Whimsical Grave For a Boy Tragically Killed

 

This past Sunday I spent quality time at one of the Charleston area’s most unique and unusual grave sites. 

This is a story of a death that has taken a life of its own. 

I wrote about this colorful, elaborate grave in my 2022 book, “Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston.” It is in fact, deliberately, the last story in a 230-page book that has hundreds of stories about mostly 18th and 19th-century Charlestonians. Herbie’s story is among many I feature in the book’s last chapter that is about the Charleston Historic Cemetery District, an area anchored by Magnolia Cemetery that has 20 or so cemeteries. My book is available for order through this site and my Amazon author's site. 

Little Herbert Alonzo Brown was just a few weeks shy of his fifth birthday in 1983 when on March 14 he was struck and killed by a truck on Highway 174 near Edisto Beach. Herbie’s foster mother stopped at a gas station/market, and went inside without the boy who apparently wandered off onto the highway. 

What a cute boy he was! 

The background story, according to various sources, was that Herbie was at some point taken away from his parents by social services. I don’t know why. When he died in the horrible accident (called a hit and run by one news source), a social services worker sought to get him a proper funeral and burial. 

This YouTube video by a guy who posts "Fascinating Graveyards" is really good. 

Enter Charleston funeral director Grippon Boags, who has been called a “monk turned mortician.” (this Charleston Post and Courier article has lots of details- sorry if you hit the paper's paywall).

The back of The Lost Children Memorial (right) tells how Boags came to the rescue after being contacted by a diligent Department of Social Services official. She asked for Boags help after being turned down by some other funeral directors. 

Boags not only organized the funeral but he was able to get a casket from another mortuary because Boags didn’t have one small enough. He paid for it out of his own pocket, a news article said. 

Boags also secured a grave for Herbie at the Greater Trinity AME Church Cemetery, which straddles Algonquin Road and Huguenin Avenue near Magnolia Cemetery.

It is across The Quin building at 1940 Algonquin Rd. 

What started as a regular-looking grave with a nice headstone has evolved and expanded into something you do not see at most cemeteries. 

Over time many organizations and individuals have made contributions that include this Lost Children’s Memorial where visitors can write a name on a small slip of paper and insert it into a slot. 

Other children who died way too young are also remembered, including two girls from Frederick, Colorado who both died on Aug. 13, 2018. Bella and Celeste Watts, ages 4 and 3, were killed along with their mother Shannan by their father (Shannan's husband) in 2018. Unbelievable but true! Detail here. 

The Latin phrase on the markers means “Pray for Us Sinners,” an excerpt from the Hail Mary prayer. 

The entire Hail Mary is here too in this lovely display on Herbie’s grave. 

To think, today Herbie would be 46 years old had that tragic accident not happened in 1983. 

It is not clear when his grave began to take on a life of its own. I started visiting nearby Magnolia Cemetery in 2008 and it wasn’t until more recent years I noticed the colorful collection of items here.

Along with Blessed Mary, several other religious figures are represented such as Pope John Paul II who was canonized as a saint in 2014, nine years after his death. 

Saint Patrick, for whom I am named, is here too. 

St. Theresa has a spot close to Herbie’s headstone. 

Note the different small animals people have carefully placed. They must be glued, otherwise a strong breeze would knock them over. 

The Buddha is my contribution brought on this day! Why? Why not! 

Baby Jesus and his parents Mary and Joseph are in the back of this photo, as is an angel. Blessed Mary, previously mentioned, is in the foreground. 

Here I am with my chubby friend who I think is a nice addition to the eclectic friends here with and for  Herbie.

There’s a little bit of everything on display! You see Snoopy on his flying doghouse donated by a gentleman in North Carolina. Note the Native American squaw holding her baby. Then to the left is a Tiger Woods bobblehead. 

You know as a young boy Herbie would have spent lots of time playing with this tractor trailer carrying ATVs! 

Everything is kept solidly in place with plastic ties and glue. 

Batman and other action figures are here for the fun as well. 

Of course there are also hundreds of other people buried at the Trinity AME Cemetery. I walked around and noticed quite a few stones like this one for military veterans. This one belongs to World War II veteran Luther St. Julian Bligen (1918-1981). He was a corporal in the U.S. Army.

Leonard W. Baker (1917-1965) also served America in World War II. He was in the Coast Guard.

Phillip Simmons (1884-1964) and Joseph E. Jones (1896-1967) both served in the U.S. Army during World War I. 

The Vietnam War is also represented by the grave of Daniel Sheppard (1936-1977) who was an Army sergeant during that conflict. He died pretty young, sadly. 

What a lovely headstone has Dr. Katheryn Middleton Brown (1921-2011). “A Phenomenal Woman” reads an epitaph, a quote from the writer and poet Maya Angelou.

Dr. Brown, a Charleston native, had a 44-year teaching career. Her subjects were biology and horticulture. She taught for many years in Atlanta high schools. Her status in the community is evident by the article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that ran upon her death.

This appears to be a recent burial. 

A fence protects this grave.

It belongs to a “Devoted Mother,” Anna C. Baker who lived from 1888-1964. 

The cemetery could be better maintained so all grave stones can be seen. 

I tried to put this marker back together but the main stone was too heavy. 

I really like the next grave. The flat ledger-type marker is adorned with Jesus on the cross. This is the eternal resting place of Alonzo Black Sr. who lived from 1925-1983.

My eye was also drawn to the die on socket marker of Eugene Louis Brown (1902-1972). “The Lord Is My Shepherd” is inscribed under an etching of Joseph holding baby Jesus. I believe that is the depiction anyway. 

Hidden in the brush is Robert Johnson’s grave. He was just 30 when he died in 1977. I like the epitaph that reads: “In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions.”  This King James Bible verse is from John 14:2.

A child’s grave. Rabiiya Kashaan Scott was still an infant, one year nine months old, when she passed in 1983. A protective looking angels is on her small stone. 

Little Herbie has lots of company here at Trinity AME Cemetery. Plus he has all those toys, religious figures and other types of “bling” to keep him company for eternity.

Rest in Peace everyone.