History of DeKalb County Alabama -  Unveiling of Confederate Monument

With much pomp and ceremony, including five speeches, dinner for veterans, and a parade march from Hawkins’ Springs, (near the site of the old high school building) with N.S. Davenport of Valley Head serving as master of ceremonies, Reverend I.K. Waller opened the services with prayer and the Honorable W.W. Haralson gave the welcome address, to which C.G. Ward, of Lydia responded. Then Judge J.E. Blackwood of Gadsden delivered the principal speech of the day.

At noon the Daughters of the Confederacy, assisted by other ladies of the town, spread a bountiful lunch for the old veterans and their wives. About two o’clock, with G.M.P. Lowery, the commander of Camp Estes, acting as marshal for the day, the line of march to the monument was formed. It consisted of the commander and his aides, other veterans, Woodmen of the World, and a platoon of children carrying Confederate flags and singing "Bonnie Blue Flag," and "Dixie." The march ended at the monument, located on First Street between the courthouse and the fountain and watering trough built by Col. Godfrey.

Mrs. Chappel Cory, of Birmingham, addressed the crowd before the monument was unveiled by ten small boys dressed in Confederate gray and ten little girls dressed as ladies of the Old South. Then the final speech was made by E.M. Baker, who spoke from a platform, which had been constructed at the courthouse.

Erected through the efforts of the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, with the assistance of other interested citizens, the Confederate monument was the first public monument of any kind in DeKalb County. The tall monument with the Confederate soldier on top, was inscribed on all four sides with tribute to those who had fought for the Confederacy half a century before.

The day of the monument’s unveiling was an eventful and memorable one marked by the oratorical splendor and colorful pageantry of that period. This was a day and a monument honoring a defeated army whose valor and glory remained unscathed forever in the hearts of those who had supported their cause. Late in the day the aging veterans and other tired participants of the grand events dispersed by means of horseback, wagon or carriage. But a new era had already begun and the horse was soon to be replaced as the chief means of transportation in DeKalb County. The familiar old water trough in front of this monument was no longer needed. The monument itself became a traffic hazard and fell victim to the modern craze for speed and convenience. With its base bearing scars of numerous attacks by motor vehicles, the monument was moved from its location of a quarter of a century. The new site for the proud Confederate monument was the northwest corner of the City Park, which when created by New England promoters during the boom, had been given its original name – Union Park.

Statue of a Confederate Soldier in Union Park.