By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — September 24, 2010 — No one’s sure what purpose a piece of hewn sandstone was serving in the Village of Monticello on September 5, 1923.
Likely for decades prior, it had been a step for visitors to use while getting off the stagecoach along the Newburgh-Cochecton Turnpike, until automobiles began plying what is now known as Broadway.
But in the early morning of that September day 87 years ago, the step found a new, loftier purpose: to mark the sacrifice of one of Monticello’s finest.
According to County Historian John Conway, around 3 a.m. that morning, Monticello Police Officer Edward Dollard was on patrol along Broadway when he caught a store burglary in progress.
He walked around to the rear of what was then known as the New York Auto Sales Company – only to be shot dead via three rounds from a burglar’s gun.
The village was stunned, even more so when one of the three robbers escaped the county jail, never to be caught again. (The other two, including the shooter, got life in state prison.)
At some point after the tragedy, village officials had the former stagecoach step inscribed with a memorial to Dollard.
At least that’s what Highway Superintendent Jim Steinberg guesses, due to indentations on the front.
The heavy stone was rediscovered recently during a beautification of the village hall’s front lawn at the corner of Broadway and Pleasant St. Its inscription had been obliterated by time and weather.
But the Monticello Police Department had never forgotten Dollard’s sacrifice.
“He was the only police officer ever killed in the line of duty in Monticello,” Village Manager John Barbarite noted.
Indeed, said Police Chief Doug Solomon, the department distributes an e-mail every September 5 reminding officers of Dollard’s actions and passing.
The village, however, decided to go beyond e-mails and return Dollard’s name to its rightful place.
Thus, prior to Tuesday’s board meeting, village officials invited Dollard’s descendants to join them in front of village hall to dedicate a new memorial – made of a longer-lasting polished black granite from Sullivan County Monument Works.
“It’s a fitting tribute to a man who gave his life in service here,” observed Solomon.
Mayor Gordon Jenkins saluted the family, noting how long the Dollards have been an integral part of the community.
One of Dollard’s great-grandsons, Mike, said this “perfect tribute” affirms those ties.
“He’s a very important part of our family’s history and the history of the village,” Dollard remarked in gratitude.