Catawba County Confederate Soldiers Monument, Newton
The monument depicts a Confederate soldier at parade rest. The statue rests atop a two-part tapered column. The column beneath the soldier depicts a bas-relief of an unfurled Confederate flag which rests atop a bas-relief of two crossed rifles. Beneath the column, a smaller plinth is engraved on four sides. The entire column structure rests atop a three-tier base. A cannon sits on the left side between the monument and the sidewalk.
Images:
Front view of the memorial |
Angle view of the memorial |
Cannon |
Cannon muzzle
Front, top of column: CSA
Front, face: TO THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS / OF / CATAWBA COUNTY / 1861 – 65
Front, base: CONFEDERATE HEROES
Right, face: NO BRAVER BLOOD / FOR BRIGHTER LAND, / NOR BRIGHTER LAND / HAD A CAUSE SO GRAND.
Left, face: FULL COMPANIES SENT OUT / CO. A. 12 REG. / CO. F. 23 REG. / CO. G. 28 REG. / CO. E. 32 REG. / CO. E. 57 REG. / CO. F. 32 REG. / CO. F. 38 REG. / CO. K. 46 REG. / CO. I. 49 REG. / CO. E. 72 REG. / AND MEMBERS OF OTHER / COMPANIES AND REGIMENTS
Rear, face: ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE / OF / CATAWBA COUNTY / AUG. 15, 1907
Catawba County Museum of History
August 15, 1907
35.663110 , -81.221130
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"Court at Newton," The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina), Thu, Jul 11, 1907, p. 2, (accessed December 7, 2016)
Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments, An Illustrated History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013), 118-119, 122-123, 149, 159, 222
Hardy, Michael C. Remembering North Carolina’s Confederates, (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006)
Hartshorn, Derick S. “A Proposed Memorial to Catawba County Men Who Died in the Service of Their Country 1861-1865,” Catawba County Military Page, (accessed January 31, 2013) Link
Hartshorn, Derick S. “Old Soldiers Reunion 2002,” Catawba County Military Page, ncgenweb.com, (accessed January 31, 2013) Link
North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Department of Cultural Resources. "Newton Downtown Historic District," National Register of Historic Places, (accessed August 21, 2015) Link
Towns, W. Stuart. Enduring Legacy: Rhetoric and Ritual of the Lost Cause, (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2012)
United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Tenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division, Held at Durham, N.C., October 10th, 11th and 12th 1906, (Newton, NC: Enterprise Job Print., 1907), 96, (accessed August 30, 2012) Link
“Catawba County’s Week Ahead.” The Observer News Enterprise (Newton, N.C.), May 6, 2012, (accessed January 31, 2013) Link
“Confederate Soldier’s Memorial – Newton, North Carolina,” Waymarking.com, (accessed January 31, 2013) Link
“Lee Celebration,” The Newton Enterprise (Newton, NC), January 24, 1907
“Memorial Day.” The Newton Enterprise (Newton, NC), May 16, 1907
“Reunion Day Program.,” The Newton Enterprise (Newton, NC), August 8, 1907
“The Confederate Monument,” The Newton Enterprise (Newton, NC), August 22, 1907
Yes
Barre Vermont granite
Ransom-Sherrill Chapter U.D.C.
$2,720 which includes the cost to ship the donated cannon and other expenses. $2,150 for the monument alone.
Before a crowd estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 people future Governor Locke Craig gave an oration that was described as largely a narrative of the war that “studiously avoided any flights of eloquence…” The monument was presented by Mrs. F.M. Williams and unveiled by two children Carrie Thornton and Mary Ellen Smyre. On the day of the unveiling, special rates over the railroads were obtained and excursion trains ran to make this date a memorable event in the history of the Catawba county.
It was reported that Senator Lee S. Overman had facilitated the donation of two cannons to place near the monument. A subsequent report by the Ranson-Sherrill UDC Chapter at the 11th annual state convention indicated that only one cannon had been received but the chapter hoped to purchase a second one later. There is no evidence the second cannon was ever placed.
Manufactured in Vermont.
Dedication of the cornerstone in May, 1907 was held without the cornerstone being placed. The site chosen for the monument held a large old tree. Petitions were circled in an attempt to save the tree and find a different location for the monument. The tree was eventually cut down and the monument placed at the chose site.
In 2002, the Capt. Charles F. Conner Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 840 tried to raise support for the erection of a monument naming the 600 fallen Catawba County Confederate Soldiers. The monument was to sit beside the Confederate Soldiers Monument.
The monument is located in front of the 1924 Catawba Courthouse, now the site of the Catawba County Museum of History. It sits on the left from the entrance to the building, near the street corner. The lawn of the old courthouse also hosts the memorial To the Men Massacred on General Rutherford's Forced March and the Catawba County War Memorial.
The monument stands in a grassy area in front of the courthouse, with plantings and mature trees. A cannon sits on the left side between the monument and the sidewalk.
Commemoration services for Confederate soldiers have occurred since the original dedication. On Tuesday May 8, 2012, services were held in honor of Confederate Memorial Day. The Capt. Charles F. Connor Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 840 organized the service that was planned to include a wreath-laying ceremony and a speaker.
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