Last week, I introduced you to Saint James Church’s cemetery on James Island, S.C. and shared stories about the Ellis and McLeod families. Today we’ll focus on the Cornish and Lawton families.

Many of the people I’ve recently profiled were wealthy landowners or planters. In the case of the Rev. Andrew Ernest Cornish, his life was devoted to the church and helping others rather than amassing an earthly fortune. There isn’t a lot of material written about him but from what I can ascertain, he was one of the busiest men in Charleston.

The Rev. Cornish was the son of a clergyman, the Rev. John Hamilton Cornish and Martha Jenkins Cornish. While the elder Rev. Cornish was a native of Massachusetts, Martha hailed from Edisto Island. I’m not sure how the two met. By the time Andrew was born in 1861, the elder Rev. Cornish and Martha were living in Barnwell, S.C.

Andrew followed in his father and older brother Joseph’s footsteps in pursuing the ministry as his vocation. He obtained his degree at the University of the South in Suwanee, Tenn. in 1885. A few years later, he assumed the rectorship of a church in Graniteville, S.C.

Andrew may have met his future wife, Sarah Catherine Fairbanks, through her father, Major George Rainsford Fairbanks. Not only was Major Fairbanks an attorney and Civil War veteran, he was a prominent lay leader in the Episcopal Church. A native of Saint Augustine, Fla., Sarah married Andrew in 1889. By this time, he was already settled in Charleston as a city missionary. From orphans to sailors to widows to the poor, he was often drawn to helping those most in need.

Over the next few decades, the Rev. Cornish dedicated himself to a number of churches (the years often overlapped) and causes. He served as rector of Saint James Church sometime around the late 1880s when the new building was constructed. Part of that work involved ministering to sailors at Charleston’s Seamen’s Home, those that labored on “The Farm” on James Island, and children living at the Sheltering Arms Orphanage. In looking through almanacs and directories, I connected the Rev. Cornish to several other ministries in the Charleston area.

After purchasing land on Morris Island where a lifesaving station and lighthouse existed, Andrew moved the orphanage from James Island. He did his best to make the orphanage self sufficient by collecting overripe produce from the Charleston docks in addition to picking up broken cookies/day-old baked goods that local bakeries discarded. The orphanage had a school for the children and Rev. Cornish led services for them on Thursdays.

Still acting as Charleston’s city missionary, the Rev. Cornish was rector at St. John’s Episcopal Chapel on Hanover Street from 1893 to 1907. He and Sarah had four children, who all lived long lives. Their son, George, served with much distinction in the military and attained the rank of colonel.

His final post would be as pastor of the Church of the Redeemer and Harriott Pinckney Home for Seamen at 24 North Market Street, which still stands today (but not as a church). Sarah died in 1918 and Andrew died two years later in 1920 at the age of 58. While he had ministered to many in several places, they were buried together at Saint James Church Cemetery. One of their daughters, Sarah Cornish Crawford, is also buried there.

On the other side of the church is a Lawton family plot, headed by patriarch Winborn Wallace Lawton, Jr. Altogether, there are 16 Lawtons buried at Saint James Church Cemetery and the family has deep roots in the South. This plot is surrounded by a fence that has no gate. Since I’m not even five feet tall, I couldn’t climb over it and thus, was unable to photograph all the graves.

I believe Winborn Jr.’s father, Winborn Sr., was descended from Captain William Lawton, a native of Cheshire, England, who owned a plantation on Edisto Island. Married three times, the last name of one of his wives was Winborn. A memorial monument is erected at the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Cemetery in his honor, but he is buried at the Lawton-Seabrook Cemetery, which is still being cared for by Lawton descendants today. Captain Lawton died in October 1757, having amassed quite a fortune.

Born in 1782, Winborn Wallace Jr. was the son of Winborn Wallace Sr. and Mary Frampton. Winborn Jr. first married Margaret McLeod Frampton around 1805 and had at least five children. Margaret died in 1830 at the age of 44. I did not see her marker but there is a picture of it on Find a Grave, leaning against the side of the church. It may be in need of repair. He married Martha Waring Hughes that same year. Together, they would have at least five children.

