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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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Source:  Leonidas Jones Memorial, Buffalo Cemetery, Sanford. Photo courtesy of Rusty Long

  • Monument Name

    Leonidas Jones Memorial, Buffalo Cemetery, Sanford

  • Type

    Grave

  • Subjects

    Industry

    Local History

  • Creator

    Wallace Durham, Charlotte, Sculptor

  • City

    Sanford

  • County

    Lee

  • Description

    The gray granite monument was erected in honor of Colonel Leonidas C. Jones, the former superintendent of the Carolina Central Railroad Company. It stands about 18 ft. high, built in three sections on a granite base with polished sides. The crown of the shaft’s cap is a triangular cone shape.

    Images: Far-off view | Right side | Rear side | Left side

  • Inscription

    Front: LEONIDAS CAMPBELL JONES

    Right: BORN IN RICHMOND, VA. / DIED IN WILMINGTON, N.C. / 1830 – 1889

    Left Side: TRUE TO HIS GOD, HIS / FELLOW MAN, AND to HIM / SELF

    Rear: A TRIBUTE FROM THE / OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES / OF THE CAROLINA CENTRAL / RAILROAD TO THEIR LATE SU / PERINTENDENT.

  • Custodian

    Buffalo Presbyterian Church

  • Dedication Date

    September 1890

  • Decade

    1890s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    35.460420 , -79.193210 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      "The Monument to Col. Jones," The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), September 10, 1890

      “Buffalo Cemetery,” Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com, (accessed November 6, 2015) Link

      “Leonidas Campbell Jones Diaries, 1864-1889,” The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed September 30, 2015) Link

      “Monument To Col. L.C. Jones,” The Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), May 11, 1890, 1

      “The Monument To Col. Jones.,” Jonesboro Leader (Jonesboro, NC), September 10, 1890, 8

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Iredell County Granite

  • Sponsors

    Carolina Central Railroad Company officers and employees

  • Monument Cost

    $500

  • Subject Notes

    Leonidas Campbell Jones of Jonesboro was superintendent of the Western Railroad in Fayetteville and later superintendent of the North Carolina Central Railroad headquartered in Wilmington. The Southern Historical Collection at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library (UNC-Chapel Hill) holds diaries of Jones which document his travels throughout North Carolina in the period just after the Civil War and other matters relating to railroad business.

  • Location

    The memorial is located in the center of older section of the Buffalo Presbyterian Church Cemetery, at 1333 Carthage St., Sanford, NC.

  • Landscape

    The grave site is surrounded on all sides by tombstones.

  • Death Space

    Yes

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