Fairfax monument. Dedication of the monument at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, erected to the dead heroes from that county who fell in the Confederate States Army.
[The following account has been compiled from the Fairfax Herald of October 3, 1890, and other newspapers, kindly furnished by [121] Mrs. S. C. Vedder, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Memorial Association of Fairfax county.] A little more than two years ago a little notice was inserted in the Fairfax Herald, signed ‘Ex-Confederate,’ requesting the citizens of Fairfax Courthouse and vicinity to meet in the Courthouse on a day designated, for the purpose of taking steps to erect a monument to the Confederate soldiers of Fairfax who died or were killed during the late war. Captain John N. Ballard was the gentlemen who had the notice inserted and by whose indomitable energy and perseverance an association was formed, of which he was made chairman, known as the Confederate Monument Association. Work was soon begun in earnest, liberal contributions were made and quite a large sum was quickly subscribed, which was considerably augumented by fairs and festivals held in different sections of the county by the ladies, who are always prompt to engage in any good work. Fairfax Courthouse, where the monument is erected, lies between two railroads, the Washington and Ohio railroad passing five miles on the one side, and the Virginia Midland three miles on the other. Roads lead from Fairfax station on the Midland road, and Vienna on the Washington and Ohio road, connecting these stations directly with the Courthouse. Besides these many county roads centre at the Courthouse. The contract for the monument was given to Mr. J. F. Manning, of Washington, the contract price being $1,200. It was placed in position September 15th, and was dedicated October 1, 1890. It stands in the cemetery about three-quarters of a mile north of the village, upon a commanding eminence, formerly the site of the parsonage of the Episcopal Church in that neighborhood. The parsonage was destroyed by fire during the war, and afterwards the ground was purchased by the Ladies' Memorial Association. The monument is twenty-six feet high and is built of Richmond granite, and stands on a mound of earth about six feet above the surface of the ground. The monument consists of three base-blocks, a die, and a shaft. Upon the second base, in raised letters are the words, ‘Confederate Dead.’ On the front or north side is the following inscription:Below the above in large raised letters are the words:
Confederate dead.On the east side:
First Virginia Cavalry: J. Conway Chichester. Fourth Virginia: John H. Lee, Garrison Beach, William Beach, Templeton Selecman. Sixth Virginia, Company A: Edward Nevitt. Company T: James Robey, James Wrenn, Joseph Padgett, J. Berkeley Monroe. Company K. Lieut. Geo. A. Means, Edgar Haycock. Eleventh Virginia, Company I. Lieut. W. H. Kirby, Summerfield Ball, John Ball, Joseph Nelson, James Nelson, W. Moore, John Terrett, J. H. Saunders, John C. Sewall, Roger Williams, Michael Crow, Augustus C. Williams, Mosby's Cavalry: Lieut. Frank Fox, D. French Dulany, John Underwood, E. F. Davis, Fenton Beavers, Thomas Simpson, Addison Davis, John B. Davis, W. D. Gooding, John T. Arundell, Zachariah Mayhugh.On the south side:
Seventeenth Virginia Infantry, Company A. D. McC. Lee. Company F: R. M. Lee, F. Simms. Company K: Robert T. Love. Seventh Virginia Infantry, Company E: Sergeant S. Z. Troth, James T. Taylor. Forty-ninth Virginia Infantry. R. T. Halley. Nineteenth Georgia Infantry, Company K: Matthew Plaskett, Henry Gosling, George Moulden, W. K. Dawson. Major Alfred Moss, General Ewell's Staff. [123] Artillery—Stuart's Horse: Major Charles E. Ford. Kemper's Battery: Robert Posey. Danville: John Wells. Captain James W. Jackson, Washington Stuart. Navy: Commodore William T. Muse, Surgeon Randolph F. Mason.On the west side:
Eighth Virginia Infantry: Major James Thrift. Company G: Lieutenant G. W. Swink, Sergeant C. W. Reed, Sergeant J. F. Lynn, Sergeant E. F. Money, James Ballenger, A. J. Bradfield, Alfred Hooe, Asa Peck, G. L. Williams, J. W. Williams, Robert Wells, James Forsyth, W. T. Tucker, J. W. Gunnell, C. H. Hutchinson, J. L. Hutchinson, Samuel Jenkins, Frank Steele, Joshua Adams, W. H. Adams, S. E. Horseman, Elthum Pearson, Thomas Reed, J. A. Simms, A. Harrison, Arm'd Thompson. Seventeenth Virginia Infantry, Company D.: Captain John T. Burke, Sergeant John R. Steele, Samuel L. Barnes, Walter S. Ford, Lyman Koon, J. Beach, John R. Ratcliffe, Charles H. Ashford, Henry Wrenn, Joseph Freeman, H. F. Harman, Robert Petit, John Newcomb, R. C. Corbett, Simeon Mills, Edgar Thomas, Thomas A. Lynn, Michael Crowley, A. Dove, J. W. Richardson.Preparations for the unveiling had been in progress for several days. The ladies had decorated the Courthouse in the most exquisite manner, inside and out, and the speakers' stand was also handsomely decorated with flags and flowers.
