Purple Skies and Dead Guys: Exploring Two of Downtown Charleston's Historical Graveyards

Chasing storms and knowledge, the Beyond the Grave FYE class at College of Charleston was able to visit two of the closest graveyards near campus.

The serene, historical sections of Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul and the St. Patrick Catholic Church provided the first experiences of our small class of twenty. Walking through these old graveyards we saw several different types of gravestones with many different symbols. I want to show you some of my favorites along with the interesting epitaphs on these stones.     

A picture of the storm we ventured into. This photo does not

do the violet skies justice.

The sign on the front of St. Luke's

They also have a coveted Carolopolis

award.

First we visited the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. John, on beautiful Coming Street (I'm a little biased because I live on Coming), which boasted a grand white steeple and wrought iron fencing around the property. This graveyard featured a collection of different styles along with a variation of different  years people were placed into the yards there; the most recent I found was 2013.

Found in the graveyard of St. Luke,

this is an example of a Pedestal tomb with an urn atop it.

The site pictured on the left, reads "Thos. George Simons and Catherine Hume, His wife Catherine died Aged 84, 6 months, 26 days." On the other sides of the square, an epitaph to George was also written. This particular urn stood out to me because it was in a section that had flood lighting. I am very curious to know why lights were placed around this one little section of St. Luke's.

This mausoleum is fenced in with gates and has no

indication of what family is inside.  

This mausoleum is one of the most "decorated" of the graveyard. It has two torches and a phrase in Latin across the top. The phrase "qui christo vivit perire nescit" I found has conflicting meanings. On Professor Harwood's blog it says the inscription means "it is hard to kill a rose in a churchyard" but in Google Translate the phrase translates to "He knows that Christ lives lost" which I believe makes more sense because Christo is Latin for Christ. This monument also has inverted torches with flames that symbolize eternity and death. (As of October 19,2016, Professor Harwood's blog now has an updated explanation of this phrase.)

This column was hidden in a back section of the graveyard and has the cut off top to symbolize a life stopped too soon or "cut off." It also has a wreath on the top that was adopted by Christians and Greeks as victory and redemption. This one looks like an laurel wreath which is usually used for people who have a high distinction in the literature and arts.



The picture below is of  Alice Flacc Simons who was born April 19, 1849 and died on January 13, 1891. Her grave was extremely beautiful to me and offered a sense of serenity when I looked at it. She is in what is known as a tomb grave; hers is just lower than most typical tomb graves.

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Our last stop for the night was the St. Patrick's Catholic Church graveyard which offers very little variety in headstones with many of them containing crosses.

During this trip one specific cross stuck out more than any other the others, it was carved to look like a tree in my perception and it had ivy leaves carved around in a winding pattern like it had just overgrown onto the cross. It is also a representation of the die and socket style of gravestone. The ivy winding around the cross is a symbol for many things like memory, immortality, and eternal life among others.

There was another cross with what looks to be grapes surrounding it on vines on a headstone. The grapes are used to symbolize Christ. It also appears to have some sort of ivy snaking around it as well.

The last symbol is probably one of my favorites as Weeping Willows remind me of my childhood down here in South Carolina. The weeping willow is said to stand for nature's lament and mourning. This stone is also very peculiar to me as the top of it resembles the Devil's horns.

As this post draws to a close, I encourage you to visit both of these beautiful graveyards and walk among the stories hidden in stone. Thank you for following my stormy adventure around Charleston!

Exciting Historian Shares Knowledge at College of Charleston

You may be "crazy" about a favorite band, activity, or hobby; well, Ms. Ruth Miller has the dead running trough her head. She came to share her extensive knowledge thanks to Professor Harwood.

Ms. Ruth Miller, established Charleston historian and expert for over 30 years, shared her immense knowledge with the FYE Beyond the Grave. While Ms. Miller is revered as a historian for all of Charleston, her favorite places to speak about are where Charleston's deceased lie.

Ms. Miller credits her love for all things graveyard to "a group of morticians who stopped [her] at St. Michael’s Church and taught [her] about the grave sites." Since that tour of "over five graveyards in just two hours," she has delved into the stories of Charleston's past residents.

The greeting sign in front of St. Micheal's, the site that started it all.

