Statue of Col. William C. Falkner, (sculpture).

Statue of Col. William C. Falkner, (sculpture).

Rogers, Chancey Joseph, 1846-1915, sculptor. (possibly by)

Unknown (Italian), sculptor. (possibly by)

Statue of Col. William C. Falkner, (sculpture).

William Faulkner's Grandfather, (sculpture).

1892-1893 or 1899. Dedicated 1893 or 1899.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: marble from Italy; Base: granite blocks on a foundation of brick and concrete.

Sculpture: approx. 69 x 24 x 15 in.; Base: approx. 14 ft. x 61 in. x 61 in.

(On proper right, north side of base:) COL. WILLIAM C./FALKNER/BORN/JULY 6, 1825./DIED/NOV. 6, 1899. (or 1892...inscription illegible) unsigned

A marble statue of Colonel William C. Falkner standing atop a tiered granite base. Falkner wears a knee-length suit coat and vest with watch chain. He has a beard and moustache and stands with his proper right hand raised as if to shake hands. His proper left hand is in his pants pocket with the forefinger and thumb showing. Tradition has it that Falkner often stood this way to conceal the fact that the other three fingers on his proper left hand had been shot off. There is a stack of eight books attached to the back of his proper left leg which serves as a support to the leg. The statue stands in the middle of a fenced family plot with the graves of five people.

Portrait male -- Falkner, William C. -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Colonel

Object -- Written Matter -- Book

Occupation -- Writer -- Novelist

Outdoor Sculpture -- Mississippi -- Ripley

Administered by City of Ripley, Cemetery Maintenance Department, Ripley, Mississippi 38663

Located Ripley Cemetery, Near intersection of Highway 15 & North Main Street, Ripley, Mississippi

Colonel William C. Falkner, the grandfather of Nobel prize-winning novelist William Faulkner, was also a writer. His best known work is the "White Rose of Memphis." Colonel Falkner became a local hero in Ripley, MS by helping General Forrest in the defense of the town during the Civil War. He was a colorful and controversial citizen of Ripley who reportedly killed two men, but was acquitted in both cases. The statue is believed to have been designed to be placed in Court Square, but was placed in the cemetery instead because of the controversies surrounding Colonel Falkner. According to the 1993 SOS! survey there is some uncertainty about who actually carved the statue. Chancey Joseph Rogers received the contract for both the statue and the base. Rogers may have carved the statue himself or he may have ordered it from Italy, at a cost of $2,022. The marble for the statue came from Italy. IAS files contain a related article from Daily Corinthian (Corinth, MS), Aug. 7, 1959.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Mississippi survey, 1993.

Daily Corinthian (Corinth, MS), Aug. 7, 1959.

Brown, Andrew, "History of Tippah County Mississippi: The First Century," Itawamba County Times Printers, 1976, pg. 301.

Daily Corinthian (Corinth, MS), Aug. 7, 1959.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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