Waxhaw Presbyterian Church & Historic Old Waxhaw Cemetery

Waxhaw Presbyterian Church in Lancaster County, South Carolina.

Recently, my travels took me across the Catawba River into neighboring Lancaster County, South Carolina to the site of Waxhaw Presbyterian Church and the historic Old Waxhaw Cemetery. This place holds some significant value to both local South Carolina history and the history of the founding of the United States of America.

As some of y'all interested in the history posts on this site are aware, the site of the current Waxhaw Presbyterian Church was highly significant in the American Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign during the summer of 1780.

The original Waxhaw Meeting House served as a hospital in the aftermath of the Battle of Waxhaws (also known as Buford's Massacre) on Monday, May 29, 1780 when the British Legion forces commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton (1754-1833) defeated Virginia Continentals under the command of Colonel Abraham Buford (1747-1833) in a one-sided battle later described as a "massacre" by the locals.

Wounded soldiers from the battle were brought to the church to be tended to by local women and members of the congregation -- two of them Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson and her then 13-year-old son, Andrew Jackson -- the future 7th President of the United States -- who would go on to serve as a courier under American General Thomas "Gamecock" Sumter. Several of the Virginia Continentals died from their extensive wounds and are buried in the Old Waxhaw Church Cemetery in unmarked graves.

Also buried at Old Waxhaw Cemetery are the graves of Jackson's father, Andrew Jackson Sr. (1737-1767) and Jackson's two older brothers: Privates Hugh (1763-1779) and Robert Jackson Sr. (1764-1781) both of whom died in the service of South Carolina and American independence.

The brothers are laid to rest in a section with other Patriots near a beautiful monument that honors the memory and story of their mother, Elizabeth "Betty" Hutchinson Jackson (1737-1781).

Hugh Jackson was only 16 when he lost his life following the Battle of Stone Ferry which was fought on Sunday, June 20, 1779. Robert Jackson was captured in a skirmish at Waxhaw Church in 1781 (probably when the Loyalists destroyed the original meeting house) and placed in Camden jail along with his younger brother, Andrew. The two boys caught smallpox while in jail.

When their mother received word of their plight she went to Camden and was successful in getting them released as part of a prisoner exchange. Robert died a few days later either from a combination of wounds and smallpox. Young Andrew Jackson recovered.

Elizabeth Jackson traveled to Charleston, South Carolina to aid the war effort by nursing injured and sick soldiers, including her nephews William and James Crawford aboard a British prison ship. While there, she contracted cholera and died, leaving Jackson an orphan at the young age of 14. Her actual burial site is unknown.

The original Waxhaw Meeting House was later burned by British Loyalists in 1781 after being used as a staging point for Patriot militia under Major William Richard Davie (1756-1820) and General Thomas "Gamecock" Sumter (1734-1832) prior to the Battles of Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock in early August of 1780.

In addition to his service in the Revolutionary War, William Davie would also later serveas a delegate to the Constitutional Convention as a representative of North Carolina and become the 10th Governor of North Carolina. He was also one of the key founders of the University of North Carolina. Davie is also buried at the church grounds in a large enclosure along with his family.

The current Waxhaw Presbyterian Church was built in 1896 made of wood and later the exterior walls would be replaced with bricks in the 1940s and stands as the structure seen today.

 

The church yard at the Old Waxhaw Cemetery contains a number of old and beautifully carved 18th and 19th century headstones surrounded on three sides by an old stone wall. The headstones are kept remarkably clean and the cemetery itself is maintained very well. The historic cemetery was officially registered on the National Register of Historic Places on Thursday, September 11, 1975.

Here are the photos I took from my visit to Historic Waxhaw Presbyterian Church & Old Waxhaw Cemetery.

Waxhaw Presbyterian Church, built on the site of the original
Waxhaw Meeting House burned by British Loyalists in 1781.

The grave enclosure of the Davie Family.
William Richardson Davie, local hero of the American Revolutionary War and Founding Father,
as well as the 10th Governor of the State of North Carolina.

Section of the cemetery honoring local veterans of the American Revolutionary War (1775-1780).

Memorial honoring the memory of Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, mother of Andrew Jackson,
7th U.S. President. She is flanked by the graves of her two sons who died in the service of
American independence. Mrs. Jackson herself is buried near Charleston, S.C.
The memorial was placed there by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1949.

Waxhaw Presbyterian Church Cemetery & Old Waxhaw Cemetery are located at 2814 Old Hickory Road in Lancaster County, South Carolina.

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 the next day.
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. As a young boy, he 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. His nose had been broken by Captain Christian Huck as the
family had been held hostage.

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.