This purpose of this webpage is to help members of the families of those buried in the thoughtfully planned cemetery of beautiful Longtown Presbyterian Church to:
To help by reporting errors, etc., please write to [email protected] and refer to the address (URL) of the webpage you are writing about, e.g., http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/LONGTOWN/index.html in your SUBJECT LINE. E-mail to any other address may not reach me. Please name your ancestors who were members of the Longtown Presbyterian Church, and provide information and links to webpages about them. The more we know about them and their kinsmen, the better. Please indicate whether or not you want me to post your e-mail at http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/LONGTOWN/MAIL.htm . If not posted within a few months, please e-mail me again. Members of Longtown Presbyterian Church and those whose e-mail is posted at this website are not responsible for any other content or opinions expressed on this webpage, or previous versions thereof, since it was first posted on the Internet in 1996.
Longtown Presbyterian Church welcomes all to its worship services every Sunday at 9:30 a.m.; Sunday school follows at 10:45 a.m.
According to e-mail from one of its members,
1) Longtown Presbyterian Church now has an
OFFICIAL website of its own, at www.longtownpresbyterianchurch.org
(a "not found" message was displayed when I tired that
URL). According to http://www.who.is, that website was created
2006-09-23, last updated on 2008-09-24, and its contact is "Tim
Swann, Organization: Longtown Presbyterian Church PCA , 7192
Longtown RD, Ridgeway SC 29130, Telephone 803-337-3694" .
2) the website at http://www.longtownpresbyterianchurch.com/history.htm
is NOT the official website of Longtown Presbyterian Church.
According to http://www.who.is, that website was created 29-Dec-03,
last updated on 25-Nov-08, and its contact is "Elrod, Bruce,
lostgoldrecordsinc, P.O. Box 10, 82 McFadden lane. Rridgeway,
South Carolina 20130, 803-337-8207, Fax: 803-337-3588.
The following table indicates the number of people of each family name that were buried in the cemetery in 1912. I thank possible descendants whose ancestor's family names are CAPITALIZED in this list for writing me. Click here to read their http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/LONGTOWN/MAIL , and click on UNDERLINED or highlighted names to visit other webpages about them.
| 1..Ashford 1..Baker 1..Balch 1..Bell 1..Benson 3..Boulware 1..Corn 3..Cornwell 2..Curry 1..Dixon 1..Dove 2..Ernandez 1..Frey 2..Fry 9..Haines 6..Harrison 1..Henson 2..Howard 1..Jackson 1..Jeffrey 1..Jones |
1..Martin 5..McCormick 3..Morgan 1..Orr 4..Peay 2..Poovey 2..Provence 1..Rape 1..Reeves 1..Robinson 1..Siegler 3..Smith 12.STEWART 1..Swanney 1..Swainey 1..Tidwell 1..Walker 3..Weir 4..Wilds. 1..Wood |
According to Google Earth, Longtown Presbyterian Church, 8010 Longtown Rd, Ridgeway, SC 29130-9288, is located at approximately 34*21'26.30 N" - 80*51'07.89" W. It faces north-east (Highway #3). The foot of each grave in the cemetery is towards the east, at a 45 degree angle to the white sides of the long wooden church.
"Alfred T. Jones, Ridgeway, 1912" was written in the bottom right hand corner of the original map, and may indicate the date this map was made and the name of its author. A rectangle is drawn around each name on this map. Up to six rectangles (smaller if infants') are in each SECTION (were only adults buried in sections which contain only five graves?). Up to seven sections are in each ROW, and up to nine sections are in each COLUMN. Paths separate all sections. On the map below, the back corner of the church is near the clock.
Former slaves or their descendants may also be buried in some of the graves in this cemetery.
Kinfolks are often buried closer to one another.
The numbers beside the names in the list below refer to their positions (row and column) on the cemetery map below (a horizontal line is at the beginning of each row). The number 103S5 (grave #5 in column #103 and row S) represents Tomas B. STEWART's grave. Northern most graves in each section have the lowest last number. Spaces between graves are also numbered, so more names can be inserted later.
The furthest row west of the church is Row N. The eastern most row on the map is lettered V. Row U and V begin behind the church. All other rows begin beside the road. The northern most (closest to the road) column on the map is number 101. Column 107 is behind and furthest south of the church.
Adding names during a visit to the cemetery might be easier if you print the four quarters of the 1912 map: mapNW.htm , mapNE.htm , mapSW.htm , and mapSE.htm . A five page copy of GRAVES.htm (a list like the one below) might help too.
