Second Pres is First Best

Second Pres is first best!

Back at Second Presbyterian Church again. Click here to view more history of the church.

For our Beyond the Grave class, our group, Graham Herndon, Jeffery Jones and I, went back to Second Presbyterian, this time to get more information about the grave sites.. Click their names to view their blogs.








We were able to find 15 different types of grave markers. For more information on different types of grave markers click here.

Box Tomb

Information on the person resting here could not be found.

Lawn Marker/Military Issue

This lawn marker is also a military issued marker, this marks the site of  Lieutenant Colonel Charles Irvin Green. Her served in the US Air Force in World War II. He was born October 11, 1922 and died April 14, 1992.

Die on Base

 This die on base also marks Lt Col Charles Irvin Green as well as Rose Azalea Hughes Green. Rose was born November 24, 1923 and died June 13, 2010. According to findagrave.com, Rose was a Charleston native and retired cosmetologist. She was also a life long member of Second Presbyterian. 

Ledger

Captain John Williamson was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1748 and died June 26, 1830 at 82 years old. He was the Captain in the SC Continental Army 1st Regiment and was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati. His brother Hugh Williamson was a signer of the Constitution in 1787. He is the great-great uncle of Charleston author John Bennett, best known for Doctor of the Dead, a collection of 23 stories set in the Charleston area. "His friends placed a marble monument as a last tribute of respect to his memory" All of this is written on top of his marker.

Photo from findagrave.com

Cross

This cross marks the grave for Rev. John William Flinn and his wife Jane Adger Smyth. Jane is the daughter of Rev. Thomas Smyth and was born March 4, 1849 and died May 9, 1914. Rev. John was born July 11, 1847 and died December 28, 1907.

Photo from frindagrave.com

Photo from findagrave.com

Obelisks

These obelisks mark the graves of Rev. Thomas Smyth and his wife, Margaret Milligan Adger. Rev. Thomas was born June 14, 1808, according to findagrave.com, he was born in Ireland, and he died August 20, 1873 in Charleston. Margaret was born July 7, 1807 in Charleston and died July 23, 1884. Rev. Thomas was is pastor of Second Presbyterian for over 40 years. 

Slant Marker

These slant mark the resting place for Newton John Murray, Jr. and Georgia Hayes Murray. Newton was born August 11, 1924 and died February 16, 2004 and Georgia was born September 16, 1926 and died April 5, 1991.

Bedstead

Information on the person resting here could not be found.

Column

This column marks Andrew McD Brown and his wife, Ellen Louisa Brown. Andrew was born November 30, 1824 and died June 25, 1878. Ellen was born October 7, 1828 and died September 17, 1862.

Headstone

This headstone marks the resting place of Archibald Buchanan, he was born in 1798 and died August 15, 1823 at the age of 24 or 25. Here you can see the headstone was broken but has been fixed. 

Photo from findagrave.com

Pedestal Urn

This pedestal urn is for the McElroys, Isabelle, James, Robert and Sarah. Robert was born November 12, 1829 and died July 20, 1890. James was born May 11, 1839 and died August 21, 1877. Sarah was the infant daughter of James, her birth and death dates are unknown. Isabelle was born July 18, 1843 and died November 17, 1883. No other information about their relationship was found. 

Photo from findagrave.com

Photo from findagrave.com

Photo from findagrave.com

Pedestal

This pedestal is for John Marshal, Sr. He was born January 13, 1801 in England and died August 23, 1881.

Bevel

This bevel marks Guy Ridgway Smythe, he was born September 8, 1944 and died August 5, 2008

Die on Socket

This marker is for Isaac R. Wilson, Jr., he was born February 13, 1825 and died May 9, 1869. It is hard to make out the epitaph, however, the weeping willow at the top give us a sad feeling when looking at the grave marker. 

The most common type of grave markers are headstones. Looking at the graveyard as a whole you would not think the most common would be headstone, however, between all of the other markers types many headstones of different sizes could be found. When we walked to the back corner, it was mostly headstones in that area.

