Confederate Statue to Remain (Yanceyville, Caswell County, NC)

Vote Along Racial Lines to Keep Confederate Statue in Yanceyville

Caswell County Commissioners Vote 5:2
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During discussion items, Commissioner Nate Hall shared a great deal of information including how Confederate statues often appeal to those who share the values it represents. "I think it's time it be removed," he said regarding the statue at Yanceyville Square.

Commissioner Bill Carter spoke up and said he had received a number of calls in support of leaving it in place.

Vice-Chairman David Owen also said most people who had talked to him were in favor of keeping the statue and not removing it the way neighboring counties have.

When the subject of "systemic racism" came up, Commissioner Hall shared a number of real life examples.

Owen said that Caswell County is 62% Caucasian with 61% electing Tony Durden, who is African American, as the county sheriff.

Commissioner Sterling Carter reminded the board that he has spent his life dedicated to history and recently looked up how the monument in Yanceyville came to be erected: he is totally opposed to removing it.

He explained that grandchildren of Confederate soldiers who died wanted a remembrance for their ancestors who really had no say whether to fight in the Civil War or not. During his research he also discovered that at least 12 soldiers from Caswell County chose to fight on the opposite side.

Commissioner Carter also pointed out that the Veterans Memorial being built now could potentially meet the same fate if people chose to single out one particular group of war veterans (some day in the future).

Chairman Rick McVey was adamant as he said he would rather remove all the statues in the square if one was singled out.

When Commissioner Hall made the motion to vote on taking the statue down, Commissioner Jeremiah Jeffries was quick to back him up and second the motion.

Theirs were the two affirmative votes to remove the statue while the other five votes were against it.

Source: The Caswell Messenger (Yanceyville, NC), July 8, 2020.

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"The Lost Cause"

A segment of the Caswell County population refuses to acknowledge that the Confederate statue on the Square in Yanceyville was erected during the Jim Crow era in the South to remind African Americans of their "status." They refuse to admit the revisionist history that ignores treason and slavery. They refuse to admit that the statue might be offensive to descendants of slaves.

"The Charleston" House (Milton, NC)

Watkins House Site. c. 1921. Built on the site of an early 1800's dwelling. Although an example of later construction, the home has the distinction of being an Aladdin Kit House ("The Charleston" model). Restored and privately owned.

Photograph courtesy Derek Allen

View from the house when it had a fence. Girls not identified. Union Tavern/Thomas Day House in background. Photograph courtesy Derek Allen. Date: October 1958

Below are pages from the 1917 Aladdin Catalogue showing "The Charleston."

Before Latest Restoration. Courtesy Angela Daniel-Upchurch

State of Emergency: Caswell County and Town of Yanceyville

PROCLAMATION DECLARING A STATE OF EMERGENCY CASWELL COUNTY & TOWN OF YANCEYVILLE,  NORTH CAROLINA

WHEREAS, current social unrest that was brought to our County and Town recently by individuals from outside the County and Town seeking to cause both political and social unrest in our communities; and

WHEREAS, as a result of the above-described disaster, I have determined  that there is an imminent threat of, or existing conditions have caused or will cause, widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property, and public safety authorities will be unable to maintain public order or afford adequate protection for lives or property; and

WHEREAS, declaring a State of Emergency and imposing the restrictions and prohibitions ordered herein is necessary to maintain order and protect public health, safety, and welfare, and to secure property.

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to the authority vested in the Chair of the Board of Commissioners of Caswell County & the Mayor of the Town of Yanceyville under Article  IA of Chapter 166A of  the North Carolina General Statutes and The Caswell County Emergency Management Ordinance:

Section 1. A State of Emergency is hereby declared within the jurisdiction of Caswell County.

Section 2.  The emergency area covered by this state of emergency shall be the entire jurisdiction of the County which includes the Town of Yanceyville;

Section 3. The following restrictions and prohibitions are imposed:

Curfew: (As described in illustration attachment)

Effective immediately from 8:00pm until 6:00am daily rescinded July 9th at 12:00pm.

Section 4. I hereby order all Caswell County law enforcement officers and employees and all other emergency management Personnel subject to our control to cooperate in the enforcement and implementation of the provisions of this Declaration, all applicable local ordinances, state and federal laws, and the Caswell County Emergency Operations Plan.

Section 5. I hereby order this declaration: (a) to be distributed to the news media and other organizations calculated  to bring its contents to the attention of the general public; (b) to be filed with Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners and the Clerk to the Yanceyville Town Council; and (c) to be distributed  to others as necessary to ensure proper implementation of this declaration.

Section 6. This declaration shall take effect on 6/26/2020 at 5:00 pm and shall remain in effect until modified or rescinded.

DECLARED this the 26th day of June, 2020) at 5:00pm.

