Can You Identify the Grave Markers?

Grave markers can tell a lot about the deceased. Can you identify the different grave markers?

We walked around two graveyards last Monday night in my Beyond the Grave class. We identified many different types of grave markers at Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul and St. Patrick's Catholic Church.

At Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul we were able to go inside the church. Even though the lights were not on you could tell how grand and beautiful everything is.

The organ up in the balcony.

Ruth Spills the Truth

Ruth Miller and I

Ruth spilled the truth about historic Charleston.

I had the opportunity to hear from one of Charleston's experts on the historic churches and graveyards.

Ruth Miller came to Charleston with a background in world history and world geography, before coming to Charleston she was a school teacher, she worked with a touring company in Charleston, and she has been involved with Charleston history for over 40 years.

She has written many books on Charleston history and graveyards, which can be found here.

Miller said, "Winners write history books." By this she meant that when someone wins a war, they will write the history in favor of themselves. They want to make themselves look good. After the Civil War many of the American history books changed.

In many history classes, we learned that the great colonial cities were Boston for the dumping of the tea, New York for being the richest and largest city and Philadelphia where the founding fathers met in the third city. However, not a whole lot is mentioned about Charleston.

200 Year Old Charleston Church!

A Charleston church with over 200 years of history.

In my Beyond the Grave class we did a first impressions of Charleston churches as a group project.

What a beautiful entrance!

My group chose the Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston. We chose this church because it was closer to campus and the views of the church are very elegant. The church offers something different at every angle.

Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston is located at 342 Meeting Street Charleston, SC 29403.

Front door to the church.

The community of Presbyterians were dissenters from the Church of England who worshiped together in the White Meeting House on Meeting St. The congregation included English, Irish, Scottish, French Huguenots and Independent Presbyterians. Twelve families withdrew from the White Meeting House and established the First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, which was modeled after the Church of Scotland.





This church grew quickly and there was a need for a second Presbyterian church. In 1809 planning for Second Presbyterian Church began. On April 3, 1811 it was dedicated with the corporate name of "Second Presbyterian Church of Charleston and Its Suburbs".

Charleston Graveyards: At Night

Be careful walking the graveyards at night, you don't know who or what may be lurking behind the tombstones. Tuesday night I visited 11 Charleston churches and graveyards in my Beyond the Grave class. They may all seem nice and quite, but watch your step, it will most likely be a grave. If you trip, I bet it is a spirit telling you to get off their grave.

Churches have their own beautiful architecture and unique layout of grave sites. At St. Mary's church on Hasell St. the graveyard wraps around the church and is very small, many of the grave sites were back to back to one another.

While the people were shorter back then, they also were known to dig up old caskets and replace them with new people. They would even dig a deeper hole for older caskets and have people stacked on top of one another. 



To the right is a very unique tomb, it is very grand and has different art work than normally seen.

Hurricane Dorian Took Everything but the Lovebugs

Hurricane Dorian took everything but decided to leave us with the lovebugs! Dorian is even canceling schools just barely into the semester, but it won't take the lovebugs back home.

Hurricane Dorian formed August 24, 2019, hit the Bahamas and is now off the coast of Florida. This storm is one of the most powerful systems ever observed in the Atlantic Ocean.











Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas as a Category 5, moving ever so slowly. The damage it has already made in the Bahamas is breath taking. Homes destroyed, lives lost, and fear in everyone. They will remember the time before Dorian and a time after.

Extra! Extra! Read All About Me!

Hi I am Maddie Robertson and this is me!

I have done many things over the years. I played on a tee ball team when I was little, I swam on a swim team for a few years, I started dancing when I was 3, I started drag racing in 2014, and I have taken aerial classes.

I am 3rd from top.

In 2013 my dance team had the opportunity to be a part of the Team USA dance team. We traveled to Germany to compete in the International Dance Organization dance competition against other countries such as, Germany, Russia, South Africa and many others. The trip cost was pretty expensive so while we worked very hard on our routine and made some changes, we also had some fundraisers. We had a car wash, doughnut sale, a hunted house, pizza night and dinner with the Goose Creek mayor.

All ready in our costumes! I am center
back, with white hat.  

When Thanksgiving came along, we were ready to go to Germany. We were in Riesa, which is in East Germany. The culture was very different from the Untied States. Many people kept to themselves and things were very quiet. At night very few people were out and not many things were open. Overall, the culture was very different and the people were much more reserved. The trip was such a great opportunity, we got to see many great historic sites and meet some nice people.