Wednesday morning, in the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, a new monument will be raised to honor Brigadier General Jethro Sumner. According to Park Superintendent Charles Cranfield, during the Revolutionary War, the Brigadier General recruited civilian settlers to be soldiers and fight the British Army. "Brigadier General Jethro Sumner was in charge of the North Carolina Continental soldiers," says Cranfield. "So he was extremely important and people liked him all over the country at that time."
In 1785, he died in Warren County and was buried there in an isolated spot. In 1891, the president of the Guilford County Battle Company noticed Sumner's gravesite was overrun by weeds. With the family's permission, his remains were moved to the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.
Last March, a driver hit the old monument. While workers cleaned the site, they found a copper box containing Brigadier General Sumner's remains. Cranfield says the original monument and its replacement are made of Aquia Creek Sandstone, the same material used to build the White House and numerous monuments in Washington D.C.
"The largest blocks are eight feet by eight feet. And then there's another large stone that's placed on top of that, and then another block - each progressively smaller," describes Cranfield. "And then a circular cone on the top, so there's a pyramidal appearance. So it stands at six feet tall."
Nationwide, there are 168 monuments made of Aquia Creek Sandstone. All but Brigadier General Sumner's and one other are in the Congressional Cemetary.
Wednesday's ceremony begins at 11 a.m. Brigadier General Sumner's remains will be reinterred where they originally were near the Visitor Center in the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.
