Now as I mentioned in my other blog On the Road of Retirement I am a spiritual man but not a regular Sunday go-to-church worshiper. But we saw this church several times as we were driving through Spartanburg and never stopped at it until we passed right by it one day. As I said in my other blog if we had found it sooner we may have had to visit it on a Sunday to better see the inside of it and to hear the messages were being delivered. The structure itself doesn’t immediately remind one of a church with its gothic towers that are more castle like than church like.
However, once you start walking the grounds you get the sense that this is indeed a religious property. The church, as with many here in the deep south, has many families buried right on the property. In Texas this is pretty rare but here in the southeast I have witnessed this on many occasions.
You really need to walk around this church and look at the many grave markers to get a feel of what times were like in the 1800’s. Many youngsters and babies never made it to adulthood since medicine was either not readily available nor had been developed at that time. We even found one grave marker with a person that was born in the late 1700’s… and lived a full life of 81 years!
Also one with the captions that read:
Captain in the first Florida infantry USA… during the first two years of the Confederate War. Wounded at Shiloh and taken prisoner In 1863 made full surgeon in the Confederate Army. Remained in service until the surrender…”
He was born in 1833 and died in 1900. Wow! What these two individuals saw during their lifetimes is unfathomable! We found this church and the adjoining cemetery very fascinating and as a result this became another Road Treat… so when in the area… Heyduke says check it out…
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