I’ve been wanting to visit after receiving a latter in July from the cemetery touting the restoration of three landmarks. One involves the entrance pillars. They look like they’ve been repainted and perhaps some repairs and stabilization work was done too.
The letter also says the gatehouse and bell tower seen here were restored. The gatehouse received a new door, shutters and paint. The bell display was spruced up as well.
The doors of the old shop were replaced and some roads were improved with crushed recycled asphalt that a donor provided at a discounted rate.
We also checked on our spot that I purchased for us a few years ago that will last us eternally (literally).
Yep, it’s still there. I added our names for this photograph. Some people have their names and birth years engraved on their gravestones while they are still alive. We may opt to do that down the road.
The arrow marks our crypt!
There were some birds around the ponds and elsewhere on the grounds. This is a Great Egret.
An Anhinga was nearby. I took these photos from the walking bridge that crosses the front pond. The Audubon bird guide describes its bill as "dagger-like."
Eastern Bluebird. These birds are lovely front the back as well as the front.
Mourning Dove on the headstone of the late Gilmore Simms McDowell. He was an attorney and the longtime president of Magnolia Cemetery Trust, the board that runs the cemetery.
The bird highlight was this Roseate Spoonbill, a pink species with an unusual look and name. Alesia spotted it first when we drove to the far reaches of Magnolia Cemetery to a new section. The Spoonbill is on the left and a Great Egret is on the right.
The exotic wading bird gets its name from its spoon-shaped bill. When they feed it reminds me of the back and forth movement of army mine sweepers. See what I mean here in my video from the ACE Basin. Audubon describes the Roseate Spoonbill as "gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close."
We spotted the Roseate Spoonbill and Great Egret in Magnolia Cemetery’s large new section past the Green Hill area. It’s called Magnolia Point.
It’s quite peaceful, lovely and quiet here. A small number of plots have been purchased and gravesites established. It’s nice to see the old cemetery expanding and doing well.
Sad that someone died so young, just 22 years old.
This gravesite for a man who passed this year is awaiting a headstone. The vase must have special meaning to him and his family.
While checking out some of the newer gravesites, it was also nice to see some of my old favorites.
Rosalie Raymond White just 7 months old when she died of an illness in 1882. I write up her and her family in my book about Magnolia Cemetery titled "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry. Here's a link to my Amazon author's site.
I have a lengthy chapter in the book, "The Children of Magnolia Cemetery" and it begins with Rosalie's poignant story. For years visitors have placed toys, coins and flowers at her baby stroller gravesite along the front pond. So touching.
Sharpsburg (Antietam) Confederate soldier- killed in the bloodiest day in American history. Below is the elaborate grave site of Sgt. James Brown Boyd, a Charleston native and First Scots Presbyterian Church member, who was killed at age 22 at this bloody battle in Maryland. He is featured in another lengthy chapter in my book, "Magnolia's Confederacy Legacy."
Confederate Soldiers Grounds is also prominent in my book as it is not far from the cemetery's entrance.
Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley crews. Three crews of the innovative underwater vessel are interned in a special section of the cemetery, probably its most visited site.
Two of the crews died during testing of the Hunley. The third died after plunging explosive into the Union blockage ship Housatonic on Feb. 17, 1864 off the S.C. coast near Sullivan's Island. The Hunley was raised from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean in 2001. Today, visitor's can see the remains of the submarine in North Charleston at the Hunley Museum.
This small plot (below" was set aside early in the Civil War for Southern soldiers. It quickly proved much too small as the war dragged on and thousands and thousands on both sides would die from wounds and diseases. This is also in my "In the Arms of Angels" book.
The variety and styles of grave markers and memorials have always intrigued me.
The Lipinski Mausoleum was installed in recent times, fitting perfectly in Magnolia Cemetery’s dreamy landscape. I am quoted in an article about the mausoleum published in the late 2010s.
Over the years I have researched hundreds of this cemetery’s “residents.” My books stand testament to that.
But in this population of some 35,000 there are always ones I haven’t noticed before and my curiosity is piqued. Case in point, this lonely grave off by itself on a bend along the front pond.
As best I can tell, at the top is inscribed "My Wife." Then it reads
Carrie Chisolm
Beloved Wife of
Beloved Wife of
Wm. E. Vincent
Aug. 7, 1863-Nov. 22, 1894
On Ancestry.com I found a clearer photo than mine that revealed her birth date. I also found her name on the 1870 U.S. Census. She was 7 years old and was the daughter of 30-year-old Henry Chisolm, a merchant, and Carrie, 33, whose occupation is listed as "at home." They lived in Ward 6 in Charleston, which is on the city's west side where today is MUSC and The Citadel.
Regarding Carrie's husband, William E. Vincent, I found on Ancestry a Charleston city directory from 1879 that says he was a clerk in the probate court and resided at 39 Ashley Ave.
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