The Outstanding Old City Jail

Welcome back bloggers!

Today's blog post will be about the Old City Jail that can be found in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.

The Old City Jail

Upon arrival, the Old City Jail already has some spooky vibes. This structure was built in 1802 and closed in 1939, giving it plenty of years to collect scary stories.

Beyond the stories that go along with this haunting building, there are also many facts that equally as interesting. For example, you can see in the picture that the jail has a fourth floor. However, the fourth floor no longer exists because the earthquake of 1886 ruined it.

One of my favorite stories that I heard was about Lavinia Fisher. Lavinia Fisher was a woman that worked with her husband to murder innocent people until they were caught. While in jail, her husband was able to escape but he couldn't bare to be apart from his wife so he waited to be caught and sent back to be reunited with her. Lavinia Fisher was sentenced to death by hanging and right before she was hanged, she said "If any of you have a message for the devil, hand it to me for I will be dining with him tonight". In my opinion, that is probably one of the most memorable last words that someone could say.

Cages that prisoners were held in

Elonzo Small's wheelchair

Another interesting story is about Elonzo Small. He was the youngest person to be incarcerated at the age of 10. Elonza was wrongfully convicted of murder. His did not last very long in the jail and left behind a wheel chair that is there to this day. There is a legend that the ghost of Elonza Small still haunts the Old City Jail.

All of the inmates were sentenced an average of 40 lashes from a whip unless they were on death row. There are many markings on the wall that are thought to be the prisoners keeping count of how many more lashes they had to endure.

While we continue our tour, our tour guide mentioned that the jail would bury people in the yard right outside. He then continued to say that "the jail is one giant tombstone". This quote was a creative and interesting way of viewing the Old City Jail.

I had also noticed that a small structure outside resembled a witches hat, continuing the overall haunting and spooky feeling that the jail gives off naturally.

Witches hat structure

Matthew Sully Reeves

Hey Bloggers!

When looking for an Old Charlestonian to further research, I wanted someone with both a grave that I enjoyed and a story that I found interesting. Matthew Reeves fit that description with a beautiful and well preserved obelisk.

Matthew Reeves was born December 15th, 1814 in Charleston, South Carolina and died August 10th, 1862 in Charleston, making him a true Charlestonian.

Reeve's Grave

This grave can be found in the Cathedral Church of Saint Luke and Saint Paul located on Coming St. in Charleston, South Carolina. We visited this church earlier this semester and I found this graveyard to be very interesting. A majority of the graves are historic, meaning they are older than 75 years old.

Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul

Matthew Reeves was well known throughout the entire state of South Carolina because he was well versed in the musical world. He entertained people with his talent during church as the organist at St. Michaels. Although he was born in Charleston, it is thought that he was musically trained in Europe. I find this to be very interesting because Europe was and continues to be known for the musical prodigies it produces. It isn't known where exactly he studied music within Europe but being able to go at all can lead one to believe that Reeve's came from a wealthy family. It is said that Reeves was a genuine and nice person, making friends wherever life took him.

His death was sudden and heartbreaking to the those he left behind. It is thought that his death was a stroke and before he passed away, he was actually playing the organ for his church earlier that day. He died at the age of 47 which may seem young in today's age but during the 1800's, the average life expectancy was in the 40's.

I found Matthew Reeves to be interesting because of the hints towards wealth that his history gives. One can assume but it will never be known for sure and the mystery is what makes it the most intriguing.

The Magnificent Magnolia Cemetery!

Hello bloggers!

This blog post will contain information on possibly the most amazing cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina.

This cemetery is called Magnolia Cemetery and contains graves that date all the way back to the 1700s. Along with the history that it captures, there is also plenty of beauty to be found within.

A Peony Flower found in Magnolia Cemetery

Before I had even seen a grave, I was distracted by the many beautiful plants that are grown within this cemetery. I find this to be very admirable because the dead are about to rest in peace and beauty.

As my class continued to travel around, I was amazed by the amount of effort that is put into keeping this cemetery looking "to die for". There is endless amounts of angel oak trees to keep the cemetery looking green and fresh while also providing nice shade over the graves.

