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In these parts, the elusive Charles M. Figgat is variously recalled as a Confederate veteran, as a fundraiser for both the recumbent statue of Robert E. Lee for Lee Chapel and cemetery monument to Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, as a wellrespected cashier at the Bank of Lexington … and as the man who bolted town on Valentine’s Day 1895, carrying two small handbags and over $150,000 of local cash stolen from that bank, on a train bound for Cincinnati, then points unknown beyond. He was never to be located by authorities until his death in Lockett, Colorado, in 1899, where he’d gone by the name “Charles Miles.” At his death, he left only a prayerbook inscribed with that alias, and just $28 dollars left to defray funeral expenses.
Another side of Figgat is now being brought to life – one that presents a more domestic and sentimental narrative of his life – in a new play about the ill-fated love story of Figgat and Ann Godwin that reads like a modern-day soap opera. Told through letters written between the two over many years, “Dear Nannie…Yours Devotedly, Charlie,” is being presented April 14-16 and 21-23 at the D. Geraldine Lawson Performing Arts Center in Fincastle.
This original play, adapted by Sally Miller from a 2013 book written by Gail McMillan and Jean Robbins, is a collaboration of the Botetourt County Historical Society and Attic Productions. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with matinees at 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $20, with a potion of the proceeds benefiting the historical society. For more information, visit atticproductions.info.
