Confederate Flag on court square to be discussed

COSHOCTON – Since at least 1985 a Confederate Flag has flown on the court square in honor of a soldier from the south that died here and is buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery. On Monday, March 28 the Coshocton County Commissioners will meet with a man from Zanesville who would like that flag removed.

Veterans Service Officer Jim Barstow said the 9×13 flag in question is one of 16 that surrounds the main war memorial on the court square and is there to represent William H. Webb.

“He was a prisoner of war who was being held somewhere up north around Lake Erie at a POW camp,” Barstow said. “He was part of a prisoner exchange and was to be taken back south to his home in Tennessee when he became ill around Coshocton. He was taken off the train and someone local took him in. After he died they tried to contact his family in Tennessee, but they had no luck so he was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery.”

The Confederate Flag is replaced along with the American Flags on the court square every year before Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Webb’s gravestone also has a Confederate Flag flying beside it.

“We aren’t trying to be incentive to what other people believe that flag stands for,” Barstow said. “My thinking is that we are honoring a fallen veteran and veterans who fought in the Civil War on both sides ultimately fell under the same army.”

He, however, has been researching the topic and trying to figure out if there is another way to still honor Webb.

“I praised the gentleman that came in here for being so passionate about the topic and said I would look into it,” Barstow said. “We aren’t dismissing it. We are going to review it and if we are wrong we will find a way to make it right. He did tell me there is a Confederate States Flag that he would be willing to buy for us to use. Our regular supplier doesn’t carry it, but we are looking into sources that we can get it from.”

Coshocton County Commissioner Curtis Lee said the commissioners will have the final say on what is allowed and not allowed to be on the court square.

The March 28 meeting with the gentleman from Zanesville will take place at 9 a.m.

During their March 23 meeting the commissioners also approved a motion authorizing the United States of America, Department of Agriculture to access the Coshocton County Commissioners property on Township Road 188, which is the hydrological station, for their 2015 grazing land survey.

“The project is done, but they need to go across the fence just long enough to measure how tall the grass is sometime this spring,” Lee said.

On March 23 the commissioners also went to a viewing for another step in the process of the vacation of Township Road 60 A in Bedford Township.

“The road is on the map, but it hasn’t been used in decades,” Lee said. “I drove out there and you can’t even tell where the road is.”

The next step in the process will be a 10 a.m. public hearing on Wednesday, March 30 at the commissioners’ office.

Other items of interest on their March 23 agenda were:

• A motion to sign a request for payment and status of funds report for grant B-C-15-1AP-1 in the amount of $39,474.00 as requested by John Cleek, CDC of Ohio.
• Received the dog warden’s report for the week ending March 21 with three dogs picked up by the warden, four dogs brought in as strays, one dog destroyed, 11 citations issued, 32 calls handled, 17 dog licenses sold, 10 late fees paid, six dogs sold, one dog redeemed, three dogs per owner surrender, $5 in boarding fees collected for a total of $489 in fees collected.
• A motion granting permission to Warsaw Honor Choir/Les Widder for the use of the gazebo to take a group picture on May 19 from 10:15 to 10:30 a.m.
• A motion granting permission to Women of Witness and the Coshocton Ministerial Fellowship the use of the court square on May 5 from 5–9 p.m. for National Day of Prayer and Praise Service with music in the gazebo.

josie@coshoctoncountybeacon.com