Church Top 10

Everyone check out Maddie's blog for our last group project of the year. It is super good!

Remembering From The Past to Present

Born the 12th of November 1805 Michael Patrick Walsh was born in Charleston SC and was the son of a poor farmer. When we went to the library I wasn't able to discover much on him and later I found out why. Upon seeing the death card at the Charleston Library which was almost impossible to find Walsh died of consumption which was tuberculosis at that time. What I found to be interesting is that Walsh had a pervious condition which weakened him and his immune system. On his stone it is said he fought along time for many years to survive and he ended up dying. Walsh was never a land owner and was never married although he had a companion for many years.

The plaque on Walsh's stone was why I found him so interesting. It seemed that near death he had a complete turn around in life and accepted his faith and began to turn his life towards God. Also on his stone it mentions his companion which I could not find anywhere because he was never married. The library nor find a grave had anything about him having a wife. He also had a twin brother who became a preacher less than a year after his brothers death.

I have came to the conclusion that Michael Patrick Walsh could have possibly been mentally handicapped or could have had some form of birth defect that caused him to contract diseases way easier than most normal people. In the 1800s especially being from a poor family twin births were way more rare than today and if twins did happen one would usually not make it or be born with some kind of defect. Healthy twins were almost unheard of in this time period. I believe that Walsh was sickly and near death turned his life around and became a lot closer to God near his end days and his companion was either a very close friend or a girlfriend at the time of death.

I was going to try to contact Jerry J. Walsh which was a descendant in some way to Walsh but he had very recently died in Lancaster. Not much information could be found but what i could find helped me to draw an outline of Walsh's life and it was interesting learning about a man that completely turned his life around at death and affected so many people. He died June 3rd 1836 at the age of 31.

Old Chalestonian Proposal

For my Old Charlestonian project I would like to do Michael Patrick Walsh. He is buried at my church graveyard Second Presbyterian and died June 3rd 1836. I want to do this man because of one of the quotes on his grave marker. The entire thing made him sound truly interesting.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

We traveled to our groups church one more time to investigate our graveyard. Check it out on Maddie's blog.

Amazing Rural Graveyard

As I walked through the black iron gates of Magnolia cemetery I would have never imagined what it was like. Beautiful gravestones covered every inch other than the driving and walking trails. As soon as you walk in if you walk 15 of so steps you will see a beautiful pond overlooking the rest of the cemetery and a marsh close behind it. I was taken aback seeing all new types of gravestones and trying to pick 3 favorite from the many amazing stones found there.

Magnolia is huge spending 150 acres it has many curving walking trails and driving trials and has 2 ponds and a marsh area with birds and stone everywhere. Just imagine being in a cemetery where 35,000 people are buried in one place. People from past and present are buried together in plots separated by the trails. The cemetery also has 7 confederate generals that we learned about in class. There was also some Hunley servicemen which died on the first confederate submarine of the civil war!

The stone showed above is one of my 3 favorites I was able to see. its a beautiful marble cross with flowers in the shape of a cross on it. The name on the stone was Marino but there was no dates or even a first name that i could find on the stone. I just thought it was a very cool and beautiful stone.

This is my next favorite stone and this one is probably my favorite stone of all its so beautiful and has an amazing back drop behind the first pond when you come in. Its the Pinckney gravesite where Thomas Pinckney and his wife are buried.

Lastly the Lipinski mausoleum would be my third favorite it is so beautiful and modern and is so well taken care of with trimming and all sorts of watering. It is also really cool that Tara Lipinski an olympic ice skater would want to be buried around here. It is truly beautiful.

An Empty Grave?

The "Gravestone" of Elizabeth
Hutchinson in front of the
Robert Scott Small building.

On a campus centuries of years old you would think that there would be many mysteries yet to be discovered. You would be wrong. In front of the building I'm sitting in now there is a memorial of Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson which is Andrew Jackson's mother. The stone reads that Hutchinson is buried near the spot of the stone but that couldn't be more wrong. But to know the story behind the burial you have to understand Elizabeth Hutchinson.

Through-out her life Hutchinson was very active in protecting her family and it eventually caused her death from cholera. She arranged a trade to release her two sons from a prisoner of war camp
on one occasion and on another she searched the Charleston harbor to find her nephews which was when she died.

This is a monument where Hutchinson is
believed to be buried in Waxhaw SC.

With such an influential woman you would think that we would know her place of burial or maybe even have a painting of her, you would be wrong. Hutchinson is surrounded by mystery and we know little about her life and even less about her burial. The stone that is at the College of Charleston now originally was about 2 and a half miles away from campus and was moved because it was being neglected in the location where it was according to a 2011 article posted by The Post and Courier. However the location of the monument isn't the strange part; no one knows where she is buried some think it is the original place of the marker others think it is located at College of Charleston and another group she is buried in Waxhaw South Carolina.

