Each time that I begin a page about the C-word that should be excluded from the community, I end up with another page. An additional page on another aspect of these monuments, the county’s history, and ways to overcome the history to become a better place to live. As with aa twelve-step program, the first step is an acknowledging that history. A person not acknowledging parts of history and agreeing those parts were wrong makes them Complicit in that history. In my opinion, Mary Medley became Complicit in the wrong and violent parts of Anson County’s history by intentionally omitting them from her record. How can I say that she intentionally omitted specific events, and just wasn’t aware of the occurrences? I don’t have a ‘smoking gun’ like correspondence or something else concrete with a full admission of her Complicity, but everything taken in totality leads me to believe and shapes my opinion that she became Complicit in the negative events involving race relations in Anson County. The opinion stated above has been greatly influenced by this one excerpt below, and it raised suspicion with her accounts in other sections of the book.

Southview Academy, established 1969, was an all-white private school. I’ll let you guess what the name references. Medley doesn’t mention a word about the numerous bombings that occurred around the county, Ada Ford Singleton was left out, widely reported protests are not discussed, boycotts are excluded, attacks on black residents omitted, attacks on school board members are nonexistent in the pages, and the multiple school board resignations aren’t covered. Completely omitted from the entire book was the Singleton v. Anson County Board of Education case that was the legal force actually starting the integration of Anson County’s schools, long after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision made school integration the ‘law of the land’ in 1954.

The frustrating part of her Complicity is the discussion on page 190 covers the parts of the county’s school system named in honor of black educators of the county. “Faison School was named in honor of J.H. Faison, a respected black educator in Wadesboro for many years.” “The former Henry Grove School of Lilesville, now the T.W. Bennett School, honors the long respected black principal, educator and civic worker.” Ada Ford Singleton, President of Anson County NAACP, led the black community of Anson County in protests, boycotts, and through litigation that started the integration of the schools. “Mrs. Singleton was listed three times in ‘Who’s Who of American Women.'” Her accomplishments within the county were not enough to warrant inclusion in the Men and Women of Note chapter of Medley’s book. Medley did acknowledge the accomplishments of some, but left out the struggles of most. This is the primary reason I started looking deeper into her account to see if other parts of county history had been omitted or ‘whitewashed’ by her Complicity. There are.

Without everyone knowing and understanding the factual events and circumstances in history, we’re doomed to repeat it. If one group of people from a community ‘know’ events in one way and others ‘know’ a different version of the same events, your perspectives are different from the start. This will lead to disagreements through a difference in perception. You have multiple groups having different perceptions of the same events, there will inherently be disagreements. One side will ‘know’ the other side is wrong, the other side ‘knows’ they’re right. The omissions or false portrayals of history will only be detrimental to future generations, and they will only continue to divide until the maximum pressure is reached. What happens then? I’m not sure if there are relief valves installed, a rupture disc protecting, or if there will be a violent explosion of a pressure vessel that similar to occur with nearby pressure vessels (or those with significant distance). There are some answers in this world I’m comfortable not knowing.

When I first realized the only logical explanation for the ‘time traveling’ soldier is a relocation with historical record inaccuracies, I called a prominent Anson County Freemason in an attempt to determine if he knew. He responded that it hadn’t been moved and I told him, “I think it has considering how time works.” I thought I’d use it on here as a nod to him. If no one else in this world reads this, I’m certain he will. Was he lying? I’m not sure. He’s an attorney and a very proficient… truth-shaper… I’ve witnessed him shape the truth into his own desired form. I can’t knock it, I’m just not good at it. I know my tells and do much better with omissions.

I’m not certain how many know about the movement of the soldier. I know some in very influential positions that undoubtedly know and have become Complicit with obvious efforts to keep that history fully concealed or at least obscured. Some in the county seem to have a firm grasp on outsiders’ perceptions. I recall one incident several years ago that I was made aware of in a Board of Commissioners meeting. The incident struck me as similar to one in another county of North Carolina that I’d read about within a few months before that meeting. When the time came for questions I raised my hand and the commissioners acknowledged me to hear the question. I asked Sheriff Landric Reid if any support had been requested to deal with what sounded like an issue that would be outside of their wheelhouse. He responded that they were dealing with it themselves, and my rebuttal called attention to an eerily similar issue in another county that had received support from law enforcement and other organizations from three other states. I asked how they were able to accommodate handling this and their normal duties. That was just one of several times I was given the public run-around in one of those meetings. I understood their intent, I had read several stories from publications around the state on the other county’s incident. Everyone in that room, especially reporters, became Complicit in the cover-up of that incident. I was not, but I knew few specifics and I felt that was not the hill I should go out on.

My intent with the work on these pages is not to throw a grenade into the room and walk away without a suggestion to move forward in overcoming. I have no doubt many will despise me for what I’m doing and some may try to harm me. Some may never speak to me again and I have no doubt there will be a backlash. Newton’s Third Law applies to more than just motion, it has its hand on just about everything I’ve seen in this world. In the end, I’ll know that I did what I could and, most of all, I did the right thing. I am not and will not be Complicit.