This is the oldest grave marker we could find in the graveyard, it is the site of Hugh Buchanan and his daughter Mary. Hugh was born 1777 in Scotland and died September 26, 1811 at the age of 33 or 34, Mary was born 1806 and died October 8, 1819 at the age of 12 or 13. We also noticed that this grave marker was signed at the bottom by J. Bourdoe but could not find information on them.

This is the second oldest grave marker we found, it is the site of Henery C. Gefken, Sr. and his grandson James Gefken. Henery was born in 1748 and died January 9, 1813 at the age of 65. He was a native a Germany and lived in Charleston for 40 years. James was born September 10, 1813 and died January 21, 1814 at just 4 months old.

This is the third oldest grave marker we found, it marks the site of John L. Tweed and his wife Ellen Robinson. John was born in 1792 and died December 28, 1818, Ellen was born in 1786 and died March 7, 1882.













When we first saw this marker from a distance, we were amazed. It was interesting because it was very different from the other grave markers, it is very tall and thick. This marks James Adger, II and his wife Sarah Elizabeth. According to findagrave.com, James was born November 2, 1777 in Ireland then moves to New York in 1794 then Charleston in 1802. Sarah was born August 27, 1783. They married in 1806 and had 9 children. At one point James was the richest man in the United States. Sarah died October 18, 1856 and James died September 24, 1858. Their children are also buried at Second Presbyterian, two in which have already been discussed earlier in this post. 

On the back of their grave marker there is a very nice epitaph, it talks about out Sarah passing and Abraham coming to mourn her and to be with James until he passed. "And Sarah/died./And Abraham came/to mourn for Sarah/and to weep for her./Then Abraham/gave up the ghost/and died in a good old age./An old man/and full of years./companions of a half century/separated by two brief year/now reunited/and present with the lord/neither can they die an more"









We found these markers interesting because they looked like two giant rocks that had been engraved. Here lies Joseph Ellison Adger and his wife Susan Cox Johnson, one of their children, John Bailey Adger and his wife, Jennie Warren.


Joseph was born October 26, 1824 and died September 14, 1898. Susan was born January 21, 1829 and died January 6, 1905. John was born April 19, 1858 and died in 1940. Jennie was born in 1863 and died in 1942. 

This marker is for Jane Eliza Adger born January 7, 1849 and died May 3, 1857 at the age of 8. The epitaph on this grave marker is very sorrowful. It describes how Jane's parents were sad to have to put her in her grave, however, they knew she would be in good hands.

"It is well nor would we our child recall,/But soothing and sweet are the tears we let fall/It is well since the saviour's word is given./That, of such as she was, is the host of Heaven/It cost sore pangs on our grieving breast/When we laid her down in the grave to rest-/But- 'tis well and chasten'd we bow to the rod./For the wielding hand, was the hand of God."












This epitaph is similar to It is well with the child? from "Lyra Memorialis: Original Epitaphs and Churchyard Thoughts, in Verse" by Joseph Snow. It is not exact but, it is the closest relation to this epitaph.

The figure is an angle holding a banner with "Little Jane" written on it, this signifies the innocence of the young child.

This marker is for John Bulow Brown, he was born April 7, 1821 and died September 19, 1827. On the grave marker they specified the exact age of John, 6 years, 5 months and 12 days. It is so sad to have such a young child die, however, they marker they left in his memory is very beautiful. There is a face of what appears to be a child with wings. At the bottom there is a section from the hymn Death of a Young Child written by Joel Asaac Knight.

"Alas how changed this lovely flower/Which bloomed and cheered the heart/Fair, fleeting comfort of an hour/How soon we're called to part"

Photo from findagrave.com

This epitaph is fairly sad but it is also a lovely way to remember the young child. This section of the song displays the fact that when the child was born everything was great and beautiful, however, when he passed everything changed and they had to say goodbye to their son at such a young age.






We were amazed to see how many young children were buried there. Even though we know many young children died back in the day, it is still sad to know how young they were.

They still have burials today, we saw an fairly new grave site while we were walking around.