BY MILES LAYTON

Though the civil war over the Confederate Memorial rages on in Edenton, the NC Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is proposing a solution that may end the courtroom battles and perhaps settle once and for all where the statue is to be located.  

A proposed Consent Judgment (CJ) from the NC Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and letters from NC Division SCV Attorney James Wilson and Commander of NC Division SCV Commander Kevin Stone — all public record — are published in their entirety at the end of this story.  By including this information, the Albemarle Observer can’t be accused of selectively filtering the truth as other media outlets may be inclined to do. By doing this, the Albemarle Observer lets the reader decide what’s really happening.

Dated Jan. 8, Wilson sent a letter to Town Attorney Hood Ellis with a proposal that falls in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) — an agreement approved by the Town Council and Chowan County Commission in November.

Rather than copy/paste from our other stories about the Confederate Memorial, please see the Albemarle Observer’s previous story on these matters about the placement and future of the statue.

Long-story-short, the MOU aimed to transfer ownership of the monument from the town to the county within 30 days of the settlement of a civil action against the town. Under the agreement, Edenton would cover the costs of relocating the statue and accompanying landscaping features from South Broad Street to a site behind the Chowan County Courthouse, near the veterans’ memorial and the Chowan County Detention Center.

The relocation effort faced a significant legal hurdle as the MOU required consent from plaintiffs involved in a civil action against moving the monument. Filed in 2022, the plaintiffs include the United Daughters of the Confederacy, North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc. and two other groups.

However, SCV’S proposed settlement seeks a compromise with Town Hall that would allow for the statue to be moved to a place of “arguably less prominence.”

“In this proposed settlement, the Town of Edenton receives everything it wants under the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), and the Plaintiffs agree to acquiesce to the removal of the Memorial to a position of arguably less prominence. The Plaintiffs also give up their claim for costs and attorney fees, which are significant to the Plaintiff organizations supported by member donations,” James Wilson Jr., attorney for NC Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, wrote in a letter sent to Town Attorney Hood Ellis on Saturday, Jan. 8. “We only ask for the ‘Standing’ language to be included in the Consent Judgment. There are many members and residents of the Town of Edenton and Chowan County who are against moving the Memorial from its present prominent location.” 

Wilson continued, “In the spirit of compromise, we are willing to recommend this settlement to our members upon the currently proposed terms contained within the MOU as long as the ‘Standing’ language is included in the Consent Judgment. If the Town of Edenton wishes to fight us on this minor request and dissolve the settlement proposal, we will have no choice but to continue with litigation and fight to keep the Memorial in its present location.”

Commander Stone contends that the SCV is trying to be reasonable with regard to a workable solution about the statue.   

“There have been numerous discussions and news articles published regarding the Edenton Confederate Monument that contain erroneous information regarding the NC Division SCV’s position on the Confederate Memorial. News articles have attempted to paint us as being unreasonable and unwilling to settle. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the Plaintiffs, and especially the NC-SCV, who are willing to settle and are being reasonable,” Stone wrote in a letter sent Sunday, Feb. 9, to Town Hall and Chowan County Commissioners.  

Early Monday morning, Feb. 10, the Albemarle Observer reached out to Edenton Town Hall for comment – if Town officials provide comment, this story will be updated to include their remarks.  

Standing Under the Law

Standing is the capacity of a party to bring a lawsuit in court. To have standing, a party must demonstrate a sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action being challenged.

Stone says Standing is needed to move the matter forward.  

“We have been willing to compromise and settle this matter, but we must have Standing if we are to do so,” he wrote.  

Wilson wrote that the “Standing” language should be included in the Consent Judgment. 

“We think it is appropriate to include the ‘Standing’ language in the Consent Judgment,” he wrote. “This language is also necessary to make clear the Plaintiffs have standing for any future breach of the Agreements. In this proposed settlement, the Town of Edenton receives everything it wants under the MOU, and the Plaintiffs agree to acquiesce to the removal of the Memorial to a position of arguably less prominence. The Plaintiffs also give up their claim for costs and attorney fees, which are significant to the Plaintiff organizations supported by member donations.” 

