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Loring obelisk in St. Augustine

Loring was nearly as restless in death as he had been in life. He was cremated and buried at Grace Episcopal Church in New York City on January 2, 1887. On March 18, Loring was reburied in St. Augustine. Ten thousand people attended his funeral at Woodland Cemetery, his old friend Bishop Quintard officiating. Loring’s remains were borne from the gun-carriage by three U.S. and three ex-Confederate soldiers, and a salute was fired at the grave by a battery of United States Artillery. In 1920, Loring made his final journey as his ashes were moved to downtown St. Augustine. A marble obelisk marks his final resting place.

1920 saw the establishment of two memorials to William Loring: the obelisk pictured above, and a large display case located in the Saint Augustine Memorial Room of the Museum at the University of Florida. The exhibit included Loring’s uniform, medals, and favorite sword, as well as furniture and tapestries he had purchased in Egypt. (Many of these items can be found in The W. W. Loring Virtual Museum.) The display featured a wax likeness of Old Blizzards. Like the obelisk, the exhibit was due in large part to the efforts of Loring’s favorite niece, Mrs. William Loring Nunez Spencer. In her will, she provided funds for the display, and set up a scholarship at the University of Florida in William Loring’s name. (The scholarship only recently ran out of funds, during the fall of 1997.) The exhibit was taken down after a number of years (due in part to the deterioration of some of the items), and its contents are now under the care of the Museum of Florida History.

The Loring Shrine
Click for a closer view

Reminders of Loring’s life are still found today. Old Blizzards had a number of things named after him, including:

  • A street in St. Augustine, Florida
  • A fort, Cantonment Loring, in Idaho
  • Several towns in Mississippi (Loring, Fort Loring, Fort Loring Landing)
  • Loring Heights, a section of Atlanta
  • A World War Two Liberty Ship.


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