Magnolia Cemetary

Magnolia Cemetery is an old cemetery with a beautiful outlook on scenery. The place overlooks lakes, trees, and a bridge in the center. What caught me off guard was the amount of gravesites and family plots, along with a bunch of elaborate grave markers. I liked that the Cemetery was very spacious and peaceful because it creates an environment that one could relax and rejoice in. This cemetery gave off the impression almost like a trail- untouched from the busy city and very calming. The trees, lake and vastness of the land all helped with creating a scene of serenity. 

Magnolia Cemetery, Entrance (Left); Pond (Right)

Magnolia Cemetery, Tree and pond

The cemetery's layout contributed to the vibe there; It was not depressing, but the history connected to the cemetery helped with the atmosphere. One contributing factor that made me like this cemetery was the landscape- It seems like a hiking trip in the woods; one that is peaceful and takes you out of the stressful environment. The pathway reminds me of the winding paths that you would find out in the woods. The many trees defiantly help with the overall impression and layout- again, this cemetery reminds me of the forest. The large pond that is in the cemetery contributes to the overall look because it reminds you of some place peaceful even though a lot of grief rests here and that this is a resting place for the dead. Everything is quite assessable with the pathway; The cemetery is massive, so on our trip we could not see everything, but the pathway defiantly helps with that. 

Patrick, Memorial

 This is one of my favorites because it is a younger angel holding a cross; this represents a young child dying. Lizzie Patrick died November 7th, 1885 and she aged 4 years, 1 month, and 3 days. It is particularly sad, but it sends a message and represents what happened and what the person believed in.

Turner, Memorial Angel

I like this grave marker because it shows an angel writing in a book, so evidently, this person died too soon. Two people died- Thomas and Ellen Turner. Ellen Turner died September 22, 1898 of heart disease and Thomas died in 1910.

Memorial yard

I like this site because it is where all the soldiers of the Civil War who died come to rest. The symbolism of this site is very significant because of the event that some did not survive and some lived afterwards.

Three grave markers, symbolism

These are ones that I liked because of the symbolism. The one on the left has a symbol of wheat, the center has an angel, and the one on the right has a cross with a crown. When I saw this, I said, "if this isn't symbolism I don't know what is." I like these three because of what they represent.

Class Pic, Magnolia Cemetery

The Best of St. Michael's Church

As we took a trip to St. Michael's on Sunday and it wasn't as gloomy as we had originally thought; It was just raining a bit and it would get worse at times.

St. Michael's, Overveiw 

1. The Church's architecture and history

•     This church is one of the oldest churches in Charleston and the first was built out of wood in 1680's and was called St. Phillip. When the congregation had gotten too big for the church, a new one made of brick was built in 1752 and opened in 1761. The church's architecture is a style of Italian and French Baroque. The original Architect is unknown, but one person that may have contributed is Sir Christopher Wren.

Left side of alter

Right Side of Alter

2. The Alter

• The Alter is unique because it has the Ten Commandments and statements etched into the wall. There is everything that you can expect within a Catholic Alter- the bread, wine, and the cross, but there is something that was really out of place there. The stained glass windows are a part of the church's overall architecture and it ties everything together. 

Grave marker inside the church

3. Grave Markers inside the church

• The interesting thing about St. Michael's is that there are Markers inside the church. The priest said that people were actually buried under the church itself. This was particularly intriguing because that statement is not really said within churches, especially one that is that old. 

Organ

4. The Organ 

• The Organ that sits on the 2nd floor of the church was built in 1768 by John Snetzler. This organ was refinished by Kenneth Jones. When we went to the service, it played beautifully. During the service, it was hard to tell where the music was coming from, until one walked from under the ceiling in the back. 

Pews

5. George Washington's Pew

• George Washington rented this wooden pew in this church and he would go to service in this church. These are used mostly for conversation, but the frame is original and the wooden floor has been elevated. 

Fountain

6. The Fountain

• This fountain is unique to St. Michael's church because of its' placement and the way it ties into the churchyard. The water that comes out of this fountain is supposed to be pure and mostly spring water. The belief behind this fountain is that the people who drink from it will be closer to Jesus. 