A surveyor's Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver could be used to determine to within about a centimeter the latitude and longitude of each grave (churches and tombstones are sometimes bulldozed).
On Nov 18, 2008 I read at www.longtownpresbyterianchurch.com/cemeteryrules.htm : "The following rules and regulations were established by the cemetery committee in session and passed unanimously March 2, 2005... "If however a family dies off or no member is buried in a plot after 50 years, the plot space will be returned to the church for future interments." Although I suspect that this rule refers only to EMPTY plots in which no one was ever buried, might its wording upset anyone who misinterprets it to mean that the graves and tombstones of his long dead ancestors and war heroes might be removed, e.g., if the family "dies off"?
103N1 SWANNEY, Isabelle Fleet
103N2 SWAINEY, John
103N3 ________
103N4 ________
103N5 ________
103N6 ________
104N1 HAINES, Lillie
104N2 ________
104N3 ________
104N4 ________
104N5 ________
104N6 ________
102O1 ________
102O2 ________
102O3 ________
102O4 ________
102O5 ________
102O6 DIXON, Mrs. S. Reeves
103O1 ________ (do this section's smaller rectangles indicate
all were children?)
103O2 ________
103O3 O.H.
103O4 infant
103O5 L., Rob't.
103O6 Sara
104O1 WEIR, son of D.J. AND S.J.
104O2 WEIR, D. J.
104O3 WEIR, Mrs. D. J.
104O4 ________
104O5 ________
104O6 ________
105O1 BENSON, Walter A.E.
105O2 ________
105O3 ________
105O4 ________
105O5 ________
105O6 ________
106O1 TIDWELL, W.T.
106O2 DOVE, Laura A.
106O3 ________
106O4 ________
106O5 ________
106O6 ________
102P1 ________
102P2 ________
102P3 ________
102P4 ________
102P5 ________
102P6 STEWART, Jos. A.
103P1 ________
103P2 ________
103P3 ________
103P4 ________
103P5 ERNANDEZ, infant of
103P6 ERNANDEZ, infant of
104P1 MORGAN, Eugene
104P2 MORGAN, Mrs. Allan
104P3 MORGAN, John
104P4 ________
104P5 ________
104P6 ________
105P1 ________
105P2 ________
105P3 ________
105P4 ________
105P5 ________
105P6 BELL, Samuel N.
106P1 ________
106P2 ________
106P3 ________
106P4 B. Herbert
106P5 Margaret
106P6 infant
101Q1 SMITH, infant of Tom
101Q2 ________
101Q3 ________
101Q4 ________
101Q5 ________
101Q6 ________
102Q1 ________
102Q2 ________
102Q3 ________
102Q4 ________
102Q5 HAINES, Mary
102Q6 HAINES, E.W.
103Q1 ________
103Q2 ________
103Q3 ________
103Q4 JONES, Carrie E.
103Q5 ________
103Q6 ________
104Q1 ________
104Q2 ROBINSON, child of J.
104Q3 ________
104Q4 BOULWARE, infant of John
104Q5 BOULWARE, infant of John
104Q6 BOULWARE, infant of John
105Q1 ________
105Q2 ________
105Q3 HOWARD, Mrs.
105Q4 HOWARD, John
105Q5 ________
105Q6 RAPE, Henry
106Q1 CORN (Cornwell?), Sarah C.
106Q2 (?CORNWELL, infant of P.B. and M.E.?)
106Q3 CORNWELL, infant of P.B. and M.E.
106Q4 CORNWELL, infant of P.B. and M.E.
106Q5 POOVEY, W.I.
106Q6 POOVEY, J.H.
107Q1 ________
107Q2 ________
107Q3 BALCH, John
107Q4 ________
107Q5 ________
107Q6 BALCH, Mrs.
101R1 HARRISON vault
101R2 ________
101R3 ________
101R4 ________
101R5 ________
101R6 HARRISON, J.D.
102R1 HARRISON, infant son of E.H. and Rose
102R2 HARRISON, E.H.
102R3 ________
102R4 ________
102R5 ________
102R6 HARRISON, Lillie D.
103R1 ________
103R2 ________
103R3 ________
103R4 ________
103R5 ________
103R6 HARRISON, Elizabeth E.
104R1 McCORMICK, Sam'l
104R2 McCORMICK, Mrs. S.
104R3 McCORMICK, Rosa
104R4 McCORMICK, Wm.
104R5 ________
104R6 ________
105R1 ________
105R2 WILDS, W.E.
