Bittersweet- Magnolia Cemetery

When I first stepped into Magnolia Cemetery I was in awe, the cemetery was breathtaking! I was stepping into the largest burial ground in Charleston that was 150 acres!! With my prior knowledge, I knew there were around 35,000 people buried there, along with the amount of history within the cemetery had me thrilled.  

  

When I first walked into the cemetery, I noticed the tall, big, black fence. This was not any normal fence, but had beautiful designs on the top of the fence.  As seen on the left, there is also a beautiful pathway which leads visitors throughout the cemetery. Then, a little further down this path, there was a beautiful bridge with ponds and greenery surrounding this area. I was amazed on how a simple bridge surrounded by greenery could look so beautiful.








After looking around for a little while, I thought about what Professor Patrick Harwood asked us and that was, "What are your three favorite grave markings?" I knew this would be difficult to decide, considering there were many "showy" grave markers.  I decided to look at the artwork, along with the quotes marked on the grave markers when choosing my three favorites.

To the right is a grave which caught my eye because of the height of the obelisk.  This grave marker belongs to Langdon Cheves who was born on September 17th, 1776, and died on June 26th, 1857. These dates were surprising to me because he lived until he was 81 years old! While this may not seem old, 81 was considered a long life during the 1700's because of the lack of medical advancements during the time.

Also, on the side of the obelisk, it says, "Husband and father, kind and affectionate- true friend- indulgent master- just and generous to all- with duty ever his great word of action." This caught my attention because of such kind words said about Cheves. He must have been an amazing man!

To the left was one of my other favorite grave markers, which belongs to Joseph John Legare. This grave marker is a mausoleum and says, "In memory of Joseph John Legare Died Dec. 6. 1901. Aged 73 Years. Requiescat in Pace." These words caught my attention because it did not say the date of his birth which must indicate that they were unsure the exact day he was born. Also, "requiescat in pace" stood out because I was not sure what this meant.  I later found out that this was a latin phrase for "may he begin to rest in peace."

Lastly, these four slant markers caught my eye! These caught my eye because this was a wife and a husband, the wife's sisters, and their child.  I thought it was very kind, and showed that the two families were close considering the wife's sister was buried along with, "Harriet Simons wife of W.R. Mayrant." Lastly, along the edge, above Mayrant, it says "in perpetual care." I had no idea what this meant, so I decided to google it and learned that this phrase allows the cemetery to keep general maintenance around this grave.








While this was a wonderful experience visiting Magnolia Cemetery, it was also bittersweet.  This was my last visit to the cemeteries with my class! Although, I will be visiting cemeteries on my own to see the beauty provided by magnificent grave markers, it will not be the same without my class!

Edward Henry Strobel's Tombstone Found at Unitarian Cemetery!

Have you ever been to Unitarian Church? If not, I advise you to go! Unitarian Church has been BY FAR my favorite church and cemetery I have ever visited. A few weekends ago I went to Unitarian Church which took my breath away (see picture to the below). 

Unitarian Church

It was a big, beautiful, yellow church and had an even more beautiful cemetery (see picture below). The cemetery is overgrown with wild flowers, bushes, and weeds growing over many tombstones, which made this cemetery unique from others I have visited. 

Unitarian Cemetery

Edward Henry Strobel's Obelisk Tombstone

Front of Strobel's Obelisk 

After looking around for a little while, one obelisk tombstone really stood out, which was Edward Henry Strobel.  On the front it said, “Sacred to the memory of Edward Henry Strobel, A.B. LL.B. LL.D. of Harvard University. Born in Charleston, S.C. December 7, 1855. Died in Bangkok Siam. January 15, 1908" (see picture above). Then, on the side of the obelisk it said, “He served his country as charge O’Affairs in Spain and as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Ecuador and Chile. His college as Bemis professor of international law” (see picture below). After seeing the size of the obelisk and reading the messages on the base, I decided to research Edward Henry Strobel.