In 1848, Winborn Jr. purchased the Heyward-Cuthbert House on James Island along with the 50 acres it is situated on. The house was originally built around 1740 and is considered by some to be the oldest house on the island that is still standing. After that, it was known as Lawton Plantation or Lawton’s Bluff.

Martha died in 1856 and Winborn Jr. died in 1861. In his detailed will, he was quite generous to his children and grandchildren. I suspect that Winborn Jr. had learned a valuable lesson when his father, Winborn Sr., died intestate in 1809 with no will. This resulted in lengthy court proceedings that took time to sort out.

Also in the Lawton plot is the monument for Winborn Wallace Lawton III and his wife, Cecilia Lawton Lawton (yes, her maiden name was Lawton). Born in 1837, Winborn III was Winborn Jr.’s eldest son by his second wife, Martha. He served in the 10th Regiment of the South Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. He married Cecilia in 1864.

Winborn III and Cecilia would have four children but only one would survive. The first, Robert, was born in 1866 and lived only 18 months. He is buried in Lawtonville Cemetery in Estill, S.C. St. John Alison Lawton was born in 1869 and lived into adulthood, dying in 1947. He is buried beside Winborn Jr. and Martha’s monument.

A single marker of twin lambs was made for Winborn III and Cecilia’s last two children. I have seen many lamb markers for children over the years, occasionally one with two lambs. But this has to be the largest one I’ve ever seen before or since.

Cecilia was born in 1871 and died on Dec. 7, 1876 at the age of five. Herbert Singleton Lawton was born in March 1874 and died on Dec. 2, 1876, just five days before his sister. Both children died of diphtheria, a common illness that was often fatal in that time.

Winborn III died at the age of 69 in 1906 of “inanition” and “syncope”, which would be poor nutritional health and possibly a heart condition of some kind. Syncope was rarely the leading cause of death. Cecilia died in 1923 of cancer.

Finally, as an example of never knowing whom you might find in a cemetery, I present the grave marker of Jean “Jane” Scott Stiles. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Stiles and Hinson families buried at James Island Presbyterian Church’s cemetery. I mentioned that Martha Stiles Hinson’s father was Benjamin Stiles. Martha’s mother was his first wife, Sarah Staples Stiles, who died when Martha was about 10.

I had forgotten that Benjamin remarried in 1785 to Jane Scott (age 38) when he was 55. I don’t think they had any children.

First wife Sarah Staples Stiles is buried with Benjamin at the family cemetery at Stiles Point Plantation on James Island. But second wife Jane Scott Stiles is buried near her brother, Archibald Scott, and her nephew, Archibald Henry John Scott, at Saint James Cemetery. She died in February 1823 at the age of 75.

Why she is not buried with Benjamin at Stiles Point Plantation Cemetery is unknown, but it was a pleasant surprise to find her at Saint James Church Cemetery.

I could write much more about this cemetery but I think it’s time to move on. I’m not sure which cemetery I’ll be writing about next, it could be in Alabama, Iowa or Montana. But I promise wherever I go, I’ll take you with me.

About two miles from the James Island Presbyterian Church’s (S.C.) cemeteries is Saint James Church on Camp Road. It is a large church and the cemetery not only surrounds the main chapel building but continues into the back as well. Find a Grave has ore than 400 memorials recorded for it currently.

According to the Saint James Church web site, in the early 1700s, the original Anglican congregation met as a “chapel of ease” in a house with the rector of Saint Andrew’s Parish, the Rev. William Guy. In his report of August 1, 1722, plans for the building of a chapel were mentioned. That chapel was probably completed in that year, but the parish went into disuse several times over those early years. The first was during the American Revolution when it appears there was no priest from 1773 to 1787.

After the Revolutionary War, the Rev. Thomas Mills came as a minister of St. Andrews. He preached at St. Andrew’s Chapel of Ease on James Island once a month. The third chapel building was completed just as Rev. Mills’ tenure began in 1787.

