The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-06-16
TIE HERO OF TIE SOUTH.
a MONt MENT TO BE ERECTED IN HONOR
OF GEN. u. y. LEE.
Consolidation of the Two Monumental tssocia-
tions, aud nii Working tremendously for the
speedy Erection or IA Mnnumcn, TINT VIII be
the Pride OF the south
tFrom the Ncw York II,ra,dJ

thr Pridr OF the south
tFrom the N,w York II,rajd)
RICHMOND, VA, June 2.-Govcmor
Fitzhugh Lee returned here day or
two ago from Cincinnati, where he had
been attending the musical festival, very
much pleased with his visit. He was
called upon to-day by the Herald core
spondcnt, and, agreeable to au old
promise, gave him brief but very i'm
portant interview in regard to the cree
ton of monument i'll the city of Rich
mond to the memory of his illustrious
uncle, General Robert T.. Lee The
building of this monument has long been
determined upon. AS early as the year
1867 Il Lee Monument Association was
formed by ladies i'll tins and other South
crn States but principally in Virginia.
considerable amount of funds was
raised by this association in the way of
private subscriptions, and several Acts of
the General Assembly of Virginia were
passed to facilitate the action of tho
ladies, but no money has ever been ap-
propriatcd by the State for the purpose.
An Act was passed creating State Lee
Monument Association, distinct entirely
from that of the ladies. The latter also
went TO work and raised fund, creating
ut first some little jealousy on the part OF
the ladies' association. The latter, act
ing independently, advertised for mod
els, which have been and still are on OK
hibition III the Senate Chamber Of the
Capitol building. a prize for the best
model of General Lee was awarded to the
artist and designer of one OF these:
but, as far as public sentiment regarding
them can be asccrtaincd, none Of these
models will be acceptable, though all of
them, as before stated in the Herald,
arc mcritoriouS and some of them high
ly so.
In the meantime still another Act of
the Legislature had been passed author
izing the two monumcnt associations to
consolidate shoul,ts they ever feel in
clincd to do So They would not, and
did not consolidate. In this way the
matter has go along through years in n
go-as-you-plcasc sort of way,
and 1T was not until General Fitzhugh
lee had been elected Governor that the
matter was taken III hand in 4 serious,
busincss-lilic manner. | can now inform
the readers of the Herald that the cree
ton of n MOI umcnt to General Lee has
become fixed fact, to he accomplished
III the very near future; that ample funds
will be forthcoming from time to time as
they arc needed to dcfray all expenses;
that the monument will be grand in con
ccption, characteristic III design and
highly artistic iii execution and finish,
and that an artist whose fame is world
N,.i,l l., I,,-, ,r L., 4.
in Virginia already will probably be Sc
lcctcd to design and execute the model
for the monument.
But to return to the Governor, who.
while speaking quito freely, did not allow
expressions. He was deliberate in what
he did say, and left unsaid much more,
which he did not wish to say mt present.
"Govcnor, have you any objection to
stating how you are getting along with
the Lee monument for the benefit of the
public through the columns of the Her
ald?"
"Oh, no, said the Governor, 81 am
happy to say we are making some pro-
gress toward erecting monument to
General Lee in this city. The different
associations which had collected money
for that purpose have now been consoli-
dated and the whole subject is in charge
of the board of managers which repre-
sent the consolidated associations.
"Who compose this board?"
"The new board is composed of the
Governor, Col. Maryc, first auditor of
the State, and Col. Harmon, the State
treasurer: also Miss Sarah n. Randolph.
late president of the Ladies' Lee Monu
mcnt Association; Miss Nichols, former
ly of Richmond, now of Washington.
ID. c., and Col. Archer Anderson, of
Richmond, Va
elias the board selected q design for
the monument yct?"
"No. The board has made no progress
in that direction, except to look at
of models that are on exhibition
in the Senate Chamber here, and which
were procured by the Ladies' Lee Monu-
mcnt Association.
"Will any of these be acceptable,
Govcnor?"'
FIlnt uunStiou / can't onS1un, AZ