Even as her son Andrew Jackson became president he couldn't find her burial location and since then no one knows the true burial place of Elizabeth Hutchinson according to another article by History of American Women. Her burial is a mystery that lives on around the College of Charleston although not very well known it is still an interesting piece of history.

Mystery Of My Great Grandpa Solved

For several years my great grandfather has been a mystery. My family has discussed him several times but I never even knew his name. Over fall break I went home and talked to my grandpa about
his father and discovered my ancestor for the first time. My great grandpa's name was George Dargain Wyatt and he was born February 26 1910. He grew up in a small rural town of Hickory Grove South Carolina and graduated high school there as well. As a young man Wyatt
lived around battle fields in World War One.

My Great grandpa and his
cousin and 2 of his sisters in 1986

My Great Grandpa and Great
Grandma 

 He fought and returned to Hickory Grove where he was married his girlfriend since the age of six my great grandma Vera Alma Dover. He had 12 kids and was married at 22. He worked in a bleachery for all of his life and my grandpa said he complained every single day before and after work and when he retired he still complained about it. While working at the bleachery provided an honest living my grandpa lived during prohibition and him and his brother Gat ran a large moonshining business as well. He died February second 1992 and is buried at Canaan United Methodist cemetery under a die on  base.

 My great aunt told me the story of how she bought her first coat because of this. "It all started when i first found out about the business," she started. "I would go in the building every time they started to make the moonshine and every single time they paid me a dime to leave. I saved up and bought my first jacket." This story like all of the others i found sort of funny

My Great Grandma and Grandpa
in 1966

there was never a sad story about Grandpa Wyatt. Another my grandpa told me was when he came home from Vietnam and got back to their house his whole family had moved and didn't leave a note or call or anything.

Grandpa Wyatt was a large man in the community around Hickory Grove as well he helped build several houses that are still standing today and built the first gas station in Hickory grove. He also had a bull which was the meanest in the upstate or at least that's what everyone has told me. My grandpa and great grandpa went fishing one time in my grandpas brand new truck and the bull rammed the door and tailgate off. He also chased my great grandpa up a tree and grunted at him everyday when he got off work. My great grandpa was a great man and did many things for the community and even made moonshine. I am glad I got the chance to talk to my grandpa about his dad.

Great grandpa: The Mystery

For the Ancestor project I will be doing my great grandpa from my moms side. I am doing this project on him because i do not know anything about him but i have heard he might've been a moonshiner I don't know his age or even his name yet but by the time this project is over i plan to know as much as possible. I will find out by talking to my grandpa and his brothers and sisters.

Ancient Symbols In Stone

After traveling to Bethel United Methodist I have seen several Gravestones that are remarkable. Men hundreds of years ago crafted Stones as you will see below by hand to tell a story of someones life. These are just a few of the beautiful markers at Bethel Untied Methodist.

This marker bears a wreath which is ancient Greek
and symbolizes victory or redemption.

This stone is draped with a cloth
which symbolizes grief and mourning .

This beautiful stone has flowers that I
believe to be lilies. This symbolizes
Majesty and the fragility of life.

This beautiful marker represents knowledge
and tells of a full life. 

Showing a wreath and a dove this stone
symbolizes purity and holiness along with
victory and redemption. 

This stone shows a lamb which is
a symbol of purity.

This stone holds a cross in a circle this
shows eternity and never ending
existence.

This angel symbolizes rebirth and
spirituality.

This gravestone holds a honeysuckle
which shows bonds of love and
generosity.

This stone shows a weeping willow
which represents sorrow and mourning .

Exploring A New Religion And Culture

As our class walked down the party filled coming street we passed a large white wall that without close observation you could just pass right by. After a few steps we gathered around a small cast iron gate and entered the Hebrew cemetery or Coming street cemetery.

Not a church or flower in sight!

Once inside we saw two women both dressed in white one was Anita Rosenberg and the other was Randi Serrins. Rosenberg looked at us as said "Stand anywhere I'm sure they won't mind." She laughed slightly and began to spout knowledge like a fountain.

Standing there I began to notice many differences between this Hebrew cemetery and mine back home. For starters the church is not connected to the cemetery. Rosenberg stated, "When this cemetery was built Jewish priests considered themselves to be unholy if they entered a church next to a cemetery." I was astounded at this information then as we were walking around I noticed there were no flowers!

After talking about the many stories of ghosts and disaster that had happened in the area and to the cemetery it became clear how much pride both of these women had in their cemetery and I understood why. Three hundred years of history in one place and friends and relatives buried there.

