{Summer FUN} SC Governors VII - Charleston Part I + a BONUS VP

Another day in search of the graves of a few more SC Governors...

As it turns out, a good many of our SC Governors are buried in and around Charleston, SC. While down at the beach for a few days, we took a day trip into Charleston, armed with an ambitious list of 8 governors to find, but sadly, we nearly came up empty-handed...

Stop #1 - St. Philip's Church - Charleston, SC

St. Philip's Church is a very historic church in the heart of downtown Charleston.

I believe that there are actually 4 SC governors buried in this churchyard, BUT part of it was closed for renovation and repair. I know that some, if not all 4, of our governors are in the closed portion, but we were unable to confirm as the church office closed early in observance of the 4th of July holiday...

Knowing that we'll have to come back, we wandered across the street to the section that was open, and checked off the grave of Vice President John C. Calhoun...

John C. Calhoun served as the 7th Vice President of the United States under Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.

Stop #2 - Circular Congregational Church - Charleston, SC

Circular Congregational Church is a very unique church that kind of resembles a castle! Located on Meeting Street, its graveyard actually borders that of St. Philip's Church.

Governor John Mathews is said to be buried here, but we couldn't find him, or the church office for that matter. The church doors were locked, as well. Many of the gravestones are very old and their inscriptions, illegible. So, this one will remain on our list...

Stop #3 - St. Michael's Church - Charleston, SC

Just down Meeting Street from Circular Congregational Church is St. Michael's Church, built on the original site of St. Philip's Church.

I believe that there are actually 3 SC governors buried in this churchyard, including Governor John Rutledge, the 1st SC governor independent of Great Britain and signer of the US Constitution...

Much like the gravestones at Circular Congregational Church, many were illegible, and his was the only one we were able to find, surely due to the special signage by his grave ...

Governor Rutledge was born in Charleston, SC on September 17, 1739 and died in Charleston on July 18, 1800.

Regardless of our luck, it was a fun day roaming around downtown Charleston...

but I suspect that we'll be back with a very similar itinerary soon!

{Summer FUN} SC Governors VI - Fort Moultrie

With the girls at camp and our boy enjoying "only child status" for the first few days of summer, on our way home from the holiday weekend at the beach, we swung by Fort Moultrie for an encore visit...

We first visited about 5 years ago during the summer of 2012...

{photos from July, 2012}

Our main reason to stop this time, was to visit the grave of General William Moultrie, who served two separate terms as Governor of South Carolina both from 1785-1787 and from 1792-1794.

Governor Moultrie was born in Charlestown, Province of South Carolina, British America on November 23, 1730 and died in Charleston, SC on September 27, 1805.

{Spring Break} SC Governors V - Columbia Part I

As it turns out, a good many of our SC Governors are buried in and around our capital city, Columbia, SC.  In fact, SIX are buried in the churchyard at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral right across from the South Carolina State House...

 

{Though the marker (erected in 1938) cites that 5 SC Governors are buried here, there are now SIX}

Chronologically, the six are as follows...

#1

Governor Richard I. Manning I served as Governor of South Carolina from 1824-1826.

Governor Manning was born in Sumter District, SC on May 1, 1789 and died in Philadelphia, PA on his 47th birthday, May 1, 1836.

#2

Governor John L. Manning, son of Governor Richard I. Manning I, served as Governor of South Carolina from 1852-1854.

Governor Manning was born in Clarendon County, SC on January 29, 1816 and died on October 24, 1889.

#3

Governor Wade Hampton III served as Governor of South Carolina from 1876-1879.

Governor Hampton was born in Charleston, SC on March 28, 1818 and died in Columbia, SC on April 11, 1902.


#4

Governor Hugh S. Thompson served as Governor of South Carolina from 1882-1886.

Governor Thompson was born in Charleston, SC on January 24, 1836 and died in New York City, NY on November 20, 1904.

#5

Governor Richard I. Manning III, grandson of Governor Richard I. Manning I (and nephew of Governor John L. Manning), served as Governor of South Carolina from 1915-1919.

{OOOPS!  Looks like this is the WRONG Richard I. Manning...new photo coming soon!}

Governor Manning was born in Sumter County, SC on August 15, 1859 and died in Columbia, SC on September 11, 1931.

#6

Governor James F. Byrnes served as Governor of South Carolina from 1951-1955.

Governor Byrnes was born in Charleston, SC on May 2, 1882 and died in Columbia, SC on April 9, 1972.