Backwall and center of churchyard

7. The walk way

•  The walkway is very unique to St. Michael because the path is a combination between markers and a pathway. The path is in the middle of the churchyard and is made of marble to emphasize the walkway. The path crosses the grave of John Rutledge and leads off all around the churchyard.  

Frontside of churchyard

8. The oldest gravesite/grave marker

• The oldest grave marker of this churchyard is on wall on the right and the grave marker is so worn down that one cannot see it. 

Marker stones, The Archangel Raphael

9. Marker stones

• These stones are very interesting and can make one wonder about why they are there. The stones are centered around the hierarchy of angels and the angel that the church is centered around is the Archangel Michael. Within the churchyard, these stones show up as The Archangel Michael, The Archangel Raphael, The Seraphim, The Cherubim, and All Angels. 

Charles Pinckney, James L. Petigru, and John Rutledge

10. John Rutledge, James L. Petigru, and Charles Pinckney

• These people were all important in history. Pinckney and Rutledge were signers of the Declaration of Independence. Petigru was helpful in recoding the South Carolina laws.  

* Created by Stephanie Buero and Brita Lake

James Louis Petigru

Portrait of James L. Petigru 

James Louis Petigru is an American lawyer and politician, who also served as a State Legislator. He was born in Abbeville in May 10th, 1789. He graduated college at what is now University of South Carolina in 1809. He was a teacher of law at Beaufort College.  His family consisted of William Petigru (a farmer), Louis Gilbert(Wife and Huguenot who was educated), His wife is Jane Amelia Postell( married in 1816), and his children are  Alfred, Caroline, Daniel, and Susan. 

Marker of James L. Petigru

Petigru had a thing for law; he wanted to change it to be fair and he believed in meditation and arbitration to avoid bad decisions from judges he considered inept. In life, he was a fair gentleman and wanted things to be calm. He had many achievements, but he faced many trials in order to be a successful lawyer. He became the South Carolina Attorney General in 1822. He was also elected to fill a spot in the House of Representatives in 1830, after losing in the Senate. His loss was in 1859, by the codification of laws and his own code was rejected in 1865, but was the basis for codification of 1872. 

Book of James L. Petigru

He wrote a book including Life, Letters, and Speeches, by James Louis Petigru and Gaillard Hunt. 

Gravesite of James L. Petigru

One quote that is interesting is "South Carolina is too small for a Republic and too large for an insane asylum." ; Petigru said this after South Carolina seceded in 1860 and is still used today to describe its' politics. This reflects his ideas in South Carolina politics and its' reevaluation. 

The gravesite is a bit worn, but it is readable. I like it because it interested me in Petigru and because of the quote, it made me laugh. Petigru was interesting because of the amount of ways that he helped with the laws. 

He died in Charleston, March 9th, 1863; Could not find cause of death. He is buried at St. Michael's Church.

Sculpture of James L. Petigru

Old Charlestonian Proposal

My old Charlestonian is James Louis Petigru and he aged 73 years. He was a Lawyer and Statesman; Also, he served as a state legislator in Charleston. He was born May 10th, 1789 in Abbeville, SC and died March 9th, 1863 in Charleston.

Searching for specific grave stone types!

St. Patrick

St. Luke and St. Paul 

We took a class trip to St. Luke and St. Paul's Cathedral Church and St. Patrick's Catholic Church to identify grave types.  I liked the different types of gravestones and the churchyards. We went into St.Luke and St.Paul Cathedral Church and I really liked the inside as well; It reminded me of some of the churches that I've been in and they look very traditional.

The following are from St. Luke and St. Paul's Cathedral Church:

Bedstead

This is a bedstead. The first thing that I noticed is it has been through some weather. The person that is buried here is named Samuel Bonneau Pickens and he was born on July 13th, 1839 and he died on September 17th, 1891. He lived a span of 52 years.

Footstones

These are footstones that are level with the ground. Ethel Rhodes Wohlfiel, born December 29th, 1919, died May 20th, 2016; lived 97 years. Salley Wohlfeil Warfuel, born December 7th, 1953, died December 23rd, 2000; lived 47 years.

Headstone

This is a headstone that is a bit worn from the weather. Carl H. Wohlfeil, born January 13th, 1914, died October 24th, 1992; lived 78 years and was a LT. COL. in WW2.

