Clemson Historic Preservation Program Official Reviews “Stories from the Underground” Book

It was a thrill to read the following review of my "Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston" by Francis Ford, a diector and lecturer at Clemson University’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, located in downtown Charleston in the Cigar Factory building on East Bay Street. Ms. Ford wrote the review at the request of the Association of Gravestone Studies, a national organization of fellow taphophiles. 

The newest publication from Patrick Harwood follows the template of his previous book, In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery Charleston’s Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry. In this volume, Stories from the Underground; The Churchyards of Charleston (ISBN# 978-0-9847498-4-3) Harwood turns his photography skills and research to 13 Charleston, SC churches and churchyards as well as one synagogue and cemetery. 

Published in full color 8 ½ x 11 format on glossing pages with heavy bold print this hardcover volume catches one's eye with its bright green cover. 

Harwood's writing style is simple and easy as if he was having a conversation with you directly.  I suppose cultivated after many years of teaching college undergraduate students at the College of Charleston. In creating his narrative, he quotes historians, archivists, and online sources such as the church web sites, Wikipedia, blogs, printed church histories, and interviews with those closely connected to the sites among others. He supplies an index in the rear for those looking for specific information. He also supplies his sources and additional notes for readers.

New "Churchyards of Charleston" Book at the Printer!

I am excited to announce that I will soon be publishing a new book! It is titled "Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston." 

Like my 2014 "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry," this new book is large format and full color. It is 8.5 by 11 inches in size and 228 pages. 

In it, I examine Charleston's rich, diverse and interesting history through the prism of its old churches (and one synagogue) and their burial grounds. 

Below is the book's dust jacket design: 

Printing my book will be the Charleston-area firm Palmetto Publishing. This will be my second book printed by this company. Last summer, I had Palmetto Publishing print additional copies of my "In the Arms of Angels" Magnolia Cemetery book. 

Please contact me if you are interested in acquiring my new "Churchyards of Charleston." My email is birdseyeviewspublications@gmail.com. I will post updates in the weeks ahead as the release date approaches. for more details on what the book is about, click here.  

Here is what is written on the back cover by three Charleston historians, authors and fellow taphophiles who have read the book. 

"Just when I thought I knew it all, Patrick Harwood’s 'Stories from the Underground' taught me so much more. Much good information for the seasoned taphophile as well as the 'newby' cemetery explorer.  --Pamela Durkin Gabriel, author and historian 

"Patrick Harwood is a born storyteller, and his tales of the dead confirm it. This book is not just a tour de force of Charleston’s churches, churchyards and cemeteries, but a tour through time as well, with stories of funerary history, customs and design. It’s hard to imagine a more enthusiastic or dedicated guide; and the lavish images are not only compelling – but may very well propel readers to visit these sites themselves. I know I will!  --Harlan Greene, Scholar in Residence and author, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston.

"Thank you to Patrick Harwood for gathering together, in one volume, Charleston’s valuable collection of burial grounds. 'Stories from the Underground' serves as an invitation to explore the surface world of funerary art, while helping to unearth countless stories of the souls who lie below. --Ruth M. Miller, Lowcountry historian, author and speaker

Ten Favorite Charleston Gravesites

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. 

New Book Nears Completion!

The holiday season was productive for me as I recently completed the first draft of a new book I have been working on since summer 2019.

With the principal writing and layout in the books (ha!) the focus now is the arduous but essential task of creating the 220 (and counting) page book's index listing all the names and organizations mentioned. Then comes designing the front and back covers. I'd like to have a jacket with this book, my fifth. That will depend on the cost. 

Here is my manuscript's first page showing the title, "The Churchyards of Charleston: Stories From the Underground." 

What I'm doing is documenting in words and photographs Charleston's rich history as seen through the prism of its many old and beautiful churches and their graveyards. 

