europe to further his studies.[2] Flannery also spent time living in New Orleans, St. Louis, and New York City, but spent most of his life in Washington.[3] He owned one of the largest stone carving businesses in Washington and specialized in carving tombstones.[1]
Lincoln statue by Flannery
Flannery knew President Abraham Lincoln and was at Ford's Theatre the night of the assassination.[3] Shortly after Lincoln's death, Washingtonians chose to erect a memorial honoring the slain president. Many designs were submitted to the monument planning committee, but Flannery's model was unanimously chosen. The committee called his design the "most spirited" and "an excellent likeness."[1] The memorial was dedicated on April 15, 1868, the third anniversary of Lincoln's death. Flannery's statue is the only statue of Lincoln created by someone who knew him.[3]
