He was already a cowboy, on this side of the Atlantic, when he left, at the age of forty, for the United States. By his skills as a cattle herder’s son and later selling his land to an American railroad, he had made his fortune. The story of Jeanton Rey, born in 1851 in the small village of Libournais, in Gironde, does not end there.
“This little man from Izon, who raised cattle, wanted to present the statue of Liberty with his riches to his native village, when he returned to end his days there, at the age of 73,” said Laurent de Launay. Together with his deputy, the mayor searched the city archives and American sources to trace the country’s son.
Fondue for making ammunition
Together, they accepted the challenge to inaugurate, on July 14, 2026, a new Statue of Liberty for the village because the first Statue of Liberty, “inaugurated in 1926, was destroyed during the Occupation by the SS”, who melted it down to make ammunition.
It is the Cyclopes foundry in Mérignac that will be responsible for recreating it. “It was a challenge because the original mold was not found and the statue is not a Bartholdi replica,” explained the Mayor. The table of freedom is against his heart and not at his hip and he carries a globe in his right hand instead of a fire.
Elected officials are calling on individuals and businesses to support the project costing 100,000 euros, half of which will be financed by the city government. The online prize pool has raised 9,157 euros.
For the mayor, tied to “this symbol of freedom,” “despite all the wrongs that are happening today, it is also important to remember that the United States is a nation friendly to France and that in the idea of freedom, we have a very valuable shared history that we must never forget.”
