Unitarian Church Top 10

Our group explored the Unitarian Church one last time for the semester. During our visit, we created a list of the top 10 elements of this unique, diverse churchyard.

1. Open to the public 7 days a week

There are gates on both sides of the churchyard that make it easy for visitors to come and walk around the cemetery. This is a very unique and interesting cemetery to visit. It’s naturalistic vibe gives it a unique feel and peacefulness. Loaded with history and stories, the Unitarian Church and Cemetery is worth visiting.

King Street entrance of the Unitarian Churchyard 

2. Overgrown Vegetation

The plant life at the Unitarian church is one of the main features that sets it apart from any other churchyards on the Charleston peninsula. The various types of trees and vegetation are one of the key reasons as to why our group selected this cemetery for our FYE class. 

Photo of the overgrown vegetation in the Unitarian Churchyard 

3. Accessible to Public

There is a cute little hallway on king street that leads you down a winding path of trees and moss between the buildings to the cemetery. It has a very cute, quaint vibe to it that makes the cemetery stand out from others in charleston. This also makes it so that it is accessible from King Street as well as Archdale Street.

Photo shows the times that the churchyard is open and accessible to the public

4. Ghost Story

The Unitarian graveyard is well known its ghost commonly known as the “Lady in White”.  The “Lady in White” is believed to be Anna Ravenel. When she was young she fell in love with a soldier named Edward Allen. Anna’s father didn’t approve and refused to let Anna see Edward ever again. Anna was heartbroken and shortly after fell sick and died. Her father bought six different grave plots and marked them with the same unmarked headstone to prevent Edward from ever finding Anna’s final resting place. Edward Allen later became the famous poet Edgar Allen Poe and wrote his famous poem “Annabel Lee” about Anna. Late at night people sometimes see heartbroken Anna Ravenel wandering around the graveyard looking for her long lost love. 

Photo of Edgar Allen Poe

5. Wildlife 

Although lots of dead people are buried here the graveyard is very much alive! The graveyard is full of not only lush greenery but is full of wildlife. When wandering through the graveyard it is hard to miss the large population of birds, squirrels, and lizards that call this graveyard home.

A lizard laying on one of the grave markers in the Unitarian Churchyard 

6. Large Size

Unlike many of the other churchyards that we visited in Charleston, the Unitarian church is one of the larger sites that we visited. With marked grave markers dating back all the way to the 1800’s, the churchyard is full of vibrant wildlife and vegetation that adds character to the site.

Overview photo of Unitarian churchyard 

7. Unique Grave Markers

One thing that really makes this graveyard stand out is the wide variety of gravemarkers. These markers are far from simple or boring. One gravemarker type that seems to be specific to the Unitarian graveyard are monoliths which are tall narrow headstones with a point at the top.

Grave marker of the Gilman family 

8. Ornate Family Plots
One thing that really stands out about this graveyard is the large amount of family plots. All of the plots are surrounded by ornate rod-iron fencing which is very popular in the Charleston area.

Photo of a family plot in the Unitarian Churchyard 

9. History

The Unitarian Churchyard certainly has quite a bit of history. While we were exploring the churchyard, we came across a grave marker with a death date all the way back to 1808. However, the photo of this said grave marker is not included unfortunately. We found it very interesting that people were still being buried in this cemetery recently. The death date on this grave marker is recorded as March 30 of 2015.

Photo of one of the most recent grave markers at our churchyard

10. Large Stained Glass Windows

While we were unable as a team to visit our church during visiting hours, we were able to walk around the outside and get some photos. Our church has these large beautiful stained glass windows which really add character to the building. They are protected on the outside by glass but you can see them much more clearly inside. They are very unique and add a lot of style and class to our church

Photo of stained glass windows at the Unitarian Church 

This post was created by Taylor Buchan, Brooke Conner, and Emma Stout

The Colburn Family Legacy

For my “Old Charlestonian” project for my beyond the grave class, I chose to research Mary Rebecca Colburn and her family. One of the main reasons that I chose this family to research was because one of my good friends from Ohio is distantly related to this family which I thought was really cool. Mary was born on March 9, 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina. Her parents, Jane D. Colburn and John Henry Colburn, moved to Charleston in 1850 from Boston, Massachusetts. The Colburn family resided on Queen Street with her parents in addition to three other siblings, Sarah, James, and Thomas. While her father worked as a fire insurance agent for the city, Mary’s mother worked at home which was quite common for women to do back in the 1800’s.

