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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina
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  • Monument Name

    Confederate Monument, Wilson

  • Type

    Common Soldier Statue

  • Subjects

    Civil War, 1861-1865

  • Creator

    Yves St. Laurent, Sculptor

  • City

    Wilson

  • County

    Wilson

  • Description

    This monument displays a confederate soldier standing at rest atop a narrow, square column mounted on a three-layered pedestal. It honors the 101 Confederates who died in Wilson General Hospital #2 and sits atop a mound covering the mass grave containing the remains of these soldiers. A cannon lies to the left side of the monument, located in Maplewood Cemetery.

    In 2003 two Sons of Confederate Veterans Camps erected a tablet at the base of the burial mound listing the names of men, mostly from North Carolina, who were interred there.

  • Inscription

    C.S.A. / 1861-1865 / OUR CONFEDERATE DEAD

  • Dedication Date

    May 10, 1902

  • Decade

    1900s

  • Geographic Coordinates

    35.733770 , -77.905750 View in Geobrowsemap pin

  • Supporting Sources

      "Confederate Memorial Day, circa 1890," Wilson County Public Library, (accessed January 21, 2014) Link

      "Confederate Memorial Day, circa 1950s," Wilson County Public Library, (accessed January 21, 2014) Link

      "Confederate Monument, Maplewood Cemetery," Wilson County Public Library (Wilson, NC), (accessed January 21, 2014) Link

      "Confederate Monument, Wilson, N.C.," in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, (accessed December 6, 2011) Link

      Butler, Douglas J. North Carolina Civil War Monuments, An Illustrated History, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2013), 120, 194

      Connor, R. D. W. "Memorial Day, An Interpretation: An Address by R. D. W. Connor before the John W. Dunham Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, " (Raleigh, NC: Edwards & Broughton Printing Co., 1909), (accessed May 22, 2012) Link

      Handgraaf, Brie. "Confederate Markers Spur Citizen Outcry to Wilson City Council," The Wilson Times (Wilson, NC), August 17, 2017 Link

      Hardy, Michael C. Remembering North Carolina’s Confederates, (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006)

      Rogers, Dennis. “Confederate Memorial Day in N.C.," Free Republic, (accessed January 22, 2012) Link

      Smith, Blanche Lucas. North Carolina's Confederate Monuments and Memorials, (Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1941)

      United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division. Minutes of the Fourteenth Annual Convention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division, Held at Rocky Mount N.C., October 12th, 13th, 14th 1910, [Raleigh, NC: Capital Printing Co., 1910], 100, (accessed September 3, 2012) Link

      “The Confederate Monument Unveiled,” News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), May 13, 1902

  • Public Site

    Yes

  • Materials & Techniques

    Granite

  • Sponsors

    The Wilson County Confederate Veterans and the John W. Durham Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy

  • Monument Cost

    $1,000

  • Monument Dedication and Unveiling

    Featured speaker, Henry Blount, gave praise to women of the United Daughters of the Confederacy whose “devotion and love have kept alive the deathless deeds of the Confederacy.” C.M. Cooke of Louisburg also spoke. The monument was unveiled by a young girl, Virginia Davis, and young boy, Groves Connor. The ceremony also featured 500 school age children marching around the mass burial mound which held the monument strewing flowers as the marched. The Wilson Light Infantry fired three volleys as the ceremony closed. Music was provided by the Greenville and Dunn brass bands. 5000 attended.

  • Location

    The monument is located in Maplewood Cemetery, at 400 College Street, Wilson, NC.

  • Landscape

    The monument stands atop a mass grave of Confederate soldiers at Maplewood Cemetery, surrounded by trees and graveyards.

  • Death Space

    Yes

  • Post Dedication Use

    Memorial services are still occasionally held here on Confederate Memorial day, including in 2003.

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