On the peninsula there are 13 churches with churchyards (or graveyards) next to them and one Jewish synagogue with its cemetery several blocks away, per the Hebrew custom that spiritual leaders should not walk among the dead. 

Tragic 1913 Death of a Young Woman

 

This post shares research I conducted in 2024 on a young Jewish woman from Charleston who tragically died in a car accident in 1913 at the tender age of 19. 

I am using screenshots from presentations I have given recently to the South Carolina Genealogical Society in Charleston and on “The Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery Podcast" when I was the guest last June. Check it out on YouTube! 

Gertrude Mordecai, known as Trude ("Our Trude" is inscribed on the base of the statue), is buried in Charleston at Magnolia Cemetery. I wrote about her tall mourning woman sculpture in my 2014 book, "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry."

Upon learning that is was a car accident that took Trude's young life in 1913 I was struck by the fact that as soon as automobiles became more numerous at that time, car fatalities soon followed. 

I was always curious to learn details about Trude's fatal accident so in spring 2024 while Alesia and I were at the cemetery I stopped at her grave and took new photographs and took notes such as the Lord Tennyson poetry on the bench. 

I decided to look into the circumstances of her death in more detail than I had done for my "In the Arms of Angels" Magnolia Cemetery book. You see the questions I sought to answer. 

Inside Charleston's Historic KKBE Synagogue

A place of worship with its own gift shop and museum. I have seen that only once before: Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The gift shop and museum are just two of the many unique qualities that struck me about Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE for short) synagogue at 90 Hasell Street in Charleston.

Another one is how the synagogue's columned entrance does not face the street. This is due to the Jewish custom that synagogues must face east toward Jerusalem. While a lovely layout amid trees and other greenery, it did pose a challenge to photograph.  You can back up only so far before hitting a wall. So what you see (right) is the widest shot I could get. No big deal but, again, a unique feature of this very unique place.

Going "Beyond the Grave" with Charleston Historian and Author Ruth Miller

"Touring the Tombstones" with Ruth Miller

Have you heard the one about the busload of morticians?

No joke, it was this twist of fate that began to turn tour guide Ruth Miller into a taphophile- a person with a grave interest in graveyards.

Years ago, Miller took a group of visiting undertakers on a Charleston tour when they asked her to stop at a church graveyard. She complied and ended up learning so many interesting things from the morticians that she was driven to dig more into Charleston’s many churchyards.

Fall Magnolia Cemetery Visit

 

We stopped by Magnolia Cemetery last Saturday after a nice lunch downtown at Fleet Landing. 

It was such a pretty day I thought it would be fun to walk off our big meal at the cemetery.

Joseph took this photo of me at the iconic Smith Pyramid, eternal home to William Burroughs Smith, a wealthy banker who died in 1892. 

The pyramid and hundreds of other gravesites and the people interred in them are featured in my 2014 book, "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry." Check it out as well as my other books for sale on Amazon. My book information is also available at the top of this blog. 

On this sunny fall day I also wanted Joseph to see the spot we are purchasing in the mausoleum at Magnolia Cemetery.

I still have a number of monthly payments to make. But once that is accomplished we can have our names inscribed on the outside. Kind of creepy I know, but kind of cool too! 

Here are some of the pictures I took as we walked around the venerable150 acre burial grounds. Someone put a tiara on the lovely figure on the tomb of "Little Annie" Aiken who was just shy of 3 years old when she died at 1856 of diphtheria, a bacterial disease that a vaccine today can cure and prevent. 

Inside the Walls: The Coming Street Cemetery

I have driven on Coming Street for years and never really noticed this spot as I head to I-26 to go home.

Only fairly recently did I know that behind this high, foreboding and gloomy looking wall is one of the oldest and most historic cemeteries in Charleston.

It is, in fact, the oldest Jewish cemetery in the South and one of the oldest in America.

This is the Coming Street Cemetery. On April 1, with my College of Charleston “Beyond the Grave” students, I was for the first time within the dark walls.