The Star of David as seen here
was found everywhere in the
Cemetery.

While walking through the cemetery I saw two main symbols one familiar and the other new. The Star of David I was familiar with and knew the relevance it had to the Jewish culture. The other however I was not so familiar with, the Rabenic blessing. These two symbols were everywhere throughout the cemetery.

After seeing the cemetery and talking to both of our guides I felt a lot more knowledgeable about the Jewish religion just from seeing their cemetery. Anita and Randi knew what they were talking about and near the time we left Randi said, "This cemetery has been here through disease, hurricanes, and several wars." And as good as they are taking care of it this cemetery will be here for many more years.

Rabinic blessings were a
common symbol.

Graveyard Scavenger Hunt!

On the night of September 23 our class set out on a hunt to find ten different styles of grave markers in the Charleston area. On our journey we walked through Cathedral Church and Saint Patricks Catholic Church graveyard. These are the different types of markers I found.

This example of a Die on base found in Cathedral
Church and belongs to Mary Reeves. 

This is a bedstead grave marker found at Cathedral
Church. This grave belongs to Samull Pickens.

This is a Column grave marker also found at Cathedral
Church. This grave belongs to a Christopher and the last name
I couldn't exactly make out because of the weathering

This Cross grave marker was found in Cathedral
Church but the name I couldn't make out.

This Sarcophagus is at Cathedral Church as well
it sits along a wall under a tree. I couldn't find the
name nor any dates for this person. 

This lawnmarhker type grave marker was found at
Cathedral Church and belongs to Sally Warfuel.

At Cathedral Church there was also this huge
Mausoleum! This belongs to the Johnston family.

This Obelisk was stood tall in the entrance of the
graveyard at Cathedral.

     


 

This is a headstone found in Saint Patricks graveyard.
It was either in a different language or so weathered
I couldn't tell.

This marker was super unique and told a story but it
had gotten so dark no one could read it!
It is a box marker but almost a ledger it
was so thin.

Tales of the Graves With A Legend

Walking into class and sitting down had never felt more electric. This evening Dr. Harwood had brought in Ruth Miller a renown tour guide and author to tell us about the people that migrated to Charleston.

As she began to speak I quickly realized how passionate and wise Miller was. She started by telling us a funny story about how she began to like graveyards and the history behind them.

Ruth Miller energetically teaching our class. 

"I had been a tour guide for a number of years," she started smiling from the memory. "I had a bus full of morticians on one of my tours and we were on our way to a church. Well when we arrived at the church they were more interested in the graveyard! We stayed there for thirty minutes or longer and they taught me more than i taught them!" A funny start to a very energetic woman beginning the journey of knowledge for what she loved.

As the history part of the speech began Miller told us many interesting facts about Charleston. One fact that she drilled into our heads throughout the lecture was that "Winners always write history books." As she continued with her interesting speech this became more and more true.

One of the central topics of Miller's speech was the fact that there are twelve marked 18th century graves and she explained that religions didn't bury other religions in their own graveyards. She continued to explain the twelve original denominations in Charleston and how they came about.

Dr. Harwood and Ruth Miller after her speech 

Miller energetically engaged the audience with many questions and her upbeat personality the entirety of her speech. Telling us about the owner of the Carolinas Anthony Ashley Cooper was one of the more interesting facts I learned. I also enjoyed Miller's statistics such as Charleston exporting more than seventy percent of the worlds rice and that forty percent of all slaves in the colonies were in Charleston.

Writing several books about graveyards, churches and slavery Miller knew every fact perfectly. One of the things that will stick with me that she said is "Bodies, bodies everywhere!" She said this and explained that everywhere you walk in Charleston you will be walking on someones grave.

Being visited by Ruth Miller was truly an amazing experience and i throughly enjoyed it in its entirety. Thank you Dr. Harwood and Mrs. Miller for organizing this speech.

Hello everyone this week we are taking a look at our first graveyard with our groups! Our group of me, Graham and Maddie chose Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston.
We had a pretty fun time taking pictures and researching our church and the main post is on Maddie's page so everyone check it out.

My name is Jeffrey Jones I am from York, South Carolina. I am 18 years old and enjoy sleeping, fishing, basketball and food. Most of all I enjoy music and anything that has to do with it. I play the piano, saxophone, trumpet and Marimba. Moving to Charleston has been a pleasant change so far and I want to see how everything pans out over the next few weeks. I also have never been into a big city before so all this is kind of crazy. Already since I have been down here my dorms transformer blew and I moved in my dorm in a down pour. I'll keep my blog posted over the next 15 or so weeks.