Not Everyone Welcome on the Courthouse lawn…

This statue pictured above was funded and erected back in 1900 by an ex-governor of the State of Tennessee, Governor James D Porter of Paris, TN. Statues and monuments like this are placed throughout the Southern trafficking states. Generally these were placed near courthouses and public parks to discourage Black people from civic participation. There are basically two categories of these statues. This statue falls into the Phase 2 dating. It is no different from all the other Phase 2 statues.

Sadly this relic of the Lost Cause looks down menacingly on Santa’s Play House, discouraging attendance downtown for a large percentage of Henry County children. During the Christmas season the statue is particularly dreary. The locals no longer seem to notice it. Visitors to the tourist hungry downtown square do see it and comment often.

This relic belongs at the Henry County Heritage Center or at the cemetery a few blocks north of the square where it may be appropriately honored. At the Heritage Center it can stand as a symbol of the great failure that took so many lives. According to tncivilwar.org, 64,333 Confederate soldiers and 58,521 Union soldiers died in this terrible conflict. Governor Porter of Paris was very instrumental in dragging Tennessee (the last state to join the Confederacy) into the war. Read the Porter Papers for more detailed information. Porter, in addition to being Governor, was a multi-generational slaver. The statue is a sad reminder of human slavery in Tennessee and of our town.