We were met by two guides, Randi Serrins (left in this photo holding a picture) and Anita Moise Rosenberg.  They spent about an hour with us and were excellent historians about this special place.

If you are interested in setting up a tour, call 843.723.1090, contact Rosenberg at anitamrose@comcast.net or Serrins at randiserrins@gmail.com

Views from the Ravenel Bridge- Spectacular!

 

A recent walk across the majestic Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge offered a bounty of beautiful photography opportunities for this shutterbug. 

Sunday, Oct. 1 was an ideal combination of nice weather, puffy cloud cover, busy boat and ship activity plus an expansive view of Charleston, its harbor and points beyond in Mt. pleasant and Sullivan’s Island. 

My Canon SX70 lens was drawn to pleasure boats and the long wakes they left speeding toward the bridge.

Charleston- the Holy City- glistened in the distance. 

My book, “Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston,” explores the old city’s rich, interesting and diverse history through the prism of its religious burial grounds. 

Check out this book (and my previous ones) at the link above or on my Amazon site. 

Daniel Island Taphophile Talk

 

My “Tales of a Taphophile” presentation went well on May 21 to members of the Daniel Island Historical Society. The room was full in the parish hall of the Church of the Holy Spirit. What a great turnout! 

My spirits were high to finally take the stage (or the altar as it were) for this event set up maybe six months ago. 

The members were very attentive and many questions followed my approximately 40-minute PowerPoint titled “Tales of a Taphophile: From Magnolia Cemetery to the Churchyards of Charleston.”

The talk is based on these two books: 
"In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry." 

And "Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston." (both are available from Amazon). 

“Taphophile” as I have come to know from my talks is a word many people do not know. A taphophile is someone who is passionate about cemeteries, gravestones, funeral customs and rituals. 

Fellow taphophile, the Crypt Chick, gives her "Tombstone Tourist" story on her blog.

So, yes, I’m a taphophile! Nice photo taken by Alesia. My mother says I look "presidential" lol.

It was great having Alesia with me. She looked stunning in her new dress. 

I signed and sold a number of books too, and it was great meeting many kindred spirits who also appreciate history. 

Many thanks to Beth Bush who invited me to speak to her organization. Beth was out of the country so Lee Ann Bain, a top Charleston tour guide, helped coordinate things and also introduced me. 

My thanks also go to Angela Williams whom I met last summer (see my blog post here). She told me about the Daniel Island Historical Society (she was a speaker a few years ago) and suggested I contact the group. 

Alesia and I celebrated afterward at Macs, a fun sports bar on the island. 

I have more book events in June and July that I’m sure to post about. 🥂 

10 Year Anniversary: My “In the Arms of Angels” Book

 

Wow!  Ten years ago this week my “In the Arms of Angels” Magnolia Cemetery book was released! This first signing at the cemetery was a good omen of so many great experiences to come, meeting so many people (kindred spirits!), giving many presentations and numerous book signings around the Lowcountry, not to mention my five years teaching at College of Charleston my “Beyond the Grave” First Year Experience course. This book and that class would inspire my 2022 book, “Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston.” I have several talks and a podcast coming up this spring and summer and all my books are available on Amazon.

This Facebook post appeared in my “Memories” to alert me to this 10-year anniversary. I remember being contacted ahead of the first official book event. The group of gals was driving from Anderson to Charleston and wanted, as part of their Holy City visit, to see if I could meet them at Magnolia Cemetery so they could have me sign my new book for them. 

Of course I will! 

About a week later I held the first book signing for my new book. Longtime Magnolia Cemetery superintendent Beverly Donald (pictured) helped organize and promote the event. Beverly was very helpful with my research and I, in fact, dedicated the book to her and to my parents as well. 

Beverly recently retired as head of the cemetery after more than 40 years of service. Enjoy your retirement, it's well deserved! 

