Reuel Colt Gridley Monument

The Reuel Colt Gridley Monument is located in the 75-acre Stockton Rural Cemetery near its southeast corner. The memorial was erected by Rawlins Post of the Grand Army of the Republic and the citizens of Stockton in honor of Gridley, who rendered services to Union soldiers during the War of the Rebellion. Gridley collected $275,000 for the Sanitary Commission by selling and reselling a sack of flour, starting near his home in Nevada and then traveling across the country. Gridley moved to the Stockton area in 1866, where he died in 1870. The monument, depicting Gridley and a sack of flour, was erected in 1887. Gridley's story was told by his school chum from Missouri, Mark Twain, in a chapter in his 1873 book, Roughing It.

Reuel Colt Gridley (1829-1870) was born in Hannibal, Missouri to Amos Gridley and Sarah Thompson Gridley. In school, he was friends with Samuel Clemens, later to become famous as the author Mark Twain. Gridley served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican American War (1846-1848). He then married Susan Snyder in Louisiana. The couple moved to the West Coast via San Francisco, and eventually settled in Austin, Nevada, where Gridley built a store made of stone.

Gridley lost a bet when he ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic candidate for mayor of Austin against Republican candidate Dr. Herrick. Gridley was required to carry a 50-pound sack of flour from Lower Austin to his home in Upper Austin. As Gridley walked the mile or so, with the flour sack on his shoulder, locals walked with him, some playing music and singing the song "John Brown's Body." When Gridley arrived home, he announced that he didn't need the flour, and asked what he should do with it. Someone suggested that Gridley auction off the flour to benefit the U.S. Sanitary Commission, an organization that cared for wounded Union soldiers.

Upon winning the first auction for the sack of flour, the winner, a local mill owner, paid the $250 bid and gave the flour back to Gridley to be auctioned once again. This was repeated over and over in Austin until Gridley had taken in more than $8,000. Gridley was then invited to repeat the auction at Nevada City, Nevada, where Gridley's old friend from Hannibal, Missouri, Mark Twain, was a newspaper editor. Other towns followed suit, and after auctioning the sack of flour in cities across the country for several months, Gridley earned a total of $275,000 for the Sanitary Commission. Upon returning to Austin, Gridley had the flour made into small cakes, which he then sold.

Gridley was in poor health in 1866 when he relocated to the Stockton area; he may have moved here to be near a sister. He settled in Paradise City, just south of the town, and became the town's postmaster. Gridley continued working as a merchant; his store, R. C. Gridley & Co., was moved in Modesto. In November 1870, Gridley passed away at age 41 after being bedridden for several months by neuralgia of the heart; he was buried in Stockton Rural Cemetery.

Rawlins Post, the local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans' group for Union soldiers, assisted by the citizens of Stockton, sponsored the creation of a twenty-foot-tall monument to Gridley that was placed by his unmarked grave in September 1887. Some of the $1,175 in funds was raised by selling a pamphlet about Gridley for twenty-five cents. The dedication ceremony included a parade to the gravesite and speeches. The marble statue atop the monument depicts Gridley standing with his hand resting on a sack of flour; it was carved in Italy. Below the statue, near the top of the granite pedestal base, was a carved sheaf of wheat. An inscription tells the tale of Gridley, the "soldier's friend," and the famous sack of flour. Gridley's first name appears to be misspelled on the monument as "Ruel."

Gridley's widow, Susan, lived until 1910, and was buried next to the shopkeeper; the family still possessed the sack from the famous auctions. Two of the Gridley daughters, Clara and Mary ("Mollie"), died in the 1870s to 1880s. Amos lived until 1936, and his sister, Josephine Gridley Wood, passed away in 1941. In 1965, the Reuel Colt Gridley Monument became a California Historical Landmark. Gridley's store in Austin still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Anonymous. "Death of a Noted Man." Marysville Daily Appeal (Marysville) November 29th, 1870. 1-1.

Anonymous. "Ruel C. Gridley: The Biography of a Philanthropist." Mariposa Gazette (Mariposa) March 19th, 1881. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Famous Gridley Sack of Flour." Marysville Daily Appeal (Marysville) April 3rd, 1910. 7-7.

California Office of Historic Preservation. Reuel Colt Gridley Monument, Historical Landmarks. January 1st, 2024. Accessed June 19th, 2024. https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/801.

Cook, Tim. Memorial for Reuel Colt Gridley (1829-1870), Find a Grave. June 21st, 2006. Accessed June 20th, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14671409/reuel-colt-gridley.

Jane. Memorial for Susan Snider Gridley (1830-1910), Find a Grave. April 4th, 2007. Accessed June 20th, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18769004/susan_gridley.

Maddux, J. H. "Notice to Creditors. Estate of R. C. Gridley, Deceased." Stanislaus County Weekly News (Modesto) March 31st, 1871. 4-4.

Mazza, Dante. #801 Reuel Colt Gridley Monument, American Landmarks. January 26th, 2023. Accessed June 19th, 2024. https://www.americanlandmarks.org/post/2019/08/24/801-reuel-colt-gridley-monument.

Rubio, J'aime. Reuel Gridley and His Sack of Flour, Remembering Stockton History. November 13th, 2015. Accessed June 19th, 2024. https://rememberingstocktonhistory.blogspot.com/2015/11/reuel-gridley-and-his-sack-of-flour.html.

Twain, Mark. Roughing It. Hartford, CT. American Publishing Company, 1873.