SALISBURY — Fame Preservation Group held its annual Christmas Candlelight ceremony at the site of a confederate mass grave on Dec. 16.

The group placed 176 paper bags with tea lights inside of them for the service which began after nightfall, with permission from Salisbury for officials to overlook the no-trespassing ordinance.

During the service, an overall history was spoken about giving reference to the approximately 176 Confederate veterans who are buried within the general vicinity of where the Fame Confederate Monument now stands. 

Those veterans lie in unmarked graves that weren’t recognized until 1996 when military headstones there were installed by the Robert F. Hoke chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy with service records available. 

The Confederate Dead thereof were buried there between the years of 1862 and 1865 and reportedly consist of veterans from 10 former Confederate States who perished either under medical treatment at the former military hospital nearby in Salisbury or at the Confederate Prison under harsh conditions.

The event was photographed by D. Stroud Photography. Fame Preservation Founder and President Gregory Lambeth II said in an email, “Our attendance was met with 14 eager spectators who witnessed the illumination of the memorial site in full context where we concluded the service in referencing the current fundraiser our organization is seeking to secure for a historical marker for this very site referencing the widely unknown history of Salisbury’s Confederate mass grave site at the base of the Fame Confederate Monument.”