My book publicity efforts included booking (pun intended) an appearance on WCIV-TV's "Lowcountry Live" live program. I was interviewed by Tessa Spencer who since this April 2014 event became the main anchor at Charleston's ABC affiliate. 

The Facebook "memory" anniversary notices keep popping up! This is a post I did on April 13, 2014 about a signing I did at College of Charleston later in the week. 

This is the author photo I used in the book, taken by my lovely wife Alesia. 

Delivered: My New, Expanded “Birds of Magnolia Cemetery” Book!

When UPS left this box at my door on Sept. 12 it felt like a late birthday gift or early Christmas present! 

Whoop! My books are here! 

I worked with My Book Printer of Madison Heights, Michigan on my latest publishing project. 

In 2023 My Book Printer featured my "Birds of Magnolia Cemetery" book. Click here to read the interview. 

Magnolia Cemetery is a beautiful Victorian rural cemetery on the outskirts of Charleston that opened in 1850.

In 2014 I published a book that showcases the fine monuments and landscape of this final resting place of so many prominent Charlestonians and regular folks too. 

That book is titled "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of Mystery, History and Artistry."

And in 2022 I wrote "Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston." 

Back to the birds...For a while, I had been thinking of doing an update to my first book, 2011’s “The Birds of Magnolia Cemetery: Charleston’s Secret Bird Sanctuary.” 

So beginning in May of this year the work began. I started laying out the pages in Adobe InDesign. This is the software I’ve used for writing and designing each of my books since the first one that I wrote in PowerPoint (a really long PowerPoint). In 2011 a local printer transformed the manuscript into a format so it could be printed and bound. 

I wanted my first book to also be set up in InDesign. And I also wanted, using Adobe Photoshop, to try to make the photographs sharper. So that’s what I did this summer, working on it, page by page, for three or more hours on most weekdays and between trips to Boston and our big Colorado-New Mexico trip in June. 

Before too long in the reformatting process, I decided this project would be a second edition “Birds of Magnolia Cemetery” book. 

I decided to keep the same image on the cover since it has so much meaning to me. Why? Buy the book and find out! 

Note the “Second Edition” on the thick branch below the Wood Stork. Under my name I mention two other cemetery books I have written. 

Booked Weekend!

 

Alesia and I had a busy weekend that was booked with book signing events.

Yesterday we were in Orangeburg at Broughton Street Cafe and Ice Cream. That’s owner Greg Bennett in the background. 

Professor Tom Cassidy, a colleague from SC State University, stopped by and purchased a copy of my new “Churchyards of Charleston” book as a holiday gift for his wife- maybe I shouldn’t have revealed that!

I bring my older books to my signings. I realized at this one that I can adequately show all five of my books on a small table I have. 

The day before on Saturday in Charleston I used a long table from Second Presbyterian Church for a signing event there. 

Green Energy Ship Turns Heads Heading Out to Sea

Most of the large container ships and chemical tankers seen entering or leaving Charleston Harbor don’t wow you with their looks other than their sheer size. 

But on April 30 while at the beach on Sullivan’s Island I witnessed an exception: this stunning vessel steaming toward the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. I love this photo for capturing the ship’s bold beauty and because we see St. Philip’s Church in the background, a Holy City landmark (one of 14 downtown churches in my book “Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston").

See what I mean about turning heads? This gentleman stopped and stared, as did I. 

Stena Prosperous it says on the bow and on the port side in even larger print is Stena Proman. The former is the ship’s name and the latter the company that owns it.  

More lettering on the side spells IMOIIMeMAX. Let us try to determine what all this means! But first check out this photo of the tanker from Ships Monthly. 

Stena Prosperous is an oil and chemical products tanker built in 2022 at Guangzhou Shipyard in China.  It sails under the flag of Limassol, Cypress.

Stena Proman is a joint venture between Stena Bulk, a leading tanker operator, and Proman, a leader in natural gas-derived products and services. The two companies joined forces to build and operate a fleet of methanol-fueled tankers.