This proposal letter contradicts the
state Commemorative Landscapes
profile.
Just another lie
from William Alexander Smith
to promote a false image of himself.
– It’s highly unlikely that Scoggins Memorial Art Shop
or Wadesboro Granite
and Marble Finishing Company were involved
with the creation of this monument. Scoggins, at the time,
was operated out of a portion of a cemetery in Charlotte.
They lacked a foundry and other records citing Scoggins as the source
(Zebulon Vance statue, 1929 Confederate Reunion) contain ‘fishy’ details
that don’t line up with circumstances of the time period.
– The quote to:
“…furnish and erect granite monument
as per drawing marked ‘Wadesboro’…”
and
“…the statue to be of standard bronze, as shown.
Monument to be erected in Wadesboro…”
“I agree to furnish and erect the foregoing monument
for twenty three hundred ($2300) dollars
to be paid upon completion of the monument.”
The Commemorative Landscapes profile shows $3000.
We’re curious of what was used to substantiate the claim of $3000
for the purchase of the monument. It defies logic that another,
substantially more expensive vendor would have been used for the monument.
– I.W. Durham (MAUSOLEUMS, MONUMENTS,
TOMBSTONES, STATUARY) is the vendor
of this proposal, and they are
not named in the state’s profile
on the monument.
– The date of the letter is January 19, 1904.
– The upper right corner of the business’ stationary reads:
“STATUES FROM PORTRAIT A SPECIALTY”
This would line up with the photographs of John Randleman Richardson mentioned in history.
It would also explain why this monument is the only Confederate monument where the soldier
is standing at attention. The only drill position that a soldier will march from.
– $700, in 1904 dollars, cost disparity is substantial
at over 30% of the quoted cost.
Adjusting for inflation, that would be approximately an increase of $24,407.66 today on
what was originally an inflation adjusted $80,196.61 quote.
It would just clear $100,000 today if purchased using this quote
and adjusted for inflation since issued.
We will show you
the true William Alexander Smith,
the one that’s nearly a polar opposite
of the person described in written history.
We checked to confirm that Wadesboro Granite
and Marble Finishing Company even existed.
You’ll see in the clipping from the Nov. 3, 1904 issue of the
Wadesboro based Messenger and Intelligencer that either
the profile today or the paper then
has the name slightly confused,
but the business did exist.
The Zebulon Vance monument (linked below the Anson link)
is one of two other monuments in the state
to list Scoggins as a vendor on its UNC Library profile.
We see that Scoggins didn’t provide the statue
or any other part of Anson’s monument,
could that be the case with the Vance statue?
Zebulon Vance was the North Carolina Governor
who previously fought as an officer in the Confederate Army.
It seems like a lot of white supremacy politics were involved with
his monument and there are indications of money laundering.
The overall cost of the Zebulon Vance memorial is not entirely
clear with the information from the state profile, and appears to be significantly
more than what fair market value for the time would have been.
