and others across Hampshire County. In July 1867, a committee of the Confederate Memorial Association narrowed the numerous proposals it had received for the memorial's inscription to three finalists. The first inscription finalist said the Confederate soldiers "died in defense of what they believed to be right", the second said they were "our sons and brothers, who fell as soldiers in the Confederate army", and the third, which was ultimately adopted by the committee, read in full: "The Daughters of Old Hampshire Erect This Tribute of Affection to Her Heroic Sons Who Fell in Defence of Southern Rights". Construction Once the design and inscription had been chosen, the association appointed committees to select a contractor. At the end of the process, the contract was awarded to the Gaddes Brothers firm of Baltimore. They were asked to fabricate a white Italian marble monument. The memorial was designed, sculpted, and manufactured at a cost of US$1,133.63. According to United Daughters of the Confederacy historian Mary Bell Foote, the words "Southern Rights" were initially omitted from the end of the memorial's inscription during its fabrication due to the "bitter feelings at the time" following the American Civil War, and Federal statutes banning such monuments. After the memorial's components were packaged for shipping to Romney, the words "Southern Rights" were secretly etched into the white marble and the components quickly boarded over and shipped. The memorial's components were delivered to Indian Mound Cemetery on September 14, 1867, and it was erected at its present location by a group of Romney volunteers. Bob Fisher was paid US$5.00 for raising the earthen mound around the monument's location and US$4.11 for providing lodging to one of the Gaddes brothers at his residence. William Sheetz was paid US$18.80 for building the memorial's raised mound and supporting foundation. Twelve days later on September 26, the Confederate Memorial was formally dedicated in a public ceremony. Location and design The Confederate Memorial stands upon a raised mound ringed by five boxwoods within the original section of Indian Mound Cemetery, not far from the cemetery's entrance. Several family interment plots surround the memorial and its circular raised lawn. A burial ground where Confederate and Union dead were buried during the American Civil War lies adjacent to the memorial. The Confederate Memorial is in the form of an obelisk, measuring at its base and in height. The structure's pedestal consists of two major