Carroll County Confederate Monument

Introduction

Carroll County Confederate Monument was built as the culmination of a ten-year project to honor Confederate veterans and defend the "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy, an impulse that was strong throughout the South following the era of Reconstruction. Some of the financial dealings of the fundraising for the monument are difficult to identify, but based on ledgers and newspaper accounts, the Annie Weaver Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) raised $800 for the statue and the Veterans of the McDaniel Curtis Camp of United Confederate Veterans raised the $2,000 for the obelisk topped with a soldier. The UDC also raised funds by selling the Carroll County, Georgia Souvenir-Historical Edition. Newspaper editorial accounts urged those who had pledged fund to fulfill the obligations so that the fundraising could be completed and “pay for the monument in full on the day of unveiling.” The effort to raise the statue was a countywide affair. The book is still available from the Carroll County Historical Society. The base and pedestal of the monument was created by McNeil Marble Company of Marietta. It is a standard square shaft with a base where the dedication, date and other information was placed rising to the figure of a soldier is noted in sources as Georgia marble. The statue is reported to be a hand carved in Italy, possibly through Carrollton Marble Works which advertised in April 1910 to be “in direct touch with Sculpture Marble Co. of Carrara, Italy, the finest statuary people in the world.” The soldier on top of the statue lends to a local controversy which has waxed and waned over the decades. The soldier appears to be dressed more as a veteran of the Spanish-American War with button pockets and a collar rather than a Confederate soldier whose uniform had no external jacket pockets despite holding an 1860s period percussion rifle, probably an Enfield. Four cannonballs adorned the statue pedestal, and all were lost at an unknown point after a 1915 postcard shows two of the balls. The corners of the monument bore the scars where the balls were placed probably for decades before they were replaced in 2013. The monument originally rested on the site of the original county courthouse in the center of Adamson Square. Reported dates vary as to its erection from 19 January 1910 (Robert E. Lee’s Birthday) to May 1910 with the latter dates supported by better documentary evidence. It was to be dedicated on Confederate Memorial Day, 26 April 1910 and that date is etched in the stone of the base. However, because of construction delays it was unveiled on 30 April as described in a handwritten note shows in the scrapbook of the Annie Weaver Chapter under a 17 April 1910 article from the Atlanta Constitution but not dedicated for a month. The monument was officially dedicated on 28 May 1910 and nearly two thousand filled the courthouse and square including 200 Confederate veterans marching in behind the Carrollton Band. The flag of the 44th Georgia was hung over the assembly. For the 100th anniversary, a reproduction of the Confederate Battleflag used by the “Georgia Brigade” of the 40th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd and 52nd Georgia Infantry Regiments. These regiments included men of Carroll County.Miss Pauline Harris, president of the Annie Wheeler UDC delivered some crosses for veterans’ graves decorating the graves after services on Adamson Square. There was a large program including music including “The Sunny South” and a who’s who of local politicians including family names still local today such as Rev. J.M.D. Stallings, Rev. W.E. Dozier, and Rev Jessie M. Dodd who offered prayers and Col. Sid Holderness who introduced the orator Hewlette A. Hall of Newnan who spoke on behalf of the UDCs. Hall then introduced Capt. Tip Harrison of Atlanta who expressed the thanks of the Confederate Veterans to the UDCs. Carrollton Mayor H.W. Long and Ordinary W.J. Millican accepted the statue from Pauline Harris for the City and County. A line behind a band then marched toward the city Cemetery down Maple Street to decorate the graves before the benediction by Rev. A.W. Quillian. At least three dinners are noted at the county courthouse, Bradley’s Warehouse, and the UDC Chapter Room in the West Building. Over the years landscaping around the monument changed. A 1912 photograph shows the monument at street level, but later 1915 postcard and an undated photograph and a 1954 photograph show a green space square with a fence with bushes and then without a fence with trees to beautify the square.

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information

• July 2015 article on controversy related to the monument