Between 1839 and 1842, Stiles Mellichamp (whom I mentioned in last week’s post) rose to be a liturgical and spiritual lay leader on the Island. Freshly ordained, the Rev. Mellichamp (1842-1851, 1853-1863) took Saint James as his first church. He preached three or four times each Sunday to both white and black congregations.

In 1862, services were discontinued during the Civil War when all communicants of Saint James left the island. The church was destroyed by fire in 1864 unrelated to the war and services were held in the Presbyterian church after everyone returned. From 1864 to 1897, few services were held. However, in 1898, Saint James Church was organized as a mission again and a Gothic-style church was built. The current church building was constructed in 1960.

While Camp Road is quite busy and a little noisy, when you start walking around the buildings into the cemetery, it becomes quite peaceful among the Spanish-moss laden trees. Two small markers caught my attention right away because they were made of wood. It’s almost unheard of for wooden markers to survive past a few decades because of their fragile nature and weather conditions over time.

I learned from a news article that during the Civil War, all of Saint James Church’s records were taken up to Winnsboro, S.C. Alas, Sherman went through Winnsboro and burned everything up there, so the church lost all records prior to 1860. So while we don’t know who these markers are for, they are still intact.

I noticed several graves for the Ellis and McLeod families nearby. Dr. Daniel Wadsworth Ellis, son of Dr. William DeLoach Ellis and Susan Emily Hay Ellis, was born in Barnwell, S.C. in 1853. His older brother, William, fought for the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was a prisoner of war near the end. Upon his release, he eventually moved to Atlanta to pursue a law career, becoming a prominent judge there. He and their mother, Susan, are both buried in Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery.

Dr. Ellis got his medical degree from the Medical College of South Carolina in 1888. But before that he married Rena McLeod in Charleston sometime around 1881. Of their three children, Rose, Annie and Reginald, only their eldest, Rose, would survive into adulthood.

It was the birth of Reginald on Nov. 18, 1885 that led to the death of his mother, Rena. She died on the same day.

Rena was the daughter of William Wallace McLeod and Susan Lawton McLeod, who married sometime before 1848. Born in 1820, William was the son of Robert McLeod and Mary Mikell McLeod. He acquired what became McLeod Plantation from William McKenzie Parker II in 1851, a vast property of nearly 1,000 acres with many slaves on Wappoo Creek on James Island.

The house William built on it was used as a Confederate field hospital during the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, then as camp quarters for the black Union troops of the 54th and 55th Massachusetts Volunteers in 1865. The house, slave quarters, and grounds are now owned and maintained by the Charleston County Park & Recreation Commission.

Rena’s mother, Susan Lawton McLeod, died in 1859 at the age of 37. She is buried to the right of her husband William Wallace McLeod’s cenotaph.

After Susan died in 1859, William remarried to Martha Styles Royall in 1860. She was 24 at the time of their marriage. Sadly, she died on August 8, 1861.

William enlisted in the Confederate Army in March 1862 at Grahamville, S.C. He was mustered as a private in Company K, 4th South Carolina Cavalry. Records indicate that from March 1 to August 31, 1864 he was was detailed at a regimental hospital as Assistant Commissary on July 17, 1864. He is thought to have died in February 1865. A cenotaph was erected in his honor at St. James Church’s cemetery as his final resting place is unknown. It is situated between his wives’ grave markers.

One of William and Susan Lawton McLeod’s children is buried beside her. I include her marker because of the sad little angel face at the top of it. It was carved by prominent Charleston carver, W.T. White. Margaret was Rena McLeod Ellis’ sister.

Let me go back to Dr. Ellis. After Rena died, he remarried in 1890 to Mary Seabrook Rivers. She was the daughter of Elias Lynch Rivers and Cornelia Rivers, who are both buried at James Island Presbyterian Church cemetery. Dr. Ellis and Mary had three children who all lived to adulthood, including Daniel Wadsworth Ellis, Jr., who became a doctor like his father. Dr. Ellis Sr. died in 1928 at the age of 75. Mary, died in 1937 at the age of 67.

