Historic Bethesda Presbyterian Church Cemetery In York County

Historic Bethesda Presbyterian Church cemetery in McConnells
in York County, South Carolina.

Historic Bethesda Presbyterian Church is located just off South Carolina Highway 322 in the small town of McConnells in York County. 

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.  According to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History Bethesda Presbyterian Church is one of the oldest churches in the South Carolina Upcountry, Bethesda Presbyterian Church is also one of the four original Presbyterian churches in the state’s old York District. The original structure was build sometime around 1760 about a mile from the site.  

Many of the graves in the historic cemetery include those of local American Revolutionary War militiamen, Confederate soldiers, US Veterans, and Scots-Irish immigrants who migrated to the area from Pennsylvania (and prior to that from Ulster in Northern Ireland and Scotland) in the mid-1700s. 

Also buried in the cemetery are the graves of Colonel William Bratton and his wife, Martha, who both played an important role during the Battle of Williamson Plantation (Huck's Defeat) during the American Revolutionary War and many of the Bratton family, including their grandson, J. Rufus Bratton, one of the more infamous characters in York County's history during the Reconstruction Era (1867 - 1876).

A number of Confederate graves are located in the cemetery,
almost all of them marked by an iron Southern Cross of Honor.

Many of the graves at Bethesda Presbyterian Church include
Scots-Irish immigrants who settled in the South Carolina upstate
in the mid-1700s, probably one of the tens of thousands who migrated
to the area from Pennsylvania down the Great Wagon Road.

Woodmen of the World marker.

Bratton family plot.

A toddler's grave for 3 year old Robert Lowry.

Grave of Colonel William Bratton & his wife Martha Bratton,
two local heroes of the Battle of Williamson Plantation (Huck's
Defeat) on Wednesday, July 12, 1780.
Colonel Bratton was one of the local Patriot militia leaders who fought
a partisan campaign against occupying British soldiers and Loyalist
supporters during the summer and fall of 1780.
His wife Martha was best known for her courage when confronted
by a Loyalist officer and threatened at weapon point on the porch
of the Bratton family home just prior to the Battle of Huck's Defeat.
Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) markers also honor their
service at the site.

Grave of Dr. John S. Bratton (1789-1848)
noted local doctor and youngest son of Colonel William
Bratton & Martha Bratton, and father of J. Rufus Bratton.
He was the boy who held onto his mother as she was
threatened on the porch of the Bratton homestead by
a Loyalist officer on July 11, 1780 prior to the
Battle of Williamson Plantation (Huck's Defeat)
the next day.

The grave of Confederate surgeon J. Rufus Bratton
(1821-1897) and his wife Mary R. Bratton (1831-1921).
Rufus Bratton is also infamous for leading a local
branch of the first Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction
Era and subsequent terrorist activities committed in
York County in 1871.