105R3 WILDS, Rosa
105R4 ________
105R5 ________
105R6 ________
106R1 BAKER, Mrs. Mattie
106R2 ________
106R3 ________
106R4 ________
106R5 ________
106R6 ________
102S1 ________
102S2 ________
102S3 ________
102S4 ________
102S5 STEWART, Rosanna
102S6 STEWART, Joseph
103S1 HAINES, Bryan
103S2 HAINES, Jennings
103S3 HAINES, William
103S4 ________
103S5 STEWART, Tom
103S6 STEWART, Sally
104S1 STEWART, Sam
104S2 STEWART, Mrs. Hattie
104S3 ________
104S4 ________
104S5 STEWART, Fannie, child of R.C.
104S6 STEWART, child of R.C.
105S1 HAINES, Nancy Mrs.
105S2 ________
105S3 ________
105S4 ________
105S5 ________
105S6 ________
106S1 STEWART, Joseph
106S2 STEWART, Sara
106S3 ________
106S4 ________
106S5 ________
106S6 JACKSON, W.J.
107S1 SIEGLER, Mrs. Martha
107S2 ________
107S3 ________
107S4 ________
107S5 ________
107S6 ________
102T1 HAINES, T.M. and M.J. infant
102T2 HAINES, M.J.
102T3 SMITH, G.L.
102T4 SMITH, Mrs. S. E.
102T5 ________
102T6 ________
103T1 CURRY, daughter of S.S and H.C. Curry
103T2 CURRY, Mrs. Hattie
103T3 McCORMICK, Mrs. M.E.
103T4 PROVENCE, Cattie
103T5 WALLER, Mrs. Iva
104T1 WILDS, Minnie C.
104T2 WILDS, infant son of G.J. and M C.
104T3 ________
104T4 ________
104T5 ________
104T6 ________
105T1 MARTIN, Jas. C.
105T2 ________
105T3 ________
105T4 ________
105T5 ________
105T6 STEWART, Lizzie
106T1 ASHFORD
106T2 ORR, Mrs.
106T3 FREY, Ali
106T4 FRY, Willie
106T5 FRY, Vicie
107T1 WOOD, Mrs. J. (or G?)
107T2 JEFFREY
107T3 ________
107T4 ________
107T5 ________
107T6 HENSON
105U1 PEAY, N. daughter of
105U2 PEAY, G.B.
105U3 ________
105U4 ________
105U5 PEAY, Jeannie
105U6 PEAY, infant of W.C. and J.B.Peay
106U1 PROVENCE, D.M.
106U2 ________
106U3 ________
106U4 ________
106U5 ________
106U6 ________
105V1 REEVES, B.K.
105V2 ________
105V3 ________
105V4 ________
105V5 ________
105V6 ________
| Row N | Row O | Row P | Row Q | Row R | Row S | Row T | Row U | Row V | |
Column
|
|
101 O | 101 P | 101 Q
|
101 R
|
||||
Column
|
102 N | 102 O
|
102 P
|
102 Q
|
102 R
|
102 S
|
102 T
|
 |
|
Column
|
103 N
|
Did this section's smaller rectangles indicate these
were graves of (WEIR?) children ? 103 O
|
103 P
|
103 Q
|
103 R
|
103 S
|
103 T
|
The foot of graves is towards east. The west side and
backcorner of Longtown Presbyterian
church is near the clock.
|
|
Column
|
104 N
|
104 O
|
104 P
|
104 Q
|
104 R
|
104S
|
104 T
|
||
column
|
105 N | 105 O
|
105 P
|
105 Q
|
105 R
|
105 S
|
105 T
|
105 U
|
105 V
|
Column
|
106 N | 106 O
|
106 P
|
106 Q
|
106 R
|
106 S
|
106 T
|
106 U
|
|
Column
|
107 N |
107 O | 107 P | 107 Q
|
107 R | 107 S
|
107 T
|
In 1877 Thomas B. STEWART bought a plantation (now known as "Camp Longridge") in Longtown (formerly "LOG" town?). Church records show that at that time Tom obtained permission to transfer his membership from Old Catholic Presbyterian Church in Chester County to Aimwell Presbyterian Church in Ridgeway, SC.
The round trip from Longtown to Ridgeway is about 18 miles on present day roads, and was probably longer on the dirt roads of a few generations ago. In order to attend Aimwell church in Ridgeway, he and his large family may have had to depart via a horse-drawn wagon from Longtown about 3:00 A.M. every Sunday morning, after working hard in their fields until sun down on the previous day. Soldiers of the Confederacy may have taken such trips in stride, no matter what the weather was like.