Rick McVey
Chair, Caswell County Board of Commissioners

Attest:
Bryan Miller, County Manager

Alvin Foster
Mayor, Town of Yanceyville

Attest:
Brian Collie, Town Manager

Bedford Brown Envelope

Click to See a Larger Image

Envelope Addressed to Bedford Brown (1795-1870)

Honorable Bedford Brown
Locust Hill P.O.
Caswell County
North Carolina


Bedford Brown (1795-1870): Not one North Carolinian in a thousand, perhaps, can identify Bedford Brown, though he was one of the most widely known Southern politicians of his day. It remained for Caswell County's Dr. H. G. Jones, North Carolina Archivist, to rescue Brown from oblivion through a thorough monograph of the "state's rights unionist." Brown, a well-to-do planter, was twelve times elected to the legislature, twice to the U. S. Senate, and served in other public posts. He was a friend of the Democratic leaders of his day, including Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan.

The distinctive feature of his life, however, was his strenuous and unsuccessful efforts to preserve both states' rights and the union. Of the influential men of his time, he was one of the few who risked his political future by advising a course so repugnant to partisans in the ante-bellum crises. There was little room left for a man like Brown in those days, and his greatness lies not in what he accomplished, but in a philosophy that time may yet prove pointed to the only way out.

Those interested in an account of this neglected Tar Heel are directed to Jones, Houston G. Bedford Brown: State Rights Unionist. Carrollton, Georgia: West Georgia College, 1955.

Source: A New Geography of North Carolina, Volume IV, Bill Sharpe (1965).

1850 Milton, NC, Red Circular Date Stamp

1850 stampless folded letter from Milton, NC, to Rockingham, NC.  Red circular date stamp and 10 rate handstamp; docketing at left; short business content.

James Peterson Revolutionary War Pension Application Record

James Peterson (c.1758-1838)

County of Caswell & State of North Carolina

On __ day of July 1830 Personally appeared in the County Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions for the County of Caswell the same being a Court of Record expressly so constituted by an act of the General Assembly passed in the year 1777 and possessing all the attributes belonging to such court in & for the County aforesaid James Peterson a resident in said County aged about seventy-two years who being first duly sworn on the Holy Gospel of God doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the provision made by the Acts of Congress of the 18th March 1818 and the 1st of May 1820.

That the said James Peterson enlisted for the term of 2 years & 6 months on or about the first of March 1776 in the County of Caswell [sic, then Orange County] & State of North Carolina, the company commanded by Captain Archibald Lytle in the Regiment commanded by Colonel __ Taylor in the Line of North Carolina on Continental establishment. That he continued to serve in the said Corps until about the month of September 1778 when he was discharged from the service at Wilmington in the State of North Carolina.

Caswell County Veterans Memorial (Yanceyville, NC)

Caswell County Veterans Memorial

The following appeared in a recent issue of The Caswell Messenger. It is a list of the names to be "etched" on the Caswell County Veterans Memorial. Send comments to Fred Smith: (336) 514-1521.

World War I Killed in Action

Neal, Algernon Sidney
Simpson, Ed
Smith, Gurney Matthew
Warren George Thomas

Died Non-Battle

Brooks, Benjamin Franklin
Evans, John
Fuller, Byrd Edward
Jeffreys, Moses
Lea, John Junius
Lea, Ruffin
Pattillo, Roy Annison
Phelps, Tom Abner
Warren, William Earnest

World War II Killed in Action

Bowes, Robert Henry
Bradner, Claude
Bradsher, James Franklin
Cobb, Wesley Lindsey
Dabbs, Julius Lemuel
Dabbs, Lawrence Ralston
Farrar, Ethen Allen
Farrar, James Alfred
Fowlkes, Jr., Charlie Jennings
Garrett, Elmo Love
George, Marshall Lee
Harris, Baine
Hooper, Dewey Glenn
Jones, Cecil Owen
Jordan, Perry Robert
Lea, Jr., William Thomas
Loftis, Bryant Monroe
McMillan, John Clarence
Moore, George Herman
Pointer, James Cecil
Shotwell, William Bradsher
Swanson, James Warren
Ware, Ralph David
Warren, Ray Denny
Wilkins, Owen Mitchell
Wilson, Jr., George William
Wrenn, Joseph Earl

Vietnam War Killed in Action

Mitchell, Ralph
Richards, James Michael
Wade, Kenneth Earl
Webster, John Thomas

Died Non-Battle

Blackwell, John Willie
Snipes, Billy Lee

Korean War Killed in Action

Ford, Alvis Layton
Moore, Benny Allen
Owen, Claud

War on Terror - Afghanistan

Killed in Action

Richmond, Colby Lee

Lost at Sea

Johnston, Julius III

Prisoners of War

Brandon, Dudley Wilson
Gregory, Paul Allen
Grubbs, Joseph Elliot
Harrelson, Jr., James Basley
Payne, Ralph Leon
Whitlow, Evelyn Barbara
Yeatts, Leslie Clarence

Died Non-Battle

Gammons, Levi Drewey
Harrison, John Edwin
Holley, Earlie Clement
Matkins, John Norris
Neal, Henry Thomas
Robertson, Johnnie Wesley
Smith, Walter Lee
Stephens, Ivory Lee
Travis, John Wesley
Turner, Walter Edward

Photograph: Monument on the Square (Yanceyville, Caswell County, North Carolina)