We’ve got more ground to cover at Saint James Church’s cemetery, including some folks with ties to families previously featured in this blog from James Island Presbyterian Church’s cemeteries.

I’m finishing up my series today on the James Island (South Carolina) Presbyterian Church cemeteries.

Beside the Robert Rivers Bee Jr. family plot is the Stiles-Hinson plot. You may recall that Robert Jr. was married to Martha Stiles Hinson, daughter of Juliana Bee Rivers Hinson and Joseph Benjamin Hinson Jr. As I told you last week, there was quite a bit of “cross pollination” between the Bee and Rivers families. The Hinsons were also a part of that mix.

Joseph Hinson Jr.’s father was Captain Joseph Hinson Sr., born in 1772 in South Carolina. The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston has a miniature portrait of him. A ship’s captain, Hinson traveled the route between the Carolinas, England and Bermuda. He married Martha Stiles in April 1797. Together, they had three children that included Joseph Jr.

At 29, he was presumed lost at sea in 1801 so he has no grave site. That left Martha a relatively young widow at the age of 26. She remarried in 1805 to William Godber and they had a son, William Stiles Godber. This would be Joseph Jr.’s half brother.

I don’t know when William Godber died (he is not buried with his family and he has no memorial on Find a Grave) but Martha died on Dec. 5, 1846 and William Stiles Godber died a few days later on Dec. 10, 1846. It’s possible another yellow fever plague was ravaging Charleston/James Island at the time. Both Martha and William (her son) are buried in the Stiles Family Cemetery at Stiles Point Plantation on James Island. Stiles Point Plantation was owned by Martha’s father, Benjamin Stiles. You’ll here more about this later.

Joseph Hinson Jr., born in 1801, married Juliana Bee Rivers and they had eight children together. Joseph was a successful planter and did well. They are both buried at JIPC’s cemetery. Joseph’s monument is rather plain compared that that of his wife.

Juliana would die in 1870 at the age of 63. Her cross monument is bolstered by a base that resembles a rock with a vine or branch growing up through it.

There’s something interesting about Juliana’s cross that bears mentioning. I tell people not to only photograph the front of a monument. Look at every side if you can because there may be an epitaph or even the record of another person inscribed there. This was true for Juliana.

It reads:

Her Virtues We Forebear
To Tell, They Are
Registered In Heaven.

In other words, her good qualities are so numerous that we can’t list them all here in this rather small space.

Joseph and Juliana’s son William Godber Hinson is someone I did find a good deal of information about. Born in 1838, William served in the Confederate Army in the Rutledge Mounted Rifleman and Horse Artillery as a 2nd Lieutenant and was wounded three times in the line of duty. Family history says he was almost killed when his horse was shot and fell on him.

The Charleston Museum has in its collection a detailed 1887 map of James Island drawn by Robert Eliot Mellichamp, whose father was the Rev. Stiles Melilchamp. On the back of the map is a document called “Sketch of James Island” that was written by William Godber Hinson, which I’ve added a link to above in case you want to read it.

The document contains not only the history of James Island (from Hinson’s point of view) but mentions items of agricultural, historical and archaeological interest. Names of property owners are included. It’s quite a historical gem, all things considered.

After the war, William returned to James Island. He inherited Stiles Point Plantation from his uncle, William Godber, for whom he was named. He became a successful planter, a community leader, and a well-read scholar. His death certificate indicates he never married.

One interesting point I’d like to share is what William did to the Stiles-Hinson House at Stiles Point Plantation. Originally built in 1742 by his paternal grandfather Benjamin Stiles, William added the 1891 portion of the house and continued to keep the plantation active until the early years of the 20th century. The back-to-back arrangement of a relatively unaltered 18th-century cottage and a late 19th century Victorian mansion is most unusual and unique in that area.

According to the 1973 National Register of Historic Places application, despite their “wedded interior”, the exterior of both houses are characteristic of their respective historic periods. The Stiles portion of the house is an example of a mid-18th century planter’s house, with a modified bell-cast gambrel roof, projecting shed dormers, and the double shouldered brick chimneys. The structure is one-and-a-half stories and rests on a low foundation.