The gravemarker of Mary Rebecca Colburn in the Unitarian Churchyeard 

Public library card for Mary Rebecca Colburn 

Unfortunately, Mary’s life was cut short on September 17, 1860 at six months old. She died as a result of congestion in her brain. Throughout her short life, her parents vigorously tried to find a doctor on the east coast of the United States that could perform a surgery to save their daughter. Mary was the first Colburn to parish and the first Colburn to be buried in the Unitarian Church Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina. Later on, her family members were buried alongside her in the Unitarian Church Cemetery. However, a few of the Colburn of later generations were laid to rest in magnolia cemetery which I found rather odd as there was no explanation as to why. On Mary’s headstone, her mother insisted that the words, “suffer little children to come unto me. And forbid them not” were present. I was able to find a majority of my information from the Charleston County Public Library and familysearch.org. 

The Magnificent Magnolia Cemetery

Last Friday, our class took a trip to the famous Magnolia Cemetery. Our professor has been talking about this trip the entire semester in class, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to visit.
When we first arrived at the cemetery, I was amazed at how large it was. I definitely had my expectations but the cemetery itself exceeded them by a long shot. A few years back, I was able to visit Scotland with my family and it would be safe to say that Magnolia Cemetery fit right in with other cemeteries that trip.

A photo of the overall landscape of Magnolia Cemetery 

After walking around the cemetery for a little bit, I discovered that the cemetery itself was enormous! There was a giant pond in what looked like one side of the cemetery, but in reality was right in the middle of the property. The cemetery itself was very walkable and open unlike any of the other cemeteries that we visited on past trips. Also, I found it interesting that the cemetery was grouped off into different sections (i.e. mausoleum row). The vegetation and plant life was also very vibrant in Magnolia Cemetery.

 The photo shown above is a very large grave sight in Magnolia cemetery. Right when I walked through the gates, I immediately noticed the grave marker and though it was very cool. Edward Walter Hughes was born on April 21 of 1864 and died June 7 of 1943. He is buried alongside his wife, Virginia Randolph Pickney who was born on October 8 of 1887 and died on December 8, 1917.

 This grave sight also caught my intention due to its uniqueness from any of the other grave markers that I have seen. Buried here are husband and wife, James Henry Parker and Julia Augusta Parker. James was born on January 4, 1843 and died on January 27, 1915. Julia's birthdate is not engraved, but it is noted that she passed away on December 22, 1947.

This Mausoleum was constructed by the Lipinski family. In 1998, Tara Lipinski won the gold metal for the US in figure skating. Prior to winning, she proclaimed that she would build a mausoleum if she won. Lo and behold, the Lipinski family mausoleum was constructed. 

The photo above shows myself and a fellow classmate in front of the Vanderhorst Mausoleum. Overall, I throughly enjoyed visiting Magnolia Cemetery and hope that one day I might be able to go back and see some areas that we were not able to get to on this visit. 

Former US President's Mother Buried on my College Campus??

Born around 1740 in Carrickfergus, Ireland, Elizabeth Huntchinson, was the mother of the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson. Escaping religious prosecution from the ruling Anglican faction in the United Kingdom, Elizabeth and her family, along with the Crawford family, fled to America. A few weeks before Andrew Jackson II was born, Elizabeth's husband passed away. "A few weeks later, Elizabeth and her sons moved to the house of her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and James Crawford, just over the border in South Carolina. Jane’s health had greatly deteriorated after she moved to America, and she was now and invalid" (Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson para 6). 

