Missing Ward statue found after intrigue By Ron Clayton Correspondent RELIANCE, Tenn. — For years, Angie King has been seeking the location of a lost granite statue of Nancy Ward, the Cherokee "Beloved Woman," that reportedly was carved around the turn of the 20th century by a descendent of the Ward family. Now, with the help of Oak Ridge Cherokee historian Ray Smith, the statue has been found in an antique store in Augusta, Maine, said Mrs. King, who works for the Hiwassee/Ocoee Scenic River State Park. Mrs. King hopes the statue can be placed at the Nancy Ward gravesite near Benton, Tenn. "We just want to let the people see it," she said. "And I can’t wait just to touch it." The statue depicts Nancy Ward holding a lamb and a plaque reading "Nancy Ward Watauga 1776." The lamb was to signify her peacekeeping efforts between the Cherokee and the white settlers. The 5-foot figure is priced at $165,000, but Mrs. King said she hopes to find proof that Polk County already owns it. The parks employee said she first found out about the statue in 1998. While packing files, she found records of a statue carved by James Abraham Walker that was in the Arnwine Cemetery in Grainger County. As Mrs. King dug into records, she found that Mr. Walker had carved the statue for the grave of Nancy Ward, who died in 1822. But Mr. Walker needed money and sold the statue to the family of Maggie Farmer, who placed it on her grave. In the late 1970s, then-Polk County Historian Roy Lillard and others made arrangements to use a grant from the Tennessee State Museum to buy the statue for $1,000, Mrs. King said. "I went to Fred Haulk, a park maintenance man who remembered the park manager telling him to get the statute," she said. "They went to get it but it was gone. He said you could see the cement where they busted off the bottom." Later, she contacted Mr. Smith, who posted information about the statue on his Web page. Early this year, Mr. Smith found a photo of the statue in the January issue of Antiques and Fine Arts Magazine. "It was an advertisement from an Augusta, Maine, dealer named Odd Fellows Art and Antiques and is included in a feature about the American Antiques Show held in New York," Mr. Smith said in an interview. He said he met with the dealer at a Nashville art show, but the statue was not on display. Mr. Smith said he doubts the statue is an actual likeness of Nancy Ward, who died nearly a century before it was carved. He said he also doubts that Mr. Walker was descended from Nancy Ward. Mrs. King believes there is documentation that Polk County may own the statue. She said the county workers most likely wouldn’t have been allowed to remove the statue before the $1,000 purchase price was paid. She cited an earlier letter from the family warning against anyone removing the statue from the site. She also said she has talked to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation about whether it was stolen. She said she hopes the carving someday will stand at the Nancy Ward gravesite. E-mail Ron Clayton at jwalton@timesfreepress.com _Top of page_ (http://www.timesfreepress.com/QuickHeadlines.asp?sec=l&URL=http://epaper.wehco.com/WebChannel/ShowStory.asp?Path=ChatTFPress/2006/04/08&ID=Ar 00801#pagetop)