The Hinson house is a Victorian structure with a high ceiling, bracketed cornices, a mansard roof, and wooden balustrades. This addition is two-and-a-half stories and is supported by low brick piers above a partial basement.

Today, the Stiles-Hinson House is situated among three, four and five-bedroom single-family properties that range from $480,000 to $1.5 million that were built on Stiles Point Plantation land. It’s definitely a well-heeled neighborhood.

William spent the rest of his days at Stiles-Hinson House, as did his father, Joseph B. Hinson, Jr., and a number of other family members over the years. His agricultural expertise made him a sought-after resource on James Island, helping to found the James Island Agricultural Society in 1872. He died in 1919.

The Stiles-Hinson plot also includes another of Joseph and Juliana’s children. Born in 1836, Stiles Melichamp Hinson was recruited to serve with Company A of the Rutledge Mounted Riflemen and Horse Artillery. On July 1, 1862, he enlisted as a private into this command for the duration of the war. His unit would officially become known as Company B, 7th Regiment South Carolina Cavalry. His brother, William, served in the same unit.

During a skirmish at Fussell’s Mill, Va. in August 1864, Stiles received “a gunshot wound thru the right arm … the ball passing in [his] body lodging” next to his spine. Receiving treatment at General Hospital Number 9 in Richmond, Va., it was a wound he would not survive. He died on August 15, 1864 and was buried at JIPC Cemetery. He was 28 years old.

Finally, I’d like to include another Hinson sibling. Her monument is the largest in the Stiles-Hinson plot and was carved by W.T. White, whose work was well known in Charleston. It is a tall column with the stop broken off, indicating a life cut short.

Born in 1833, Sarah Rivers Hinson married bookkeeper Paul States Lee Lockwood on March 20, 1856 at the age of 23. She gave birth to their daughter, Sarah Pauline Rivers Lockwood, on August 22, 1857.

Sarah died only six months later on Feb. 28, 1858. According to Paul’s will, it appears that he sent Sarah Pauline to live with her grandparents, Joseph and Martha Stiles Hinson, then moved to Mobile, Ala. to be near a brother. In 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. Paul Lockwood would die in July 1862, serving in the Third Alabama Infantry.

Sarah Pauline lived well into adulthood, married John Mikell and died in 1933. She is buried at the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island Cemetery. Paul Lockwood’s burial site is unknown.

I’ve got one more cemetery to show you before leaving James Island. I hope you’ll come back for that journey.

In my last post, we spent some time wandering through the Burn Church Cemetery of James Island Presbyterian Church (JIPC). Let’s walk between the azaleas bushes to see the other cemetery of the church. To be blunt, this was originally known as the “white” section because that was who it was for. It is now open to all.

According to Find a Grave, there are about 420 recorded burials here. I’m sure there are more unmarked that haven’t been noted. Some stones are impossible to read. But a number reveal the history of those who were among the first white residents of James Island and Charleston.

Three of the oldest markers at JIPC’s cemetery belong to the Witter family. The son of Quaker parents, James Witter was born in 1736. He married Jane Manigault and we know had at least one child, Samuel, because he is buried beside them. He was born in September 1764 and died in October 1766.

James Witter’s marker is in good condition considering its age. It features the winged face or “soul effigy” that was so popular at the time. You can see dozens of these in cemeteries throughout Charleston.

I had a difficult time reading the epitaph on James Witter’s marker but I think I managed to figure it out. I have typed it as it is spelled, including the errors:

Come to this grave each friend and drop a tear,
Bedew his memry, with a grief sincere:
Forget him not tho he lies under ground.
But let his worth on every tongue resound.
To thee, O stone, we recommend this dust,
Commanding the in faith to keep thy trust.
Take, take this body and secure entomb
Until the day of resurrection come.

James died in 1794 and while records indicate he did not leave a will, his estate appears to have passed directly to Jane. She has her own stone with an epitaph I attempted to write out. Hers was even harder to make out. The style indicates it was probably written by the same person who did her husband’s epitaph. The question marks are the words I could not figure out.

