County reaches resolution in federal case over ‘faithful slaves’ engraving on Columbia courthouse statue

By Miles Layton

COLUMBIA — A years-long legal battle over a Confederate monument standing in front of the Tyrrell County Courthouse has come to an end, with the county and a group of local residents reaching a settlement in federal court.

Regarding the settlement, here’s what I know. 

In a joint filing dated June 26, attorneys for both sides notified the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina that the parties had “reached a resolution” in the case. The notice stated that the parties are finalizing a settlement agreement and that a stipulation of dismissal will follow once all documents have been fully executed.

See the settlement filing at the end of the story.

The terms of the Tyrrell County settlement have not yet been made public, as the parties indicated they are still finalizing the agreement. It is unclear whether the resolution involves any changes to the monument itself, financial compensation to the plaintiffs, or some combination. A stipulation of dismissal is expected to be filed with the court once the settlement documents are signed by all parties.

That means I figure the Tyrrell Commission, maybe others, will talk as soon as the ink is truly dry on the settlement, so I’m sure there will be a follow-up when the time comes and folks can and want to talk.  Maybe July’s commission meeting?

The lawsuit was brought in May 2024 by Joyce Fitch, Mark Mixon, Sherryreed Robinson, and the Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, who argued that a phrase engraved on the monument’s stone pedestal — “in appreciation of our faithful slaves” — violated their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs contended the inscription amounted to racial discrimination by a government body, citing both equal protection and property rights claims.

The monument, a Confederate soldier statue, stands atop a rectangular pedestal in front of the county courthouse in Columbia. The pedestal features several stone panels bearing engravings honoring Tyrrell County residents who served the Confederacy during the Civil War. One of those panels contains the “faithful slaves” inscription, which dates to 1902.

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One Commissioner Saw It Coming

The resolution comes roughly a month after a contentious Tyrrell County Commission meeting in May, where Commissioner Rob Thompson warned his colleagues that the county was headed for a costly defeat and urged them to settle by agreeing to remove the inscription from the monument.

“If you understand what these two (commissioners) did this week, you will understand we’re not going to win the case,” Thompson told the board in early May. “And right now there is no damages. We remove that, everything’s fine.”

Thompson framed the math plainly: “If we lose this case, it’s going to cost us over $100,000 in legal fees.”

Thompson’s motion to remove the phrase failed, as he cast the lone vote in favor. Board Chairman Jordan Davis cited the ongoing litigation as the reason for his opposition.

See our story about that May meeting here.

A Judge Let the Case Proceed

Flashback — The county had sought to have the lawsuit thrown out, filing a motion to dismiss in October 2024. Tyrrell County argued it was entitled to legislative immunity, having acted in a legislative capacity when making decisions about the engraving. But U.S. District Judge James Dever III rejected that argument in part, allowing the equal protection claim to proceed while dismissing a separate property rights claim.

In his order, Dever wrote that the plaintiffs “plausibly allege that the ‘faithful slaves’ engraving has a racially disproportionate impact on black residents of Tyrrell County” and that “an invidious discriminatory intent motivated Tyrrell County to install the ‘faithful slaves’ engraving in 1902.” That ruling set the stage for depositions and — eventually — the settlement announced last week.

A recent decision by the North Carolina Court of Appeals allowing a Confederate monument to remain outside the Gaston County courthouse may carry implications for ongoing legal disputes in eastern North Carolina involving Confederate memorials in Chowan and Tyrrell counties. See our story here.

The ruling, reported by the News & Observer, concluded that the presence of a Confederate soldier monument outside a courthouse does not violate constitutional rights unless plaintiffs can show it actually prevents access to the courts. That conclusion could influence how judges evaluate similar claims connected to monuments in Edenton and Tyrrell County, where legal disputes remain unresolved.

While the cases involve different facts and legal theories, they share a central question that courts across North Carolina have increasingly faced in recent years: whether historic Confederate memorials located on public property violate constitutional rights or other legal protections.

The settlement arrives amid a broader legal and political environment that has made Confederate monument disputes unusually complicated in North Carolina. State law prohibits the outright removal of Confederate memorials except under narrow circumstances — and even then, monuments can only be relocated to sites of equal prominence, making moves to museums or cemeteries off-limits under current statute.

Don’t believe me? We’ve covered this issue extensively — Edenton’s lawsuit over the future of its Confederate Memorial remains in a holding pattern. And that monument dedicated to the lives of 47 soldiers from Chowan County who died during the Civil War is still in storage at the Chowan Detention Center — moved there after the statue was taken down around midnight on Labor Day weekend in 2025.

At the federal level, President Trump signed an executive order earlier this year directing a review of statues removed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, a move that legal observers said could complicate monument litigation across the country.

The courthouse monument has stood in Columbia for well over a century. Whatever the settlement’s terms, the resolution closes a chapter in Tyrrell County’s history.