Side of Strobel's Obelisk 

After visiting this grave, I googled Edward Henry Strobel and learned that he was the Secretary of Legation of the United States to Spain until 1890 and wrote a book on the Spanish revolution. This caught my attention because my great grandparents left Spain and moved to Chile because of the Spanish inquisitions.  Strobel was also the Third Assistant Secretary of State, Secretary of Legation, Minister Plenipotentiary (as said above), head of a special mission, sole arbitrator between two powers, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and the trusted adviser of a progressive oriental government. Wow!!! Strobel only lived until fifty-two years and accomplished so many admirable tasks!!

Other than Strobel’s accomplishments, he was born in Charleston from a family whose fortunes the civil war bore heavily.  Strobel grew up in Charleston, went to preliminary school in Charleston, then went to Harvard, and graduated in 1877.  In 1882 he took the bar exam to become a lawyer and passed.  Then in 1884, Strobel participated in the presidential campaign where he wrote a pamphlet on Mr. Blaine  (the Republican candidate in the 1884 election) and his foreign policy.  The pamphlet seemed to have helped Cleveland win the election, considering he became president.  After Cleveland won the election, he offered Strobel the post of Secretary of Legation at Madrid.  Strobel accepted this position and worked in Spain for 5 years, where he worked as Charge d’Affaires for part of the time.

After working in Spain, in 1888 Strobel was sent on a special mission to Morocco. He spent two years in Morocco, moved back to the United States, and then in 1893 he was appointed the Third Assistant Secretary of State. In 1894 he became Minister to Ecuador and then also the Minister to Chile. From 1894-1905 Strobel traveled around the world working for the American Gorvment.  In 1905 Strobel returned to the US after being poisoned in Egypt. Strobel suffered for fifteen months to fight off the poison. After he survived the poison, he returned to his work in Siam, Thailand, but Strobel never really fully recovered. He died three years later in Siam where he was greatly respected.  Strobel entered relations with the Siamese Government knowing it was dangerous work, but took on the role as the General Adviser to the Siamese Government because he was a brave, highly respected man. I hope that one day I can accomplish a tenth of what Edward Henry Strobel had accomplished in his lifetime. 


Sources Used:
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-election-of-1884-1773938
http://www.graveaddiction.com/unitarch.html
https://archive.org/stream/jstor-25130031/25130031_djvu.txt
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25130031?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Dr. Dickinson Speaks of Death.....Spooooky!

On April 2nd Dr. Dickinson came to visit our class! Dr. Dickinson is a sociology professor at the College of Charleston.  He went to Louisiana State University where he got his Ph.D., sociology major, and anthropology minor.  He also went to Baylor University where he got his M.A., sociology, B.A., biology major, and sociology minor. He teaches courses dealing with death and dying, which is why he came to speak to our class! 

He first began to speak of the historical overview of death and the bereavement in the United States.  He explained that in the 1600-1830s that "the living death people is when people were very cognitive about death."  People were very cognitive about death because people died frequently because the US lacked the technology/doctors.  Therefore, people during this time accepted death because of the high mortality rates and had this attitude that "whatever happens, happens and that God is in control."  

Then he explains 1830-1945 which was the period of the dying death. during this period the cemeteries were moved from out of town. The cemeteries were moved to places where they were "out of sight and out of mind."  In other words, the cemeteries were moved out on the edge of cities in the US so people were not constantly reminded of death.  This is why Magnolia Cemetery is on the outskirts of Charleston. 

While the history of death was very interesting, the most interesting fact I heard was that active euthanasia is legal in 8 states, these states include: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Montana, Washington DC, and California. Active euthanasia is the intentional act of causing the death of a patient experiencing great suffering.  This was shocking to me because I had no idea that this was legal in some US states. Personally, I do not think this is ethical, but I am very interested to see what happens in the future considering Dr. Dickinson predicted that this would be legal in all states by the time I am his age. Overall, Dr. Dickinson kept it very interesting throughout his presentation and I advise students to take his class! 