These pages will be a ‘living’ work since I am still researching and haven’t yet posted all I’ve found to date. To those that say I am tarnishing the legacy of a man that did so much good for others, my response is that I plan to demolish his legacy if I am correct. At best, he had a mixed legacy that would eventually have been tarnished by his words and actions in life. If my suspicions are correct, I may provide the county with a legacy that appears righteous and somewhat untarnishable, but we are all human. I will continue my investigation and provide updates.

As for the ‘unique’ monuments, these shouldn’t be in the face of everyone that walks by or into the courthouse. They should be somewhere they can be properly explained and discussed by someone knowledgeable in order to educate everyone on Anson County’s true, lengthy history. These monuments carry a lot of the county’s history with them and would be great in a museum covering this history. From its initial formation, the repeal of that formation, the re-formation, each county’s formation from Anson, the many different pieces of history occurring up to the mid-19th century, the events leading up to secession, the Civil War and those from Anson’s involvement (those that were not involved but said they were too), Sherman’s army and their march to Goldsboro from Savannah, the banking history of the county, the county during Reconstruction, the boom of the county seat, truly notable people of the county, the county’s various struggles throughout its history from race relations to insect infestations, the amazing ways Anson County has made its mark on the world, and so many other things the list becomes absurd. I can say just a couple of those would draw me to it a few times, but I’m a nerd. You have two pieces of history, unlike any other in the state (possibly country), that display perspectives difficult to understand without the visual aids. I’d enjoy a wing on the claim of our country’s first declaration of independence. An exhibit on the Regulators, their war, and the claimed first utterance of “taxation without representation.” With some of my forebears being of the Catawba tribe, coverage of the native tribes of the area to explain their tribal structures, their alliances, their struggles, and their assistance. I’ve been a resident of Moore County all of my adult life and would enjoy seeing an exhibit on the Wadesboro native that started this county on the way to what it’s become today. The county even has claim to someone that rode with Jesse James and may have been killed by Pinkerton agents, a group that became the Secret Service. I know I’ve missed quite a bit and that only highlights the great opportunity. They may have something like this with horrible marketing.

What should go in place of the current monuments? Well, I know of a veterans’ memorial hidden away for probably 20 people per week to glance at as they walk. I recall when it was unveiled in 2017 my grandmother, that had lived in Anson County her entire life and Wadesboro all of mine, asked where the park was located. I think the stone benches on either side of the walkway into the courthouse with the memorial in place of the current veterans’ monument would look nice. At least that monument’s veterans would have signed up to put their life on the line for our country, the United States of America. We could honor them by the monument being placed in a known location with actual foot traffic. Put it out to the people of the county for ideas of what they want. You may want to honor someone that has done great things. I’d wait until you read more of these pages before floating Smith’s name.

If there is any doubt in your mind on the intent of the two enduring monuments standing in the face and in the center of the core of Anson County, take the words of the those that brought these monuments into existence and see the “victories in the time of peace” they were still ‘fighting’ to attain. The following excerpt is from the Messenger and Intelligencer article first drawn from on How Time Works. Below is a quote from Rev. William C. Power who was the chaplain of the 14th Regiment. Company C of the 14th North Carolina Volunteers was the ‘Anson Guards’ that William Alexander Smith based his greatest fabrication in service under, and Power was Col. Risden T. Bennett’s chaplain throughout the war. This is a portion of Power’s address at the dedication of the soldiers’ monument on January 19, 1906. The cause they fought the war to retain as it was appears to still have been their goal long after the war ended, just a different form of combat. Their combat in peace became a war of the minds:

While Power’s misguided denunciation of “the institution of slavery, as managed by our southern people” because it “proved to be a serious hindrance to the development of internal improvement and industrial enterprises” is a step closer to the correct reason to denounce this abhorrent institution. His urging all present to “renew our loyalty to the principles that survive all the desolations of war” informs us that he may be incapable of reaching the correct conclusion.  Power also demonstrated his own misunderstanding of the true reason slavery was a horrendous mistake with this portion of his address: “Our misunderstanding of the true philosophy of African slavery was no doubt the cause, in a less or large degree, of the habits of sloth and extravagance into which many of our southern people had fallen.” This is in no doubt due to the erroneous principles he possessed and a resulting ‘principled’ belief in supremacy above another.

I truly hope we can overcome the compulsion in ourselves and others to be Complicit in a fallacious cause through acceptance of erroneous principles of past generations that have been proven immoral, incorrect, and unacceptable.

Please DO NOT tear down any of these Civil war monuments after reading this!!!!

The United Daughters of the Confederacy or the Sons of the Confederacy, depending on the monument, have insurance policies covering these monuments for exorbitant amounts. Removing these monuments in any way but a lawful one will only make them stronger.

I fully understand the times and mentalities of some have changed, but below is a quote from W.M. Hammond where his only grievance is that white supremacy is prohibited by government, and America was now starting to honor equality for all humans as stated as an intent for the formation of the country in the Declaration of Independence. This is the mentality that some are Complicit in perpetuating and consider normal or proper, not absurd.

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