There is also a small bridge that can be walked along to pass over the pond. Even those who do not have a loved one to visit in this cemetery will enjoy being there just because of how beautiful it is.

Along with enjoying the beauty, some may enjoy the history that can be found within this vast cemetery.

Rosalie Raymond's Grave

For example, the grave of Rosalie Raymond White. Rosalie was an infant that passed away and the grave is her face on a baby carriage. I personally was drawn to this grave because not only is it a piece of history, but it is also fascinating that they took the time to have Rosalie's face made into stone for her grave.

The Magnolia Cemetery has many graves beyond Rosalie's that are a piece of history. My eye was caught when I saw some very historical looking graves. These graves are so old that the writing that was once on them, has now degraded away. Despite not being able to read who they are for or when they were made, I was still very interested in them.

I enjoy that graves can be around for centuries and still continue to be something that can be admired. Old graves have a nostalgic feeling to me despite the fact that I was not born in the century that they were made.

Family Grave Site

This group of old graves were fenced in so it can be assumed that it is a family lot. Behind the two graves in the front, smaller ones can be found. I am making the connection that those are the children of the whomever is buried in the front.

This was common in the past because medicine was not as advanced. Cemeteries such as Magnolia hold many family lots because one sickness could be fatal to all. It is unfortunate but also a very helpful way of recognizing when certain diseases struck disaster throughout history.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Magnolia Cemetery and I would recommend it as a place to see when in Charleston because it is not only beautiful, but also full of knowledge.

Patrick Gleason

Hello bloggers!

This week we have been given the assignment of research a past family member. I took interest in my great-grandfather, Patrick Gleason.

Patrick Gleason was born in 1893 in Tipperary, Ireland and lived there during his childhood years. However, he grew tired of his life in Ireland and longed for a life in the United States. In the year 1911, he decided to run away from home and board the Arcadian to begin his new life.

Dark green represents Tipperary

Once getting to the United States, my great-grandfather chose to live in Philadelphia on Bambrey Street. When try to find more information about my great-grandfather, my mother mentioned this street and explained that she spent a lot of her childhood traveling into the city to visit her grandparents.

Street view of Bambrey St.

Patrick Gleason kept his Irish roots alive even though he was now living in the United States. My mother had told me that St. Patrick's Day was very important but not for the drinking, for the food. He never missed the traditional meal of corn-beef and cabbage with mashed potatoes. Although he loved his Irish background, he never returned back to Tipperary. Instead he lived out the rest of his life in Philadelphia with my great-grandmother.

My mother also revealed to me that my great-grandfather was not a fairly religious man. Interestingly enough, none of my great-grandparents were heavily religious but their children (my grandparents) were.

The lack of religious values means that when Patrick Gleason passed away in 1978, he was cremated and did not have a headstone made. My mother said that they spread his ashes in one of his favorite places, Avalon, New Jersey.

Unfortunately, my mother does not have any pictures of the late Patrick Gleason but that does not mean that he is not still remembered by all of his living family members. I am proud of my Irish history and make sure to mention my great-grandfathers bravery of running away from home to a new country at such a young age.

Scary Symbols in Charleston

Welcome back bloggers!

Our trip this week was to the Bethel United Methodist Church graveyard. This graveyard is known for its astounding amount of interesting symbols found on the gravemarkers.

The first gravemarker I will be discussing is the grave of Joseph W. Ainger, born in 1833, died in 1888. The symbol on this grave is a cross with a crown around it. The cross and crown emblem shows that this person was religious and most likely valued their religion greatly.

The next gravemarker belongs to James F. M. Lobe (?). This gravemarker has a weeping willow on it which can represent sorrow or grief. Many people may put this on a gravestone because the person died at a young age or simply because the death is very sad.

The gravestone of Elizabeth M. Ainger, born 1807, died 1872, has a dove with a leaf in its beak. This symbol can mean hope or love. Doves are often a symbol of love but the hope aspect comes with the leaves that are being carried in the beak. This has religious context because when Noah released a bird from the Arc, it came back with leaves to show that land was nearby.

