In May 1914, the Joseph J. Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy brought to a successful close their diligent effort to erect a monument in Louisburg memorializing the soldiers from Franklin County who fought for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Although their work no doubt reflected a sincere desire to honor the sacrifices made by their fathers, husbands, or other loved ones, it epitomized what has come to be known by historians as the “Lost Cause” movement.

David W. Blight, a professor of history at Yale University and author of Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory (Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2001) has described the phenomenon:

Throughout the spread of the Lost Cause, at least three elements attained overriding significance: the movement’s effort to write and control the history of the war and its aftermath; its use of white supremacy as both means and ends; and the place of women in its development. From the earliest days of memorial activity, the diehards were determined to collect and write a Confederate version of the history of the war. Frequently disclaiming partisanship, and eager to establish what they so frequently called the “truth of history,” diehard Lost Cause advocates, many of them high-ranking officers and political leaders of the Confederacy, forged one of the most highly orchestrated grassroots partisan histories ever conceived.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy, which was established in 1894, participated in this movement by sponsoring the erection of many Confederate monuments throughout the South. In North Carolina, many of these were erected between 1900 and 1920. This trend coincided with the takeover of state government by the Democratic Party between 1898 and 1900 and the disfranchisement of African Americans and some illiterate whites.

The members of the local UDC chapter began their effort to erect a monument in Louisburg prior to August 1911, when the Franklin County Commissioners voted to contribute $1,000. On April 11, 1913, The Franklin Times reported that A. S. Blount of the Suffolk Marble Works had been in town to make preparations for the monument’s foundation, which was to be built by a local contractor, M. F. Houck.

The cornerstone of the monument was laid during an elaborate ceremony on Tuesday, June 10, 1913. Attorney General Thomas Walter Bickett served as the master of ceremonies, and representatives of the Masons participated in the event. After a procession from the local Masonic hall to the site of the monument in the middle of Main Street and adjacent to Louisburg Female College, a box of artifacts was placed inside the cornerstone. These included a record of the proceedings of the Joseph J. Davis Chapter of the UDC, whose membership had grown to fifty-two members; a Confederate flag; a copy of the songs sung during the ceremony; an issue of The Franklin Times; Mrs. James Ellis Malone’s original poem composed for the event; and a brief history of the UDC chapter.

The ceremony continued in the nearby graded school auditorium. George M. Duke, a Confederate veteran and highly respected Baptist minister, gave the main address. According to The Franklin Times, Duke “disputed the fact that the war was caused by the negro, as so many are wont to believe,” but was rather a question of “States rights.” Pausing momentarily in his effusive praise of the UDC, Duke begged its members not to “stoop to lend encouragement to the suffragette movement as is now playing a big part in the nations.” Praising the speaker, Attorney General Bickett declared that “no cause that could produce such a man as that can ever be termed a lost cause.” Bickett reported that the UDC members had raised $2,083.39 for the monument and that an additional $1,500 was needed. He noted that committees in each township of the county had been appointed to raise the balance.

The work came to fruition on Wednesday, May 13, 1914, when some 5,000 people came to Louisburg to witness the unveiling of the completed monument. The festivities included a parade with floats depicting aspects of the Civil War. The local newspaper publisher felt that the float representing the return of soldiers following the war was “masterful.” On it, Mrs. W. H. Macon “did well the role of the old black mammy.” Speeches were given by Mrs. J. P. Winston, president of the local UDC chapter, and by Mrs. Marshall Williams, the head of the state organization. Mrs. Williams presented the monument to Thomas S. Collie, chairman of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.

Governor Locke Craig delivered the principal address. He asked the crowd if southern heroism and ideals were actually lost and answered his own question in the negative: “Southern ideals were driven like an exile dynasty from place and power and it looked like they were gone forever. But they have come back.” He proudly noted that President Woodrow Wilson was a southerner and that Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels was a Tar Heel. Furnifold Simmons of North Carolina, Craig explained, was chairman of a powerful committee of the United States Senate. Craig knew them well. He, Simmons, Daniels, and Charles B. Aycock had played leadership roles in the white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900 that had ushered the Jim Crow era into North Carolina.

Clearly, the monument Craig came to celebrate had a complicated meaning to people a century ago. To some, it memorialized men who had given their lives for the Confederate cause. Others, like Governor Craig, used it as a clear expression of white supremacy. Because African Americans in Franklin County were disfranchised and virtually voiceless, we can only guess how it made them feel.

Published in The Franklin Times on December 7, 2017.

Maury York is director of the Tar River Center for History and Culture at Louisburg College.