Direct email inquiries
to TPF, Inc. Secretary, Irwin
Spiegelman,
or by telephone:
413-253-7934
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Lasting Monuments to Paine's Life and Accomplishments
... This plaque appears in the town
of Paine's birth, Thetford, England
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...Paine was born
on the 29th of January, 1737, in the town of Thetford, England.
...No recognition of Paine's birth
existed in Thetord until a U.S. citizen named Joseph Lewis
established the Thomas Paine Foundation with the objective of
raising funds for the erection of statues of Paine in places where
Paine had lived.
... The statue in Thetford is by Sir
Charles Wheeler. At the unveiling ceremony in 1964, Lewis had
invited prominent Freethinkers as well as local
dignitaries. Members of the British Legion opposed the placment of
the statue, arguing that having fought against the British he was
a traitor. Thus, the statue was erected outside the parish church.
The statue contains quotation from Paine's The Age of Reason.
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...A quote from Paine's Rights
of Man, Thetford, England: "My country is the world, my
religion is to do good."
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...This plaque in
Thetford, England, was put into place in 1943. The inscription
reads: "Journalist, Patriot and Champion of the Common Man.
...From his talented pen came the voice of democratic aspiration
of the American republic....Buried in New York, this simple son of
England lives on through the ideas and principles of the
democratic world for which we fight today. In tribute to his
memory and to the everlasting love of freedom embodied in his
works, this plaque is gratefully dedicated. Through the voluntary
contribution of soldiers of an American air force group. "
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In 1744 Thomas Paine began his schooling in this building in
Thetford, England
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This is the Paine family house in Thetford, England. Paine's
mother was living her when he visited her upon his return to
England in 1787.
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In 1759, this house in Sandwich, Kent, England, was the home and
shop of Thomas Paine. Today, cottage contains a comprehensive
collection of Revolutionary War literature including all of the
works published by Paine.
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In February of 1768, Paine obtained a position as an excise
officer in Lewes, East Sussex. He lived above the
fifteenth-century Bull House, the tobacco shop of Samuel Ollive
and Esther Ollive.
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In December 1762, he became an excise officer in Grantham,
Lincolnshire. Then, in August 1764, he was transferred to Alford,
at a salary of £50 per annum.
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This bas relief on glass is in the Washington Crossing Park
Visitors Center, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. It was
sculpted by Joseph Dougherty and dedicated in 1997.
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The Thomas Paine House, Corner of Church St. and Farnsworth
Avenue, Bordentown, New Jersey.
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This statue of Paine was sculpted by Lawrence Holofcener and
dedicated on 7 June, 1997 by the Bordentown Historical Society. It
sits on a grass median in a quiet residential section of town. The
statue contains the following written message: "Father of
the American Revolution " Paine's words and deeds put the
concepts of independence, equality, democracy, abolition of
slavery, representative government and a constitution with a bill
of rights, on the American agenda.
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This Statue of Thomas Paine by Georg Lober is
located in Burnham Park, Morristown, New Jersey. The statue shows
Paine in 1776, using a drum as a table during the withdrawal of
the army across New Jersey, while composing the first of the
Crisis Papers. The statue was dedicated on 4 July, 1950, the 174th
Anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence. It was
presented to the people of Morristown by the Thomas Paine Memorial
Committee, Joseph Lewis, Secretary. There are six quotes on the
statue, including one by John Adams ("History is to ascribe
the American Revolution to Thonas Paine"), one by General
Nathaniel Greene ("Free America without her Thomas Paine is
unthinkable), and one by the Marquis de Lafayette.
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Paine arrived in Paris in 1787 to secure endorsement of his
bridge design by the French scientific community. This statue was
erected on the 29th of January, 1948 in Parc Montsouris, at the
Cite Universitaire, Paris (14th Arrondisement)across from the U.S.
Building. The gold-plated statue was presented as a gift from
liberty-loving Americans to the people of France, with the fervent
wish that the principles of liberty which Paine contributed to in
both countries would forever endure. A gift of Joseph Lewis
(author of Thomas Paine, Author of the Declaration of
Independence, The statue was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum,
arriving in France just before the Second World War erupted.
During the war, the statue was hidden from the Germans.
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This is a photograph of the marker located at the Southeast
corner of S. 3rd St. and Thomas Paine Place (Chancellor St.), in
Philadelphia is the location where printer Robert Bell produced
the first copies of Paine's Common Sense in 1776.
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On the 29th of December, 1793, Paine was arrested
and taken to Luxembourg Prison. The jail was formerly a palace and
unlike any other detainment center in the world. He was treated to
a large room with two windows and was locked inside only at night.
His meals were catered from outside, and servants were permitted,
though Paine did not take advantage of that particular luxury.
While in prison, he continued to work on The Age of Reason.
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In the summer of 1808, Paine came to live with the Cornelius
Ryder family on Herring (now Bleecker) Street in the village of
Greenwich, which was at the time a mile and a half north of New
York City.
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The Thomas Paine Memorial Museum, New Rochelle, New York. The
museum houses a collection of original artifacts and works of
Paine. The Paine monument stands outside the building.
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Monument to Paine, located outside the
Thomas Paine Memorial Museum, New Rochelle, New York. This
monument, facing North Avenue and near Paine Avenue, is the oldest
known memorial to him. It is at the edge of what was his farm of
about 277 acres given to him by a grateful New York state
legislature for his eminent services during the revolutionary war
for independence. The Monument was erected in 1839 through public
subscription raised by Gilbert Vale, publisher of The Beacon,
a liberal New York City magazine. Vale wrote the first accurate
biography of Paine. The well-known sculptor-architect, John
Frazee, designed and carved the shaft of Tuckahoe (NY) marble. The
four sides are inscribed with quotations from Paine's writings.
The bronze bust, fashioned by Wilson MacDonald, was added at the
apex in 1899. The City of New Rochelle assumed custody of Paine
Monument on October 14, 1905 amid a large celebration.
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Paine received a gift of 320 acres of land from the State of New
York in 1784 for his services during the war for independence.
There, he constructed a cottage that burned in 1793 and was
rebuilt. The Thomas Paine Cottage,
located at 20 Sicard Avenue in New Rochelle, New York, contains a
few of the artifacts still in existence that were once owned by
Thomas Paine: a simple chair and a cast iron Franklin Stove given
to Paine by Benjamin Franklin himself. Paine lived in the cottage
on his farm after his return from Europe in 1802. He had the left
section of it built to his own design. The second photograph at
right was taken in the late 19th century.
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Paine died at the age of 72, at 59 Grove Street in Greenwich
Village, New York City on the morning of June 8, 1809. Although
the original building is no longer there, the present building
(housing "Marie's Crisis Cafe," has this bronze plague
on the front, pleaced there on 9 June, 1923 by the Greenwich
Village Historical Society.
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This plaque is located at the site of his original burial in New
Rochelle, New York. This gravestone remnant is all that is left of
the marker placed at Paine's grave in 1809. The remnant is now in
the Paine Museum, New Rochelle NY. It has the inscription Paine
wrote in his Will, "Author of Common Sense," but his age
is incorrect. He was 72 years and five months old.
In 1819, William Cobbett clandestinely removed Paine's remains
intending to provide an exalted burial place in England and
intending also to use the re-burial to inspire a republican
movement in England. For reasons historians have not been able to
determine, the remains were never re-interred and were lost.
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A marker for the Thomas Paine Park in New York, New York
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