Rainy Visit to Magnolia Cemetery

 

It had been a while since I’d been to Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery. I had the itch to go after seeing recent bird photos posted on the Facebook site, “Magnolia Cemetery Photographers Group.”

The forecast looked wet but we decided to go anyway. When it began to pour I took several pictures through the open car window. This is the iconic Smith Pyramid, an ancient Egyptian-influenced mausoleum erected for wealthy banker William Burrough Smith after his death in 1894. 

Another favorite site here is that of Annie Kerr Aiken (1853-1856). Her ornate box tomb is among more than two dozen graves in the large partially fenced Aiken-Martin plot near the back pond. 

“Little Annie” was a month shy of 3 when she passed in 1856 of the throat disease diphtheria. The child depicted in the sculpture isn’t necessarily a likeness of her, though it could be. 

Ever since I’ve been coming to Magnolia Cemetery (15 years now) there have been small items placed here by her fans, people like me who also admire this beautiful and poignant bit of artistry commissioned no doubt by her loving parents. 

Note the yellow ducks at her feet. Someone even put a tiara on Annie’s head. What a thoughtful gesture! 

In this rain, she could use a blanket, but Little Annie has slept through worse, including countless hurricanes and tropical storms. 

Her parents, Joseph and Ellen Aiken, are buried in this plot near their precious daughter. 

Even older at Magnolia Cemetery is this low box tomb belonging to a young man who lost his life during the Mexican War. 

Before he volunteered to join the U.S. Army in that conflict Christopher Gadsden Carsten told his parents that should he not survive the war, they should try to bury him beneath the grand live oak tree seen here. The parents at that time were caretakers of this property before it became a cemetery in 1850. 

Christopher, 26, died in 1848 in Mexico of unknown causes. 

These stories and many, many more are in my 2014 book, “In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston’s Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry.”  Click here for more information on my book. 

In my book, I write about the Isaac and Martha Bardin plot with its large Celtic cross. This site has extra special meaning to me after meeting Angela Williams. She is a great-granddaughter of the Bardins and is the author of “Hush Now, Baby: The Help Becomes Family” about her close relationship with her Black nanny while growing up in Berkeley County. I posted recently about meeting Angela and reading her wonderful book. 

Before the heavy rain commenced I did take a few bird photographs. From the recently repaired bridge over the front pond I spotted two big birds. 

Can you see them? At the bottom of the frame is a Wood Stork. And at the very top is an Osprey.

Check out my post from way back in 2010 about how Magnolia Cemetery can be a hot spot for bird activity. 

I suspect this Wood Stork is a fairly young one due to the fluffy grayish feathers on its neck and head and its pale bill. 

Wood Storks and Osprey both like to hang out by the pond for the fish, shrimp, frogs and other aquatic critters they crave. Here's another post from 2010 about Ospreys at Magnolia Cemetery. 

Osprey and Wood Storks are among the nearly 50 types of birds I photographed here for my first book, published in 2011, titled “The Birds of Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston’s Secret Bird Sanctuary.”

I also feature birds in another of my books, “Nature-ly Fun- Bird Photography from A to Z.” Contact me at birdseyeviewspublications@gmail.com for more information on my books or check out my Amazon author site. 

It was nice to briefly visit before the rain drove us off. It’s a place I always enjoy seeing and photographing rain or shine!