As I await the delivery of my new book (update: it has been delivered), I thought I would create a blog post sharing 10 of my favorite graves that are part of "Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston." Hundreds of graves are shown and written about in the 228-page large format, full-color hardback book (with a dust jacket too!).
This will not be an easy list to compile! I include the graves in my book because I feel there is something interesting, special, and/or unique about each and every one of them. The 10 featured here are in no particular order. So, without further ado....
1. Catharine Simons Sarcophagus- Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming St.
This petite and elegant sarcophagus is next to the brick border wall to the left as one enters the churchyard. There are many things I like about this gravesite. The sarcophagus design is rare and expensive. I think this is the smallest one I've ever seen, befitting Catharine Simons who was just (as inscribed in the stone) "21 years, 3 months, 2 days" old when she died in 1852. I was unable to determine her cause of death.
Other than "Catharine" and her age at death, the only other words are "Wife of William Simons."
A large cross is on the top of the structure that is less than five feet in length and 27.5 inches wide (yes, I measured it). There are also inverted (or upside down) torches on the four corners. The torches are lighted. This symbolizes that while Catharine's life has been extinguished there is hope for eternal life in Heaven. This site was particularly difficult to research because there is very little to be found about the short time Catharine had on earth. Malcolm Hale at the Charleston County Public Library's South Carolina Room was a huge help in what little we did find. In an old genealogy book, Malcolm was able to find a Catharine Simons Hume born in 1830. She was the daughter of Dr. William Hume and Catherine Simons Lucas. There are many Humes and Lucases buried in this graveyard, and her father's grave is very close to Catharine's.
Earlier in my research of this grave I went down a rabbit hole that this Catharine Simons may have been a freed slave, this after finding that name in another source. I thought if this is true, what a story we have here. But I am confident that what I later found out, with Malcolm Hale's assistance, is the true story of the young woman.
2. Rev. Thomas John Young's Curious Symbol- St. Michael's Church, 71 Broad St.
Years ago, before I started to research this book, I filed away this image at St. Michael's. A Jewish symbol on the grave marker of an Episcopal minister? What's the story there? Well, the story is that what is today called the Star of David has a history going back to ancient Egypt. The six-point star has been used since then by different religions, cultures and organizations, including the Masons. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler appropriated the star for his hate-filled purge of Jews in Europe.
Rev. Young (1803-1852) may have been a Mason and may have had a hand in his tomb's design. The star has been called the Masonic hexagram and also the Star of Creation with its six points symbolizing the six days God took to create the universe. The six points of the star can also represent the six attributes of God: power, wisdom, majesty, love, mercy and justice. Another interpretation is that the star represents the Old Testament and the long cross on the tomb symbolizes the New Testament.
When he died in 1852, Rev. Young was an assistant minister at St. Michael's Church. Educated at Yale and ordained in the Episcopal Church in 1827, he served for 20 years at other area churches before coming to this church.