Miss Ann Eliza Calder has a gravestone that features ivy. Ivy is a symbol of friendship, so this may mean that those who buried Miss Calder were her close friends or that she valued her friendships very much still alive.

The grave of Elizabeth M. has the symbol of an angel. Angels are commonly put on graves because they represent innocence and the passing over to heaven. Elizabeth M died in her sleep and at the age of 65 years old. The fact that she died in her sleep seems like an innocent way to pass in my opinion.

The next grave belongs to Eva Lee, her grave features a rose bush on it. Roses represent love, beauty, and hope. Due to this symbol, I'm assuming that Eva Lee was seen to be beautiful and well loved by the people in her life.

This sad grave belongs to a baby by the name of Lizzie. Lizzie died at the very young age of 6 months old, which is why the rose buds that are shown on her grave are appropriate. Rose buds are used to represent the death of a child, they can be found on many children's gravemarkers.

This gravemarker seems to only have a last name on it, "Fleming". The symbol shown is a wreath which represents "victory in death". This leads me to believe that whomever this grave is for, they died for a cause.

This grave is for William H. Fleming who I am assuming is the same Fleming as mentioned above. This grave has a large book on top of it, most likely meant to be the Bible. However, the book can also represent prayer, education, or even memory. William H. Fleming was once the Pastor of the Bethel United Methodist Church so my best guess is that this book means the Bible or prayer.

This grave is a mystery grave! It is unknown who it is for because it is broken but the symbol shown is just one rose. While all roses represent beauty and love, just one rose fully bloomed symbolizes a person who died in the prime of their life, meaning that they were not exceptionally young but not quite old either.

While visiting this church, we were accompanied by a lovely woman by the name of Camille. She informed us on the history of the Methodist church, saying things like "many of our original markers were ruined during the civil war". Another really interesting fact that she said was that "the parking lot is paved over some old graves". I personally see this as way of getting some bad juju but nothing bad seems to be happening at this lovely church.

While inside, we were given more interesting information from Camille. For example, she told us that the giant chandelier was very close to falling because termites had infested the attic/roof of this church! Luckily someone found the termites in time and no one was hurt by the tragedy to be.

Sources used: discovery.stqry.com, trace.com, washtenawhistory.org, thoughtco.com

Ruth's Riveting Tales

Hello bloggers!

Since the last time we have spoken, my class had was visited by Ruth Miller who gave an hour long lecture on the tales of Charleston's cemeteries.

Ruth Miller

Ruth Miller is originally from New England (which is also home to many old graveyards) but is now a resident of the Charleston area. She is a historian and is now a private tour guide of Charleston. Along with being a tour guide, Miller has also written several books on the historic graveyards.

She began her lecture by informing the class that Charleston was richer than New York today in 1776 and was almost as big as Boston. This fact is a representation of how sought out Charleston was, even from the very beginning. 

In my opinion, one of the most interesting facts that she told us about, was the history of how much grave moving there was in our area. When building the library and a near by parish, the grave-markers were moved, however they left the bodies to be built over and forgotten about. Miller had said that it was not uncommon to shuffle around grave-markers in order to make room for more or a new building entirely.

I find it fascinating that many of the grave-markers in our historic cemeteries may not even belong to the body that is buried below, if there even is one.

Another very interesting thing that Miller not only told about, but actually showed us, was the mourning jewelry that was used in the past.

A child posed for a picture, post death

Pictured above is a piece of mourning jewelry. It is a pin that has the photo of a child on it. The most interesting part of this pin is that the child was posed for this picture after they had already passed away. It was more common to do this because photography was not as popular and accessible as it now, so if there was an unexpected death, it is unlikely that the family had a photo of the loved one who had passed.

Spooking Sightings in Charleston

Cathedral Churchyard - St. Patrick's Catholic

Hello fellow bloggers! 

Our first trip consisted of two different churchyards close to the College of Charleston campus. The first church we visited which was the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul, consisted of many different kinds of grave-markers.