Read time: 5 min.

A curious statue greets visitors at the entrance of the Delaware County Historical Society’s resource center. Is it Abraham Lincoln? A Ball Brother? John Turturro? Actually, the figure depicts Charles F. Willard. Lost for more than fifty years, its journey home was as interesting as the man himself.

Charles F. Willard was a key figure in Muncie’s early business scene. Born in New Hampshire in 1812, he set out on his own at fifteen to work as a store clerk in Rochester, New York¹. In 1830, Willard moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he met merchant David Stone². Stone’s business was connected with Thomas Kirby of Muncie, so Willard was sent to Indiana to help acquire goods like furs and ginseng for the Dayton storefront³.

As it turns out, Charles Willard was a business prodigy. Just four months after arriving in Muncie, he bought out Stone’s stake in the operation⁴. By the time he turned twenty, he’d become a junior partner in the newly formed firm of Kirby and Willard⁵! He eventually acquired Kirby’s share in the business too, but sold out to Moses Neely in 1848. The transaction allowed Willard to retain ownership of his building, and it passed to his heirs when he died in 1871⁶. 

Willard’s son, Charles A., tore down his father’s old store in 1886 to build an enormous edifice at the northeast corner of Walnut and Main Streets⁷. The structure featured elaborate moldings and arches, but its crowning feature was an eight-foot-tall statue of Charles F. Willard sculpted by Duncan Russell. It stood in a corner niche on the building’s third floor. 

The Willard Building’s first tenant was Muncie Federal Savings and Loan Association⁸. In 1934, it was acquired by Muncie-People’s Savings and Loan. The new owners had ambitious ideas for modernization that included replacing the statue with an electronic sign, but those plans quickly changed: officials learned that Willard’s likeness wasn’t just a standalone figure- it was carved directly into the building’s stone facade⁹! Instead, the electric sign was installed in front of Mr. Willard. Its supporting brackets boxed him in like a man trapped behind bars. 

American National Bank later acquired the Willard Building, but its days were numbered. In 1961, the bank hired the John Harty Wrecking Company to tear the structure down to make way for a modern drive-up teller window for its branch next door¹⁰. Despite prevailing wisdom that assumed otherwise, the massive statue had only been held in place by a simple metal dowel¹¹! Once the demolition was complete, Harty took the 1,600-pound figure for himself and proudly displayed Charles Willard on his front lawn¹². 

Unfortunately, that was the last anyone in Muncie saw of Mr. Willard for more than half a century. His whereabouts remained a mystery until Ed Petty -president of Ball Stores- took up the search. Just before his passing in 1985, Petty finally tracked the statue down to a flea market in Tennessee. Despite his many resources, he couldn’t convince the owner to sell at any price¹³. With that, the trail went cold for another thirty years.

That’s when Bob Good pulled out his deerstalker and calabash pipe to do some detective work. A friend of mine and former colleague on the historical society board, Bob had long been fascinated by the mystery of Mr. Willard’s disappearance. Around 2011, he started looking for clues by sifting through decades of newspaper archives and scouring Facebook posts¹⁴. After years of dead ends, a simple 45-minute Google search for “statues of Tennessee¹⁵” in 2016 finally cracked the case. Charles Willard had been hiding in plain sight at Chattanooga’s Choo Choo Historic Hotel and Terminal Station Museum!

Bob may have found the statue, but getting Mr. Willard back to Muncie was a challenge of its own. After years of negotiations, Tucker Build -a Chattanooga-based construction company- stepped in to help. The statue made the 500-mile journey by truck before it finally came back to Muncie¹⁶. Willard was placed in the yard between the historical society’s resource center and the Moore-Youse House until late last year when he was moved to his current spot near the entrance to the resource center.

Now, Charles Willard stands proudly once more in the town he helped shape. His statue’s long journey home is a testament to the power of curiosity, persistence, and community. Today, his likeness stands as more than just a tribute to an early business leader. It’s a reminder that the past is never truly lost- it’s simply waiting for the right people to uncover it.

Sources Cited
1 Kemper, G. W. H. (1908). Education in Delaware County. In A Twentieth Century History of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume 1. book, Lewis Publishing Company.
2 Flook, C. (2017, August 28). ‘MIssing businessman’ Willard Statue found in Tennessee. The Muncie Star Press. p. A2. 
3 (See footnote 1). 
4 (See footnote 2). 
5 (See footnote 1). 
6 Greene, D. (1957, January 19). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 6. 
7 (See footnote 6). 
8 (See footnote 6). 
9 Greene, D. (1961, July  7). Seen and Heard in Our Neighborhood. The Muncie Star. p. 6. 
10 Owens, E. (1961, February 27). The Coonskin Bank. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 4. 
11 (See footnote 2). 
12 Willard Descends From Lofty Perch (1961, July 4). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 3. 
13 Ball, P. (2000, April 26). He’s on a mission: Let’s bring Charles Willard back home. The Muncie Star Press. p. 14. 
14 (See footnote 2). 
15 Kirby, A. (2018, September 14). Charles Willard statue is finally in Muncie. The Muncie Star Press. p. A5. 
16 Kirby, A. (2018, September 7)(. Missing statue to be returned 50 years later. The Muncie Star Press. p. A1.