Pender County honored its Confederate soldiers and Major General William Dorsey Pender, who was born on Feb 6, 1834, and died on July 18, 1863. It called on future generations to remember men whom death could not terrify and whom defeat could not dishonor, and affirmed that truth, courage, and patriotism endure forever. Pender County was formed from New Hanover County by the Legislature of 1874–75 and was named for Major General William Dorsey Pender of Edgecombe County.