Fred Torrey

Sculptor Fred Martin Torrey, born in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 29, 1884, specialized in depictions of Abraham Lincoln. Educated in the Fairmont schools, Torrey left West Virginia in 1909 to enroll at the Art Institute of Chicago. He studied there with the renowned sculptor Lorado Taft (1880-1936).

Torrey met his wife, Mabel Landrum Torrey (1886-1974), also a sculptor, at the Institute. They were married in September 7, 1917 at Sterling, Logan, Colorado, and had one child, Elizabeth.

Fred Torrey’s 1933 statue, ‘‘Lincoln Walks at Midnight,’’ was displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair as a model. In 1974, a nine-and-one-half foot bronze casting of the statue was erected near the West Virginia state capitol.

Torrey sculpted other historic figures as well, including Stephen Douglas, George Washington, and George Washington Carver. One of his last works was a 1965 bust of John F. Kennedy. Torrey died in Ames, Iowa, July 8, 1967.