Robert H. Lovett: My Great-Great-Grandfather

I decided to choose my great-great-grandfather Robert H. Lovett because I found his life very interesting. He was an attorney, member of the US cabinet, lawyer, and a judge.  He was Born on July 2nd, 1860 in Peoria, Illinois and died August 23rd, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois.  My great-great-grandfather was one of nine kids all from his father Robert B. Lovett and his mother Adeline B. White. 








I first began my research through my grandfather's blog which gave great information about Robert H. Lovett. He was a 6'3, blue eye,  and a flaxen haired man (see picture above).  He married Laura Gilson Lovett (right) who was 5'1 and had blue eyes.  Together, they had two kids named Eliot and Helen Lovett. I also learned that Robert H Lovett was a 32nd Degree Mason (someone who is a full Member of the Scottish Rite), whose father was a blacksmith, he was a Circuit Court Judge in Peoria, a local lawyer in Illinois, and then later the Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. in charge of settling claims arising from WWI.   





After looking on my Grandfather's blog, I looked on ancestory.com and found Robert H. Lovett's passport from 1923 with his intention to board the S.S. Leviathan on July 4th, 1923.   At this time the S.S. Leviathan was a steamship, whereas before it was used as a carrier ship for troops during WWI. 

Next, I found this note on ancestry.com which states, "Harry Lovett, youngest brother of James Ashton Lovett. He became a Judge in Peoria. He was appointed Assistant Attorney General by US President Harding. He survived the famous "Teapot Dome" scandal of Harding's administration, untouched and served through two terms under President Coolidge."  The Teapot Dome scandal began in the 1920's and was known for the secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the secretary of the interior (Albert Bacon Fall). Fall secretly granted to Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome (Wyoming) reserves on April 7th, 1922.  He also granted similar rights to  other people as well.  

After learning much on ancestory.com I decided to google his name.  After googling his name I found his name in the Peoria City and County, Records of Statement book.  In this book it explains where he was born, when he graduated high school, his occupation, and basic information on my great-great grandfather.  





Last, I decided to contact my dad and grandfather for more information.  I learned that Robert H. Lovett grew up in Illinois, but moved his family to DC when he was appointed Assistant US Attorney General and a member of the presidential cabinet.  Then, after the Teapot Dome Scandal, Robert H. Lovett moved back to Illinois because some of the blame was on some of the members in the president's cabinet which disgraced his name.  

Shortly after moving back home, Robert died.  Robert H. Lovett's death was because of a "broken heart" some people from the Lovett family may say.  They say this because Robert H. Lovett had nothing to do with this scandal, he was a respectful man, but this scandal disgraced his name. Lastly, his die in a socket marker (right) may be found at the Brimfield Township Cemetery in Peoria County, Illinois with a memorial ID of 50143526. 

There's a Tombstone on the CofC Campus!?

Have you ever thought about why there is a tombstone to the left of the Robert Scott Small building (right)? Have you ever even noticed it? The first time I noticed this tombstone was about
two months ago when I first started taking my Beyond the Grave: What Old Cemeteries Tell and Teach the Living class.  Although,  I noticed the tombstone, I never knew why it was there.... so I decided to do some research!


This tombstone actually belongs to Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson  who was the mother of President Andrew Jackson who was the 7th president of the United States.  Elizabeth Jackson was born circa 1740 and died in 1781 of cholera.  She got cholera on a ship where she boarded as a nurse to take care of soldiers.






On the tombstone it says, "Near this spot is buried Elizabeth Jackson, mother of President Andrew Jackson."  This confused me a little because it says, "Near this spot is buried Elizabeth Jackson," but according to Post and Courier Elizabeth Jackson's marker was moved in 1967 from its original location which was 2.5 miles uptown. It is not positive where she was buried, but it was moved to CofC's campus in order to keep it safe from its last location.

While it is not sure where her body is buried, there is actually a statue (left) in Waxhaw, North Carolina where she was born.  This statue was created to serve as a monument to all the forgotten, long-suffering mothers of Presidents, past, present, and future. For more info click here!