Cross

This is a cross and I thought that this one was pretty because of the Celtic knot. Emmerson Cobb Cook, born September 21st, 1918, died June 26th, 2004; lived 86 years.

Mausoleum

This is called a Mausoleum of the William Johnston. The Mausoleum was built in 1844 by the Johnston family. He was born 1776 and died 1840; He lived 64 years.

Ledger

This is a grave marker called a Ledger. Anna Maria Gibson died September 1850 and lived 65 years.

Box Tomb

This grave marker is called a box tomb and the person that is buried here is really hard to read from the picture that is taken, but it is legable.

Sarcophagus

This is a special type of grave marker called a Sarcophagus. The etching on this one was really difficult to make out.

Slanted gravestone

This is a slanted gravestone and the person that is buried here is A. VanderHorst Dawson III. Born June 29th, 1877 and died November 25th, 1930; lived 53 years.

Pedestal

This is a pedestal and the person that is buried here is Elizabeth Oro; died March 1st, 1855, aged 40 years.

Andrew Jackson's Lost Mother at CofC

Marker, at CofC

Ever noticed this gravestone near the Robert Scott Small building at College of Charleston? It's Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson's Gravestone and she is Andrew Jackson's Mother. The story of how her gravestone came to CofC was a mystery until now.


Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson was born in 1740 in Carrickfergus, Ireland. She later married Andrew Jackson (Husband) and had two children (Hugh and Robert) before they moved to America. They ran from Ireland because they were receiving religious persecution at the time. Sadly, three weeks after her husband's unexpected death, Andrew was born, so he did not even get to meet his father. 
She raised Andrew during her work as a housekeeper and a nurse; During the time of the Revolutionary War, Andrew wanted to battle the British and Elizabeth was the nurse for many of the wounded. Elizabeth's last words to her son were in "When Prose Becomes Poetry", so that he would remember to make something happy out of sorrow. Awhile after that, Elizabeth was tending many soldiers on a ship and caught cholera, which is a fever and she passed away. 

Memorial of Elizabeth H. Jackson

There was controversy about where she was actually buried; Mostly, she was buried on a hill with an unmarked grave. It was said that she was probably buried near "The Governor's Gate", which is now called Magnolia Cemetery. Her memorial is placed at Washington Park. 

Her grave marker was saved by a few townsfolk in 1967, placed at a not-so-friendly side of the town. Over the years, nature took over the marker and no one could really tell whose it was. So, Some Charleston Historians successfully moved it to the site where it is now, just before Ted Stern became president at College of Charleston. 

My Great Grandma Earline

So our professor for our Beyond the Grave Course presented to us, a project about ancestry with our great grandparents and on. I decided to write about my great grandmother because I had heard so many stories about her and she would just come up in conversation throughout my life.

Earline Brown Hudson

Pictured here is Earline Brown Hudson; Mother of my grand father. My family (me included) call her Grandma Earline. At times, she would look very dark complected. She was born June 25th, 1929 and died August 8th, 1989. She lived in Summerville, South Carolina. She worked for Evans Rule Company, which is almost like Home Dept and the company specializes in office supplies and agriculture, like gardening and such; it is also currently permanently closed. She passed away from Cardiac Arrest (Heart Attack) in her sleep. Pictured below is her grave that is in Dorchester Momorial Gardens in Summerville.

Grandma Earline's Grave

 Again, there are so many stories about her so I will do the ones that stick out the most to me. I've heard from my grandparents that she believed in Psychics, Spirits, and such. She believes in them so much that she goes to a Psychic that she trusts, who's name is Elizabeth Barron. I am not sure if Elizabeth is still alive. 

Another story is that Earline fed my Aunt French fries, specifically McDonald's when she was a baby up until about she was two years old. So, when my Aunt was with my Grandmother, she would always say something about French Fries. Grandma Earline also made my Aunt love cooking. 

Grandma Earline holding my Aunt when she was 2

Her personality was very strict but loving, which is probably where my grandfather got his strictness. She was known to be strict but also known for being very spiritual. My grandfather said that he sees her in my grandmother and my aunt sometimes and that strikes some fear.
We believe that my grandfather's ancestors are Native Americans, but we do not know what tribe. Our family's beliefs align more with the Native American's but also with Christianity.