During the Revolutionary War, the British invaded South Carolina and captured Charleston in addition to Andrew and Robert, Elizabeth's son and nephew. This caused Elizabeth to move to Charleston and bargain for their lives. "As a result of this incident, Andrew and Robert were held prisoner at Camden, South Carolina. Both boys became infected with smallpox and would have likely died, but Elizabeth arranged a prisoner transfer – the patriots turned over thirteen redcoats and the British freed seven prisoners, including the two Jacksons" (Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson para 13). Up until her death, she spent the her time tending to the soldiers that had escaped from the British warship. 

Elizabeth Jackson's grave marker memorial on Cougar Mall at the College of Charleston. 

Following her death as a result of the cholera epidemic, Elizabeth was buried in 1781 near what is now Magnolia Cemetery. However, there is a grave marker on the College of Charleston's campus that many people believe is where she is actually buried. Originally, her memorial grave marker was not located on C of C's campus. About 2.5 miles away, some "well-intended folks" wanted to move the marker from it's location as a result of it's neglected state. "In 1942, several service members at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island responded to a newspaper’s call to honor Mrs. Jackson. These men, who mostly hailed from Columbia, commissioned the marker and placed it in a railroad right of way -- a sort of no man’s land just east of King Street Extension and Heriot Street. They didn’t choose the site by chance: An 1825 letter from James H. Witherspoon of Lancaster tells Jackson: “Your mother is buried in the suburbs of Charleston about one mile from what was then called the Governor’s Gate, which is in and about the forks of Meeting and Kingstreet Roads” (This History is a Mystery para 6). 

Fast forward to 1967, due to the headstone's "unkept roadside surroundings," local historians succeeded in moving the headstone to the College of Charleston's main campus prior to Ted Stern becoming president of the college. Although she is not buried on the the College of Charleston's campus, the Daughters of the American Revolution took it upon themselves to create a statue by, making a best guess at the location of her grave, and then erecting a statue in her memory of the woman they imagined she resembled. It serves as a monument to all the forgotten, long-suffering mothers of Presidents, past, present, and future" (Statue of Andrew Jackson's Mom para 1). 

Statue of Elizabeth Jackson 

Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather Henry B. Nave

Over fall break, I was able to travel back to Ohio to visit my family and friends. While I was there, I was able to meet with my grandfather on my dad’s side to discuss our family ancestors and their history. Originally, I agreed to write a paper on my grandfather’s father, but after I got to talking with him, I realized that I wanted to trace back my ancestry even more; all the way back to 1787 when my great great great great great grandfather was born.

On December 7 of 1787 in Greene County, Tennessee, Henry B Nave was born. He was the oldest and only male out of his five siblings: Mary Catherine, Elizabeth, Emma, Clara, and Annabelle. When he was 21 years old, he married Mary Elizabeth Brooks Squires in Cocke County, Tennessee. From there, they had 4 children: John, Henry, Issac, and Rebekah. My line of the Stout family was descended from his first born son, John. 

In addition to his family life, Henry B Nave also fought in the War of 1812 under Colonel Samuel Bunch’s Regiment Mounted East Tennessee Volunteers. This group was more commonly known as the 1^st Regiment of Volunteer Mounted Infantry. After the war, he moved his family across the Mississippi all the way to Saline County, Missouri where he became a significant land owner. In 1832, he took part in the Black Hawk War, which was another conflict between the United States and the Native Americans. His first wife, Mary Elizabeth, passed away while he was off fighting in the Black Hawk war. A few years later, he remarried to a woman named Amanda Church where they had two children: David and Anthony.

Henry B Nave's gravemarker in our family cemetery in Saline County, Missouri. 

At ninety-six years old, my great great great great great grandfather passed away peacefully in his home in Saline County, Missouri on February 4, 1884. A few years ago, my grandfather went back to Missouri to see his brother and also visited the cemetery where he was buried on their land. Also, since cameras were invented in 1816 and they were not very easy to apprehend, there is no photograph of Henry B Nave ever taken. Instead, I choose to include the photos of his gravemarker that my grandfather took during his trip to Missouri. 

Henry B Nave's gravemarker side profile.