No one knows what will eventually happen to the statue on the Square in McDonough.

As the Henry County Board of Commissioners voted after a lengthy discussion at its July 7 regular meeting to approve its eventual removal, questions remain in many people’s minds about who actually owns the structure and whether the county has the authority to take action on it.

The motion approved 4-1 (with Gary Barham voting no and Johnny Wilson absent from the meeting) specified that the statue is not being destroyed, but would be removed in a lawful manner within 60 days and placed somewhere safe until its next resting place is determined, whether that be a museum, a Confederate cemetery or some other spot. County officials will also work with their counterparts in the City of McDonough on this process.

Dee Clemmons, who asked at the beginning of the meeting that the item be placed on the agenda, stressed repeatedly that she did not want the statue destroyed. She said it simply should not be on county property.

The county owns the land on the Square and leases it back to the City of McDonough, which maintains it. As for the statue, no one knows exactly who owns it.

County attorney Patrick Jaugstetter said that it was apparently donated by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1910, but there are no official records indicating the recipient. “We don’t know if it was donated to the city, of the county or someone else,” he said. “We don’t know if that donation was ever accepted.”

County records go back as far as 1913, Jaugstetter said, and city records not even that far. City clerk Janis Price told the Times the day before the meeting that she located City Council records as far back as 1937.

Jaugstetter noted a portion of state law that he said addresses the issue of removing monuments owned by the county.

According to O.C.G.A. 50-3-1 (b)(1), “It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or other entity to mutilate, deface, defile, or abuse contemptuously any publicly owned monument, plaque, marker, or memorial which is dedicated to, honors, or recounts the military service of any past or present military personnel of this state, the United States of America or the several states thereof, or the Confederate States of America or the several states thereof, and no officer, body, or representative of state or local government or any department, agency, authority, or instrumentality thereof shall remove or conceal from display any such monument, plaque, marker, or memorial for the purpose of preventing the visible display of the same. A violation of this paragraph shall constitute a misdemeanor.”

Jaugstetter said the law stipulates that the county would be allowed to “take appropriate measures to preserve, protect and interpret the monument.” He added that if the resolution were approved, he and others would have to determine whether it is publicly owned and if the board’s plan qualifies under the “preserve, protect and interpret” measure.

Clemmons said that the law does not apply in this case because the county does not own the statue. She repeated her position that it can go to whomever wants it, as long as it is removed from county property.

There was a brief moment of confusion about the statue itself. Vivian Thomas referred several times to Patrick Henry, but Barham pointed out that the statue in question is of Colonel Charles T. Zachry, while the Patrick Henry statue created less than a decade ago by the late Andy Davis sits in front of the courthouse.

Thomas, the granddaughter of a slave, commented that the Zachry statue needs to be removed so that people who pass it by are not constantly reminded of such a painful part of the nation’s past.

“It should be in a place where you can choose to view it, not in a public space where it is in your face,” she said. “The Holocaust was horrible, but we don’t see statues of Hitler anywhere.”

Bruce Holmes said there is no question it should be moved, calling it a symbol of hate, and said either a Confederate cemetery or a museum would be a more suitable place for it.

He also commented on the other statue. “I don’t even know why the Patrick Henry statue is there,” he said, apparently unaware that the county is named after the Revolutionary War-era statesman. “He never visited Henry County.”

Board chair June Wood asked at one point about the possibility of a referendum on the issue, but eventually voted in favor of removal once it was made clear that the statue would be preserved for whomever ends up being its future owner. Barham stated several times about the need for more input, from Wilson as well as others in the community.

“We need to have a conversation,” he said, adding that if the board simply voted on it now, it would cause more division.

Holmes asked Clemmons to amend her motion and provide a deadline. She stipulated 60 days, after asking Jaugstetter how long he thought it would take.

“I have no idea,” he responded.