Mathews Cemetery

Over the past few weeks I've driven down a stretch of highway south of Greenwood, SC.  Go ahead and look that up on a map if you don't know South Carolina geography.  Greenwood sits all alone in the middle of nowhere.  South of Greenwood becomes part of the nowhere.  So I found it odd that there were some brick works on the sides of the road.

The style of brick work in this photo is done on each side of the road, like forming a gate.

There are two sets approximately one mile apart.  Half way in between is another set.  This set at the half way are on each side of driveway.  A marble plaque on one side reads MATHEWS.

I pulled onto the driveway initially just to read the name plate.  As I sat just off the road I contemplated driving down the driveway to see what hides in the woods. This was my view.

I didn't know what or who I would find back there.  Nobody knew I was stopping here.  I was alone, I hoped.  The explorer in me wanted to drive on but my imagination of horror held me back. With the car idling I noticed a white cross poking up from the grass.  From my perspective, it looked tall.  Seeing that cross gave me some comfort and some courage. I decided that whatever horrible things my imagination was conjuring couldn't be all that bad if they were displaying a large white cross. Other than the cross, I saw only trees and bushes. Besides my car I heard nothing but the sound of cicadas.

I drove down, still nervous, realizing that my only escape would be to drive backwards.

The drive ended in a circle with the center of the circle filled full of overgrown grass.  At the farthest end of the loop, I found this family cemetery.

 This small cemetery seems to sit alone out here. I got out and looked at some of the memorials. Most of them were from the mid 1800's to early 1900's.  A few were older.  While I didn't venture away from the cemetery, I didn't see any evidence of buildings or other development.

I was proud of myself for gathering up the courage to explore this bit of land.  I'll probably go back someday and record some of the names of the people buried here and see what history I can find on them.  This small mission of investigating the brick gates has lead into the potential of a bigger mission.  I'm hoping that some investigation on the names and dates will provide me with some insight into the people buried here or even some information on the brick gates spread a mile apart.

I have found small cemeteries like this in the past, but this is the first I've encountered to be marked off with brick works protecting the entrance.  I still wonder if those brick designs had other intentions at some time in the past, or if they were built for this family plot.  Someone went through some expense to create this paved drive and brick gates for a small family cemetery located south of the middle of nowhere.