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.