Union County endorses marker honoring Rebel slaves

Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 22, 2012

MONROE (AP) — Union County commissioners have voted to let another panel consider whether to set up a marker honoring nine slaves and a free black man who served the Confederate army.
The Charlotte Observer reported the commission voted 3-2 this week to let the county’s historic preservation commission consider the idea.
Mattie Rice, 80, told the commission her father was one of those slaves and it would be an honor to have a marker. The 10 men eventually received small state pensions.
Tony Way with the Sons of Confederate Veterans proposed the privately funded marker on the grounds of the old county courthouse in Monroe next to a 1910 Confederate monument.
The commissioners want the preservation commission to decide if the marker would be appropriate. That vote could vote in May.