{Spring Break} SC Governors IV - Laurens & Newberry

En route to the beach, we spent another day in search of the graves of a few more SC Governors...

Stop #1 - Laurens, SC

At our first stop in Laurens, SC, we checked off a couple more on our list, BOTH buried in the same cemetery...

Governor William D. Simpson served as Governor of South Carolina from 1879-1880.

Governor Simpson was born in Laurens District, SC on October 27, 1823 and died in Columbia, SC on December 26, 1890.  He is buried in Laurens City Cemetery in Laurens, SC.

AND

Governor Robert A. Cooper served as Governor of South Carolina from 1919-1922.

Governor Cooper was born in Laurens County, SC on June 12, 1874 and died in Greenville County, SC on August 7, 1953.  He is buried in Laurens City Cemetery in Laurens, SC.

Stop #2 - Newberry, SC

Governor Coleman L. Blease served as Governor of South Carolina from 1911-1915.

Governor Blease was born in Newberry, SC on October 8, 1868 and died in Columbia, SC on January 19, 1942.  He is buried in Rosemont Cemetery in Newberry, SC.

{Spring Break} SC Governors III - Clemson + Anderson + Honea Path

It's Spring Break around these parts, and we went adventuring today, in search of the graves of a few more SC Governors...

Stop #1 - Clemson, SC

Governor Andrew Pickens, Jr. served as Governor of South Carolina from 1816-1818.

Governor Pickens was born in Edgefield County, SC on December 13, 1779 and died in Pontotock, MS on July 1, 1838.  He is buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery in Clemson, SC, right next to his father, Revolutionary War hero, General Andrew Pickens.

While at the Old Stone Church Cemetery, we paid our respects to the good friend of General Andrew Pickens, and one of my husband's ancestors,  General Robert Anderson...

Stop #2 - Anderson, SC

Governor James L. Orr served as Governor of South Carolina from 1865-1868.

Governor Orr was born in Craytonville, SC on May 12, 1822 and died in St. Petersburg, Russia on May 5, 1873.  He is buried in the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Anderson, SC.

Stop #3 - Honea Path, SC

Governor Olin D.T. Johnston served two separate terms as Governor of South Carolina both from 1935-1939 and from 1943-1945.

Governor Johnston was born near Honea Path, SC on November 18, 1896 and died in Columbia, SC on April 18, 1965.  He is buried in the Barkers Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Honea Path, SC.

{All In a Day} SC Governors II - Spartanburg

While planning is in full-swing for this summer's road trip, our biggest adventure yet, I'm trying to keep our other trips pretty close to home...  So, last weekend, we officially set out to visit the graves of all the SC Governors (from the 1776 statehood to the present), a task that's a little easier to tackle (than visiting the graves of all the presidents & vice presidents) since all but FIVE (the body of ONE of those FIVE was lost at sea) thus far are buried in South Carolina...

With the little ones out of school for Presidents Day, we trucked north a tad and checked off a couple more on our list, BOTH buried in the same cemetery...

Governor Ibra Charles Blackwood served as Governor of South Carolina from 1931-1935.

Governor Blackwood was born in Spartanburg County, SC on November 21, 1878 and died in Spartanburg, SC on February 12, 1936.  He is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg, SC.

AND

Governor Donald Stuart Russell served as Governor of South Carolina from 1963-1965.

Governor Russell was born in Lafayette County, MS on February 22, 1906 and died in Spartanburg, SC on his 92nd birthday, February 22, 1998.  He is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Spartanburg, SC.

{All In a Day} SC Governors I - Greenville

Adding to the ongoing list of people & places of interest to our son, we are now trying to visit the graves of all SC Governors (that's, of course, in addition to visiting presidential sites and running up state capitol buildings steps!)

The good news is that we were able to check off a couple on our list after school today...

Governor Benjamin Franklin Perry served as Governor of South Carolina in 1865.

Governor Perry was born in Pickens District, SC on November 20, 1805 and died in Greenville, SC on December 3, 1886.  He is buried in the Christ Church Episcopal Churchyard in Greenville, SC.

AND

Governor Martin Frederick Ansel served as Governor of South Carolina from 1907-1911.

Governor Ansel was born in Charleston, SC on December 12, 1850 and died in Greenville, SC on August 23, 1945.  He is buried in Springwood Cemetery in Greenville, SC.

I sure enjoyed the afternoon spent with my sweet little lover of history, amid his talk of ideas for live videos filmed "on location" and books we should write about all of our crazy adventures...