Churchyards Offer Grave Discoveries

Thanks to Harper Richards for taking this photo at Cathedral Church

Our first “grave trotting” this semester took us to a pair of churchyards a short walk from campus. I like Cathedral (Episcopal) Church of St. Luke and St. Paul on Coming Street for its wide variety of grave styles in a fairly small space.



St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on St. Philip Street also has many old grave sites worth exploring.

Both churches are rich in history. St. Patrick's was "solemnly consecrated" in 1887, a year after the Great Charleston Earthquake after 1886, which interrupted construction.  The large brick church would not be completely finished until 1899. More on its history here.

Cathedral Church is much older. "Founded by planters and built by the hands of slaves," the large columned House of God is more than 200 years old, dating to 1816.  The church's website doesn't have much on its history, but what it does have is here.

Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming St.

St. Patrick's Catholic Church, 134 St. Philip St.

The task I assigned the students was, you could say, a scavenger hunt. They were to identify and photograph at least 10 different types of grave markers, then post and write about them on their blogs.

In the classroom a few times we reviewed the array of markers, from headstones and bedsteads to obelisks and mausoleums. Tonight was a chance to see them in person, albeit in the dark!

Above left is a die on socket type of marker.  It is broken and the top part has fallen to the ground. I photographed it to show the rods on the base that indicate how the two parts should be connected. Click on the photo to see it better. The large marker on the right is called a pedestal.

I asked the student to include, with each marker they photograph, the name of the person or persons buried there and when they were born and died.  This is not always easy since many inscriptions have faded over time, plus it was dark.  I did encourage them to come back during the day if they needed to do so.

The columned pedestal shown above belongs to Susan S. Haskell. The writing says she was the "consort" of W. E. Haskell.  "Consort" is one of those old time words I've sometime seen at old graveyards like this. It is another word for spouse or wife, but can also mean husband.

There is a very detailed entry to this Haskell site on findagrave.com. The inscription transcription seems to have some inaccuracies, however.  It starts out "Sacred to the Memory of W.E. Haskell" instead of Susan S.  There is quite a bit of writing on the sides of the tall shaft. I want to go back and document this one some more.  I'll add more information when I get it.

The unfortunate broken marker (above) is inscribed with the name Mary Ellen Reeves who was married to Furman Manly Harper.  She died in 1866.  According to her findagrave entry, she was just 28 when she died.  Interestingly, this site shows the marker when it was still upright.  Mary's parents are also buried in this churchyard as is one of her children, an infant daughter Eva who died in 1859 only a year or so old.  She is mentioned on the headstone inscription.

Here again a die on socket rod can be seen

It would be nice if descendants today of the Reeves and Harper families would repair the fallen marker.  There are a number of other markers in this graveyard and elsewhere around Charleston in broken condition.

Forgotten to time they may be, however.

Several marker varieties can be seen here 

We were fortunate to have moderate winter weather on the evening of our visit.  At least one student wore shorts.

It is so nice having old graveyards close to campus and open too!

Some nearby street lights help illuminate the Cathedral churchyard but still care is needed to not trip over small markers and obstructions in and on the ground.

I almost tripped myself!

The spread out graves make this churchyard easy and safe to explore

There are 12-14 (maybe more) different marker types at Cathedral Church. They include several mausoleums like the one seen in the back of this photograph.

Mausoleums are like houses. Caskets are placed in them above ground.  Six, eight, sometimes more people can be interred, depending on the size of the structure.

They cost a lot of money no doubt so families of means were the ones to sometimes go these burial route.

St. Patrick's Catholic Church graveyard

Next we walked a few blocks to the graveyard at St. Patrick's Catholic Church.  It is much smaller than the one at Cathedral Church and there is not as much variety.

But it does have some excellent examples and some beautiful and detailed markers.

These two students spent some time examining this ledger marker with its lovely artwork and extensive inscription.

There is lovely art and extensive writing on this old ledger 

Another assignment I will have these students do is called "Old Charlestonian." They are to find an 18th or 19th-century grave marker and conduct research to find out as much as possible about the person buried there.

The one these students are examining would be an excellent "Old Charlestonian" for this project.

Prior to visiting St. Patrick's I showed the students the graveyard's entry on findagrave.com. As I scrolled down the alphabetical listing of the interred, one caught my eye. Private Andrew J. Brady was just 17 or 18 when he died after fighting with the American army in the war with Mexico.

The findagrave entry here shows his grave marker, a headstone or tombstone. The inscription concisely sums up how he died in 1848 in Montgomery, Ala. "when the disease he contracted in Mexico and which had carried off so many terminated his life." The inscription concludes saying the stone was erected by his father P. Brady.

This, like many at these old Charleston graveyards, invites additional research to "bring to life" lives lost so long ago.   To be continued...

Later in the afternoon my wife and I ventured downtown for Sunday brunch and a few errands. While in the area I revisited St. Patrick's small graveyard, determined to find Private Andrew Brady's headstone that I had seen earlier on findagrave.com.

In the daylight amid the small churchyard it only took a couple minutes to find the tombstone.  It is toward the front of the graveyard and still stands as erect as Private Brady would have stood at attention before his commanding officer. 

The stone is covered with small writing from top to bottom. 

A neat thing I noticed at the bottom right of the stone is that it is signed by the stonecutter who carved it:  W. T. White.  This is a name I am very familiar with.  The White father and sons, including W.T., were the preeminent grave monument makers in Charleston and the Lowcountry during the mid-to-late 1800s. 

I mention the Whites several times in my 2014 book, "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry." Their names can be found on numerous Magnolia Cemetery creations.  W.T. or William is buried at Magnolia Cemetery. My book has photos of his impressive grave site (page 217).