Hopewell

Cari and I (and Brenna) took a field trip out to the Old Stone Church in Clemson, SC. The church is on a corner just a few blocks away from the main campus and was easy to find.

The church served the Presbyterian congregation in the late 1700's and early 1800's before they relocated. The need to build the stone church came after their wooden church caught fire and burned to the ground. The story says that members of the church were asked to go out to their fields and collect stones for the construction of the church. The farmers were happy to eliminate the rocks from their fields and the construction began.

The building was started in 1797 and the fights against the Indians were still happening in some areas. Part of the design of the church may have been for protection against Indian attacks. The wooden stairs leading the the upper balcony was originally where the slaves would have been seated.

In the field next to the church is the cemetery. Here are a few of the interesting stories that can be found in there:

Although slaves were members of the congregation as I noted above, none are buried here.

Through 1865 they would have been burried in slave cemeteries on the plantations.

Eliza Huger had some scandal in her life and her brother shot and killed her and her lover. The church didn't want her buried in the cemetery because of the scandals unless an enclosure was built around her grave to segregate her. It was done and the stone reads, "A brother's sorrow"

There is a Cherokee man buried here as well. Osenappa died in 1794 and his grave is marked with an engraved stone as well as a cairn (the pile of stones). The first permanent pastor of the church, Rev. Thomas Reese, is thought to have converted Osenappa to Christianity.
In one area I noticed a concentration of Confederate flags next to the iron crosses that mark a Confederate soldier's grave. In some cemeteries, you will see the Confederate battle flag near the head stone but these were marked with the flag of the Confederate States of America. I feel like this is more appropriate.

Some head stones from the early 1800's were tall and were inscribed with stories of the persons life or praises on a persons character. I took this shot to show how tall some of these stones are:

In some areas the stones were lined up in perfect rows. You can see in this photo the smaller foot markers used at the end of each grave:

History surrounds you with each step through the cemetery at the Old Stone Church. It's a great place to go if you want to learn about more of the history of South Carolina and the people that shaped it. Just be sure to bring your coat and gloves if you go in January.