This article is written in response to the many recent articles in the Hickory Daily Record and Newton Observer about requests to remove the historic statue of a Confederate soldier. The statue has been in that spot on the grounds of the old Courthouse â now Catawba County Museum of History since it was erected in 1907. Until recent years there was never a controversy or outcry over its location or its meaning.
My great-uncle George W. Rabb, a Catawba County official, Confederate soldier, and local businessman was instrumental in getting the statue erected. He solicited his friends who fought alongside him and those who felt called to contribute to the erection of the statue to remember the dead. George Rabb did a lot for Catawba County. He served as county treasurer, was an owner of Providence Mill in Maiden, and represented the county in the N.C. state legislature among other worthy achievements.