Wilson said that although there are many members and residents of the Town of Edenton and Chowan County who are against moving the Memorial from its present prominent location, there is a way to settle the matter through compromise.

“In the spirit of compromise, we are willing to recommend this settlement to our members upon the currently proposed terms contained within the MOU as long as the ‘Standing’ language is included in the Consent Judgment,” he said. “If the Town of Edenton wishes to fight us on this minor request and dissolve the settlement proposal, we will have no choice but to continue with litigation and fight to keep the Memorial in its present location.”

Stone said without Standing, the SCV will continue to pursue litigation to remedy the matter.  

“Unless we are allowed additional and adequate assurances, such as a clear statement of future Standing and protection by the Town and the County for the Memorial going forward, this will be a false settlement, leading to future litigation, and we will be forced to argue against the Town’s Motion to Dismiss, seek our attorney fees, and appeal if we lose,” he wrote. “I imagine the Coalition will do the same. We want to make sure that the Town of Edenton, and the Court, are consistent as to which taxpayers have Standing before the Town and the Court.”

Stone continued, “The Town and County should meet again and communicate with all stakeholders to fashion an agreement we can all live with. We will do our part to engage in a positive way with these discussions.”

Resolution to Solve the Matter

The Civil War may have ended in 1865, but there is no reason why it should rage on 160 years later in 2025 over a memorial to the county’s veterans who never came home – many of whom were drafted. 

“All of us: the Town, the County, the Plaintiffs, the opposition groups, and the Court, need to come to a resolution and sign off on an agreement resolving this matter forever,” Wilson wrote. “Otherwise, we have a false premise of an agreement that will lead to future conflict. If these opposition groups have Standing, so should the Plaintiffs.”

A civil lawsuit filed in January by the Confederate Memorial’s critics wants the courts to void the Town of Edenton and Chowan County’s agreement to move the statue to the Veterans Plaza behind the Chowan County Courthouse.  That lawsuit was filed at 2:40 p.m. Jan. 3 by Jacob H. Sussman, an attorney for the Durham-based Social Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) that has represented the Move the Monument Coalition for some time. For information about Sussman and the Southern Coalition, visit their webpage: https://southerncoalition.org/

Wilson said “social justice” groups don’t want the fight over the statue’s location to end. The Move the Monument Coalition has even threatened to boycott local businesses.  

“These opposition groups continually attempt to remove our history, and essentially, Southerners from the public square,” Wilson wrote. “Governmental entities today, in Edenton, as well as others across the State, continue to listen to these groups when forming local policy. And unfortunately, today, those events between 1861 and 1865 are presently relitigated every day in the courts, the press, and in town meetings across North Carolina and the nation.”

Wilson continued, “The recent filing by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice against the Town of Edenton and Chowan County, a 198-page dump on the Court, demonstrates this clearly. These opposition groups, driven by hatred and discrimination against us, are not being reasonable. They will not be satisfied until the memorial to Chowan County Confederate Veterans, as well as Southern Americans, our heritage groups, and our history are eliminated.”   

From the Consent Order

SCV submitted this proposed Consent Order to Superior Court that seeks:

1. Relocation of the Confederate Monument as identified in the Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement for the reason and to the location specified in the Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement be and is hereby approved and deemed compliant with N.C. Gen. Stat. §100-2.l.
2. The Court further finds that the parties have standing and that any of the parties to this cause may seek to enforce compliance with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement.
3. As a result of the findings herein, and upon agreement of the parties, the Complaint filed by Plaintiffs on December 2, 2022 in this action is hereby dismissed.
4. The Restraining Order entered by the undersigned on March 30, 2023, be and same is hereby dissolved in order for Defendant and the County of Chowan to comply with the Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement heretofore filed in this action.
5. Each party shall bear their own costs, including but not limited to attorney’s fees.

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