She is a part of the highly acclaimed Association of Gravestone Studies which has members from all walks of life including historians, genealogists, stone cutters, and many more professions that tend to deal with the other side of life. This group often "believes graves are important to everyone" and they aim to preserve and document many of the sites around the country which hold great historical value.

Among her numerous achievements throughout her life including graduating from Duke University, becoming a social studies teacher, and established author on several articles, she has published a collection of pamphlets on the eleven 17th and 18th Century graveyards around downtown Charleston. They include anecdotes and photographs of the beautiful grounds in a portable format.

Ms. Miller and Professor Harwood exchanging books at the end of her lecture.

Throughout her visit to The College, she opened our eyes to many facts dealing with the historical statistics of Charleston’s beloved graveyards. Our city houses two 17^th Century sites with the other nine being from the 18^th century. Among these eleven grounds, Charleston is said to have “best collection of 18^th century tombstones in the United States.” Although this fact is comical due to the fact that the Lowcountry is lacking heavily in the main component of tombstones; we have no stone! She cites the success of Lowcountry stone cutters immaculate work being so because they ordered the finest stone from northern areas and hand carved them once they reached South Carolina.

During her lecture, she also was able to tell stories of a few of her favorite grave sites that can be found in her publications about them. She pointed out St. Mary’s Roman Catholic, Circular Congregational Church, Unitarian Church, and St. Micheal’s as some of her favorites from around the city.

The story I loved most came from the Unitarian Church where the “most widely read woman at the turn of the Civil War” is buried. Carolina Gilman is inside it's graveyard but is often unspoken of because she and her husband owned slaves during their time and the Unitarian Church does not condone slavery so they more or less “swept them under” and erased them from their church.

Circular Conventional Church and its graveyard. Looking forward to visiting this one most.

In all, Ms. Miller’s visit was extremely informational yet interesting as she shared her love for all things grave to our class. We thank her very much for taking the time to teach us about one of the most historical places in our great city. Stay tuned for future posts where I explore some sites talked about in this post and others around the city!

“The wealthiest place on earth is the cemetery. There lies buried the greatest treasure of untapped potential.”
                        -Myles Munroe  

Photo Citations:
St. Micheal's Churchyard.  Hunt, Chris. 2009. Photo. U.S. Web Archives. <http://www.usgwarchives.net/sc/charleston/photos/tombstones/stmichaels/stmichae123nph.jpg> 

Ms. Miller and Professor Harwood. Personal Archives. 

Circular Church Graveyard: Friel, Thomas. 15 April 2016. Photo. Flickr. <https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1602/26520156556_de82252906_b.jpg>

A Look Into My Life

Hi y'all! For anyone who does not know, my name is Montana. I was born in Summerville, South Carolina, where most of my family still lives, but relocated to Bessemer City, North Carolina when I was very young so my dad could follow work.

I have always considered South Carolina as my home and could not be happier to attend College of Charleston. I plan to study Business Administration with a concentration in entrepreneurship, and if time allows a minor in sociology.

Personal picture of how I revealed my college of choice.

I went to an unconventional high school called Gaston Early College; this school offers a college education along with normal high school courses. At GECHS I was part of our BETA Club chapter as President and Secretary in different years, I was Business Manager for our Yearbook staff where I made business ads and had to be in embarrassing promotional videos, I was also a part of the Student Ambassadors which helped bring upcoming freshman into the school.

My school was a big part of my life for five years and I miss it so very much along with the friends I left behind in North Carolina.


In North Carolina, I worked as a bakery assistant for the wonderful Cake Me Away Bakery where I did everything under the sun. I became assistant cupcake baker, head customer service, and head bar and cookie maker in the company. As stressful as all of it sounds, I would not give up the experience for anything. The lessons I have learned at the bakery have shaped my adult life to make me a harder worker, determined to see my successes, and more patient with people. I also cook a variety of savory foods which benefited the restaurant the company owns as well.

A picture of an event the bakery has done that I delivered and set up.

I want to own a dessert based food truck with my best friend. We both worked at the bakery and study business administration; our partnership was destined. I look forward to making so many new friends here at The College, including my new roommate from Japan!

There is so much more about me that just would not fit into this blog post; if I have left anything out please ask me in person! I love to meet new people!