Kingstree in Williamsburg County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Williamsburg County Confederate Monument

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 3, 2009

1. Williamsburg County Confederate Monument

Sculpture: approx. H. 25 ft.; Base: approx. 50 in. x 10 ft. x 10 ft.

Inscription.
[North Face]: [Relief Flag]
CSA
1861-1865

Erected by
Williamsburg, Chapter
U.D.C. and the
citizens of the county,
May 10,1910,
To the memory
of the men of
Williamsburg, County
who fought for
the rights of the
Southern Confederacy

Comrades
[Relief Cannon]
[Relief Crossed Sabres]
Confederate Soldiers

[South Face]: To the gallant band of
volunteers from Williamsburg
whose courage zeal and
devotion fed the fires of
patriotism that kept
alive the flame during four
years of arduous conflict.
They sacrificed their all
on the altar of their
country with no hope of
reward - save honor.

Erected 1910 by Williamsburg Chapter U.D.C. and the citizens of the county.

Topics and series. This historical marker and monument is listed in these topic lists: Heroes • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the United Daughters of the Confederacy series list. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1861.

Location. 33° 39.814′ N, 79° 49.838′ W. Marker is in Kingstree, South Carolina, in Williamsburg County. Marker is on West

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Main Street (State Highway 261) near South Academy Street, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 147 West Main Street, Kingstree SC 29556, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Willamsburg County Veterans Monument (a few steps from this marker); Williamsburgh (a few steps from this marker); Old Muster Ground and Courthouse (within shouting distance of this marker); Thurgood Marshall, J.D. (within shouting distance of this marker); Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); St. Alban’s Episcopal Church (approx. ¼ mile away); Williamsburg Church (approx. 0.4 miles away); Stephen A. Swails House (approx. 0.4 miles away); Kingstree: Gathering Vital Intelligence (approx. half a mile away); Tomlinson School (approx. 0.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Kingstree.

Regarding Williamsburg County Confederate Monument. Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Control Number: IAS SC000049

Additional commentary.
1. Williamsburg County Confederate Monument
About 1905, Mrs. D.C. Scott and seven other women organized a chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy in Williamsburg County to develop a memorial to the county's

Williamsburg County Confederate Monument north face image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 3, 2009

2. Williamsburg County Confederate Monument north face

Confederate soldiers. Mrs. Scott was president and inspiration of the chapter. Within the next five years, with much help from the citizens of Williamsburg County, the women raised $2,500.

They unveiled the monument on May 10, 1910, even though the statue of the soldier had not yet arrived. Reverend E.E. Ervin offered the opening prayer before a crowd of 2,000. The popular speaker,James Armstrong, Jr., of Charleston, was orator of the day. John G. Pressley, commander of South Carolina Confederate Veterans, also spoke. Pressley was formerly lieutenant colonel of the 25th S.C. Volunteer Regiment -- a regiment in which many Williamsburg District men served. Pressley had lost an arm at Port Walthal Junction on May 7, 1864. Several V.D.C. members unveiled the monument and presented it to Mayor L.W. Gilland, who accepted it for Kingstree.

The Southern Marble and Granite Company of Spartanburg made the thirty-two-foot granite monument. It was originally placed in the middle of the prominent intersection of Main and Academy Streets in Kingstree, facing eastward. Charles W. Wolfe, a Williamsburg County native who was the editor of the Williamsburg County Record and founder of the Georgetown Outlook, wrote the inscriptions.

The six-foot, eight-inch statue was carved in Italy from Italian marble. The figure is that of a Federal soldier, although how this happened

Williamsburg County Confederate Monument south face image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 3, 2009

3. Williamsburg County Confederate Monument south face

is unknown. The statue of a Confederate soldier, however, stands on a war monument in York, Maine. Some speculate that the two statues were somehow switched -- an unlikely scenario because the two monuments were sculpted by different companies, in different countries, and were erected four years apart. The Kingstree statue did not arrive until thirty days after the unveiling ceremony. The residents of Kingstree recognized the Federal uniform immediately, and legend has it that several Confederate veterans went on a drinking and shooting spree in protest. Nevertheless, the statue was placed on top of the monument and remains there still, readily recognizable as being distinctly different from other statues atop the state's Confederate monuments. Neither the uniform nor the soldier's accouterments are typically Confederate, and the pose -- a soldier with cap in hand -- is unique, at least in terms of the state's other monuments. The mystery of this soldier's rightful place and the whereabouts of Kingstree's soldier remains unsolved.

In 1958, the S.C. Highway Department, as a part of the upgrading of the public highway system, required the City of Kingstree to move the monument. Many citizens of Kingstree objected, and a public debate that several other South Carolina towns found familiar began. The issue divided the town. The V.D.C. opposed any relocation. The town council,

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 3, 2009

4. Williamsburg County Confederate Monument

chamber of commerce, county delegation, and several civic clubs recommended moving the monument to the courthouse lawn. Concerned that the monument would be boxed and forgotten, forty-two citizens on September 9, 1958, obtained an injunction to prevent the monument from being disassembled and stored. About a week later, when the town council said the Williamsburg County Courthouse lawn would be a suitable new site for the monument, Judge J. Woodrow Lewis lifted the injunction. By its statement, he said, the city had shown it intended to re-erect the monument. The monument was moved to its present location in October 1958, this time facing north. (Source: A Guide to Confederate Monuments in South Carolina: "Passing the Silent Cup" by Robert S. Seigler (1997), pgs 386-388.)

— Submitted February 3, 2010, by Brian Scott of Anderson, South Carolina.

Photographed By Mike Stroud, November 3, 2009

5. Williamsburg County Confederate Monument

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on November 16, 2009, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 2,392 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 16, 2009, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.