Friday, February 28, 2020

Digging Into The Deeper Meaning of Bethel

Bethel United Methodist Church 

Bethel United Methodist Church has been standing at the corner of Calhoun and Pitt Street since 1797. The church is located at 222 Calhoun Street. The vision for their church is to welcome all people and embrace a diverse community. Bethel church is Charleston's oldest standing Methodist Church and was the only Methodist Church to remain open during the Civil War. I will be exploring the special symbolic meanings on the gravestones located in the churchyard. Source: Bethel United Methodist Church

Monday, February 24, 2020

The Chosen Ancestor

I have chosen my ancestor, Reverend John Henry Livingston for my personal ancestor research project. Rev. John Livingston is my paternal 9th great-grandfather. I chose him because my middle name is Livingston and I have always been curious about that side of my family. The Livingston family also has a lot of fascinating history!

Monday, February 17, 2020

My Top Five Favorite Places of Worship You Should See For Yourself!

Have you ever visited ten places of worship in under 2 hours? Last Monday night, my "Beyond the Grave" class and I visited nine local churches and one synagogue in downtown Charleston. Below I have listed my top five favorites out of the ten!

You may notice a pretty prevalent theme in the photos. They're all white (with an exception of the French Huguenot church)! While the color of a building hardly gives any notice to the art history and design, I think the color white complements the city very beautifully...along with the distinguishing architecture of course.

Monday, February 10, 2020

Ruth Miller: The "Holy City" Queen!

Have you ever stopped while shopping and dining in Charleston and wondered "Why are there SO many churches?" Ruth Miller has the answer for you! Ruth Miller is a Charleston author and historian. She has an abundance of knowledge about graveyards and the history of Charleston's religious foundation. You can find material from her studies and books she has written at http://www.lowcountryinc.com/ and http://www.lowcountryinc.com/charlestongiftshoppe. Ruth's fascination started when she was a tour guide. She explained, "I started to take my group into a church and instead of going into the church they went to the graveyard and started showing me things in the graveyard, like pointing out 'Oh, here is the first dentist in North America..here he is!' That's when I got started".
Ruth Miller 

Monday, February 3, 2020

Into the Yards: After Dark!

For our first graveyard outing of the year, my class and I visited St. Patrick Catholic Church and the Cathedral Church of St. Luke and St. Paul! The churches were a short walk from our campus classroom, which is not surprising considering Charleston, SC is known as the "Holy City" and churches of many denominations are scattered. We walked around the graveyards and observed the different kinds of grave markers we had discussed in class. At first, I felt a little eerie because I had never been to a graveyard at night. However, I am now excited for future visits!

Tune into this Old Charlestonian!

I have researched a past Charlestonian who made Charleston more in tune! John Zacharias Siegling was born on February 13, 1791, in Erfurt, G...