Reader approach and ? the cold remains
Of her who was beloved this tomb contains
With every worth the dignified her life
The tender Mother and the virtuous wife
Long since her spirit fought, her kindred ?
And here in ? her ? relics lie
While on this shore her children speak her worth
And with there tears bedew the hallowed earth.

Two surnames that you’ll see a lot in this cemetery are Bee and Rivers. And the two “cross pollinated” quite often. The son of William Bee and Keziah Rivers Bee, Robert Rivers Bee Sr. was born in 1799. He married Mary Flora Morrison on Feb. 4, 1830.

A tragic marker stands beside the obelisk shared by Robert and Mary that records the deaths of four of their children. Robert William Rivers lived only nine months, having died in June 1832. It is my guess that he was their firstborn. The marker notes that three other children, Julia Adeline (5), Kezia (2), and John (11 months), all died within 10 days of each other with a date of August 6, 1838. I don’t know exactly what killed them but 1838 marked a yellow fever epidemic in Charleston, so that may have been the culprit.

Robert and Mary’s four other children did live past childhood. Born in 1846, Sandiford was their youngest child. At the age of 16, he enlisted on December 29, 1862 as a private in the 27th Regiment of the South Carolina Infantry, Company D (also known as the Sumter Guards).

The 27th is often called Gaillard’s Regiment, named after Col. Peter Charles Gaillard. It was a consolidation of the Charleston Infantry Battalion and the First South Carolina Battalion Sharpshooters. The unit was assigned to General Hagood’s Brigade.

The 27th served at Fort Sumter, then moved to Virginia. Here it participated in the conflicts at Drewry’s Bluff and Cold Harbor, and took its place in the Petersburg trenches. The Second Battle of Weldon Railroad took place in August 1864, with the 27th losing two men in battle, 22 wounded and 71 missing.

Sandiford died on Oct. 6, 1864 in Sumter, S.C. I suspect he may have been one of the many wounded or ill soldiers from Weldon Railroad. Mary, his mother, died only six days later on Oct. 10, 1864. Having lost four children in childhood to illness, it must have been quite a blow to lose her youngest from wounds received in combat. Robert St. died in April 1865.

In a nearby plot, you can find another one of Robert Sr. and Mary’s sons, Robert Rivers Bee Jr. and his family. He was born in 1839 and married his first wife, Martha Stiles Hinson. The only occupation I have ever found for him was in 1902 as a “rice shipper”.

Robert’s grave has a CSA (Confederate States of America) marker on it but I’m not exactly sure which unit he served in. He may have been in the 7th Regiment of the South Carolina Cavalry or Trenholm’s Company, Rutledge Mounted Riflemen and Horse Artillery, South Carolina.

There are three small markers with a single flower in the Robert Bee Jr. plot that only say “Our Baby 1861” then years “1868′ and “1870”. I don’t know their names. The only child of Robert and Martha that I know of that lived beyond childhood is Sandiford Bee, who was born in 1866 and died at the age of 63.

Martha died on July 5, 1870. I don’t know if this was before or after the death of the infant whose grave is marked 1870. It’s possible Martha died giving birth to this child.

Robert Jr. remarried to Mary Julia Lockwood and they also had several children. Two daughters, Mary and Martha, both lived long lives. A son, Robert St. Clair Bee, was born in 1878 but only lived to the age of 3.

One marker presents a mystery that someone may have the answer to. It is for two  children, J.B. and Rob. There are no birth or death dates, only how long they lived. Neither child appears on any census records I found. I am fairly sure they are the children of Robert Jr. and Mary Julia (not Martha) but beyond that, I know nothing more about them. It may have been another epidemic that caused their demise.

The carving of the sheep at the top is particularly skillful, I think.

Mary Julia died in 1916 while Robert Jr. died in 1918 of chronic nephritis (kidney disease).

Next time, we’ll finish up by exploring the Stiles-Hinson plot.