View complete article and references at Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina at: https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/11
Description: A bronze statue of a Confederate soldier stands erect atop a marble pedestal. He is clad in a Confederate uniform, complete with hat, and holds his rifle in front of him, its butt rusting on the ground. The monument stands 27 feet tall.
Inscription:
Front: TO THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS OF CHATHAM COUNTY / OUR CONFEDERATE HEROES
Side: THIS MONUMENT IS THE GIFT OF THOSE WHO / RESERVE THE MEMORY OF THE CONFEDERATE / SOLDIER. ERECTED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE WINNIE / DAVIS CHAPTER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE / CONFEDERACY. MRS. H.A. LONDON / PRESIDENT / AUG. 23 1907.
Rear: CHATHAM FURNISHED 1900 / SOLDIERS TO THE CONFEDERACY / ABOUT 14-50 ENLISTED IN THE FOLL- / OWING COMPANIES ORGANIZED IN THIS / COUNTY / CO. I-32 REGIMENT / E 26 / G 26 / D 35 / E 44 / G 48 / D 61 / E 63 / G 63 / H 70 D 49 / ABOUT 450 SONS OF THE CHATHAM ENLISTED IN COMPANIES / ORGANIZED IN OTHER COUNTIES.
Dedication date: 8/23/1907
Creator: C. J Harlin, Durham (N.C.) Marble Works, Supplier
Materials & Techniques: Mount Airy Granite
Sponsor: Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
Unveiling & Dedication: North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Walter Clark was the orator and was introduced by Mr. Henry London. The statue was presented by Mrs. H. A. London and received by Lieutenant O. A. Hanner. Colonel John R. Lane served as Chief Marshall for the occasion.
Post dedication use: Children make a game of tossing bottle caps from the balcony of the courthouse and seeing if they can get them to stay on the soldier's hat.
Controversies: In the early morning hours of November 20, 2019 this monument was removed from the Chatham County Courthouse grounds. The statue was one of several across North Carolina and the south that have come down in the aftermath of a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, during which a counter-protestor, Heather Heyer, was killed by a white supremacist. Beginning in March 2019, protesters against and for removal of this statue began gathering in Pittsboro almost every Saturday. Over time the protests began to grow larger and more violent. As concerns for public safety grew and costs for protecting the statue and policing the protests mounted (upwards of $140,000), county officials voted to remove the monument. A lawsuit was then brought by the Winnie Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) which contended that the monument was public property and removing it violated the 2015 North Carolina Heritage Protection Act. Chatham county’s response was that a 1907 license permitting the UDC to erect the statue at the courthouse stated that the monument would “remain in the care and keeping” of the group. As such, the county argued that it could lawfully terminate the license and declare the monument a public trespass. On November 13, 2019 North Carolina Superior Court Judge Susan Bray denied the United Daughters’ motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the county from removing the monument. Judge Bray ruled that the organization failed to show that it was likely to win the case. Despite the statue removal, further litigation was expected.
Location: As of December 2019, the statue was held in storage in Greensboro, NC. It was to remain there until the Winnie Davis Chapter, UDC find a place to display it.
City: Pittsboro
County: Chatham
Subjects: Civil War
11 July 2014 | Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina