St. helana's old church yard
Among the most historic burial grounds in America, St. Helena’s Old Churchyard has had 750 burials of record since it was established in 1724 with the interment of Col. John "Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell. The graves of nearly 100 veterans of every major conflict since 1711 are marked with the flag under which they fought. Notable among these are the graves of nearly 60 veterans who served in the Army or Navy of the Confederate States of America.
St. Helena’s gravestone inscriptions were published in the 1931 editions of the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, where it was noted that wooden crosses marked some of the graves. These wooden markers no longer exist. Following traditional Christian practice, graves in the Old Churchyard face east, toward the rising sun.
1. Two British Officers: Lt. William Calderwood and Ensign John Finley. Killed during the First Battle of Port Royal Island at Grays Hill in February 1779. Then Capt. John Barnwell said at their burial service, “We have shown the British we can not only best them in battle, but we can give them a Christian burial.”
2. Maj. Gen. John Barnwell (1748-1800). S.C. Militia during the American Revolution. Buried the two British officers (1. above).
3. Rev. Dr. Joseph R. Walker (1796-1879). During his 55-year ministry at the Parish Church of St. Helena, he inspired spiritual renewal through the Great Beaufort Revival of 1831 and guided the church through the turbulent years of the Civil War and Reconstruction.
4. Dr. Robert R. Gibbs (1836-1877). Surgeon in Confederate States Navy. Five of his children also are buried here, all 1-4 years of age.
5. Capt. Paul Hamilton (1842-1862). Fought in 20 Civil War battles. Killed at Vicksburg at age 20.
6. Hugh Toland Sams (1840-1860). Citadel Cadet who died on the eve of the Civil War at age 20 while fighting a fire at the Citadel. Gravestone shows palmetto tree with the top cut off, signifying a life cut short.
7. Dr. Perry’s Brick Mausoleum (d. 1845). He knew of someone buried alive, so he had buried with him a pickaxe, a jug of water, and a loaf of bread.
8. First burial in 1724. Col. John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell, (1671-1724). Born in Ireland, he came to America in 1700. Thought to be buried under the church during expansions of the building in the antebellum era. Actually buried at the gravesite marked with his name and a marker provided by the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of South Carolina.
9. Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson, C.S.A. (1821-1879). West Point graduate in the “Generals’ Class” of 1842. Of its 37 graduates, 22 became general officers in the Civil War. In February 1862 during the Peninsula Campaign, he earned the sobriquet “Fighting Dick.” He was a Corps Commander under Gen. Robert E. Lee and served in all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia. Historical marker at the gravesite provided by Camp 47, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Beaufort, S.C.
10. William Henry Cory (1831-1893). Enlisted in the British Army under an alias and participated in the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War. Remember Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem? “Theirs not to reason why; theirs but to do or die; into the valley of death rode the 600.” He later came to America and fought in the Confederate States Army, 1862-1865.
11. Rev. William Potter (1782-1817). Inscription reads: “Memorable to the inhabitants of Beaufort, for the death of nearly one-sixth of the white population.” Victim of a yellow fever epidemic.
12. Elizabeth Macdonald Wilkinson (1901-1991). Married in 1923 to English missionary Edward Wilkinson. They were deployed to Nigeria the following year by the Anglican Church Missionary Society. This was the beginning of a nine-year ministry to the Ibo, the largest ethnic group in Africa. Alarmed by high infant mortality in the remote villages of Southern Nigeria, she combined her Gospel message to the Ibo women with lessons on modern sanitation and hygiene. After returning to England in 1933, she wrote Easy Lessons on the Care of Babies, thought to be the earliest instructional text written with firsthand knowledge of Ibo customs and culture.
13. Brig. Gen. Stephen Elliott, Jr., C.S.A. (1830-1866). Commanded the defense of Fort Sumter in 1863. Served in the Army of Northern Virginia and occupied “Elliott’s Salient” in the defense of Petersburg, Va., in 1864. This position was at the epicenter of the Battle of the Crater, where in spite of heavy losses in the explosion he rallied his remaining troops and mounted a successful counterattack. Historical marker at the gravesite provided by Stephen Elliott Chapter No. 1349, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Beaufort, S.C.
Old sheldon
Sheldon Church, formerly known as the Prince William Parish Church, has had a tumultuous and eventful history. From its first service in 1757 to its present peaceful setting, the church has followed the travails of our nation’s history. It is one of the first churches built in temple form in the United States.
Chapel of ease
These tabby walls are all that remain of an old chapel-of-ease on St.. Helena Island. The chapel was built in the mid-1700’s and served the families who owned plantations on St. Helena Island.