After members of the STEWART and WILDS families (according to what I was told long ago) built Longtown Presbyterian Church beside the public road, on the adjacent corners of their plantations, Thomas B. STEWART transferred his membership from Aimwell Presbyterian church in Ridgeway to Longtown Presbyterian Church. A Presbyterian organization bought most of the rest of Tom's plantation about 1950 and named it "Camp Longridge".
The land on which the graveyard and western part of the church is now located was once part of Thomas B. STEWART's plantation. According to http://www.longtownpresbyterianchurch.com/history.htm "The church property ... was donated by Samuel McCORMICK who served the church as an elder" (QUESTION: On what page and in what deed book did Thomas B. STEWART and WILDS deed that land to Samuel McCORMICK?). I was told that someone removed the large Iron Cosses that once marked the graves of Thomas B, Stewart and other Confederate Soldiers. I would have erected a tombstone for Tom decades ago if I had known the exact day of his death.
In the records of Longtown, Aimwell and Old Catholic Presbyterian churches (but not at the A R Presbyterian church in Chester, SC) Willliam STEWART found information about his great-great-grandfather, a farmer named Thomas B. (Bankhead?) STEWART (1827 - Feb. 1910), whose name is in red font on the cemetery map below.
Tom's paternal grandparents were Rosanna (about 1745 - 1832) and soldier of South Carolina's first revolution James STEWART, a.k.a. STUART (about 1741- Oct. 2, 1829). On October 2, 1767 they sailed from Belfast, Ireland aboard the EARL OF DONEGAL and arrived in the harbor of Charleston, SC on December 22, 1767. They settled about 16 miles to the north west of Longtown, SC, exactly where Stover creek crosses the Chester/Fairfield county line, on the 150 acre royal land grant that they received under SC's Bounty Act (probably passed for racial reasons; see http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/index.html ).
James STEWART's Scottish style tombstone is located in the overgrown "McDonald" or "Stewart" cemetery, and surrounded by land that recently belonged to the Mills family. Tom's brother John Marion STEWART and other descendants of James and Rose STEWART are buried in the cemetery of Old Catholic Presbyterian Church in Chester County, S.C. Some are buried at Hebron Presbyterian church (see http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/HEBRON.htm ) and at Antioch Methodist Church in Feasterville, SC. More information about Rose and James STEWART and their descendants is at http://www.geocities.com/stewartancestry .
Catholic Presbyterian Church (image above), in Chester County, SC
About 1967 Elder Buster McFadden (1919 - 2003) and other members of Longtown Presbyterian Church kindly allowed William STEWART to copy the original map of the Longtown Presbyterian church cemetery that was used to create the map displayed above. William Stewart was also allowed to copy by hand all of the information about his kinsmen that he could find in its records, and read and copied the records of other churches in Fairfield and Chester counties. All of these churches allowed him to read their records, even while alone inside their buildings late at night. Church doors were never locked because most White people in that neck of the woods could safely trust each other then.
In order to protect them from fires and theft, I hope that all churches will have copies of their records stored in separate buildings. Church records are extremely valuable sources of the genealogical information that some genealogists sell for a living.
Thomas B. STEWART and probably every other eligible member of his race in Fairfield County fought to defend their families, farms, neighbors and sovereign homeland against the Federal government's savage invasion (see http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/CRIMES.htm and http://www.geocities.com/stewartancestry/SOLDIERS.htm ). I found no record that any of Rose and James STEWART's descendants ever owed a slave.
Even though they were outnumbered and outgunned, CSA soldiers gave as good as they got, so speak Southron proudly, sons of the Confederacy.
| The Confederate armies,
known less accurately because of missing records, had
from 750,000 to 1,250,000 men. Their estimated losses: Battle
deaths: 94,000 |
| The Union strength was from
2,500,000 to 2,750,000. Its estimated losses: Battle
deaths: 110,070 |
Source of the above estimates: The Civil War, Strange and Fascinating Facts, by Burke Davis
Can one be a racist unless one's actions, thoughts and feelings are influenced by others' ancestry? Are people who associate the Confederate flag with slavery and racism intellectually pathetic victims of exploitative hate propaganda?
Multi-racial slavery and the slave trade were legal for many decades under both the colonial and US governments. Slavery was legal throughout the war in American states that never seceded. Slavery did not become an issue until long after the war began, and then only for propaganda purposes (not for moral reasons). Thousands of loyal Confederate soldiers of Negro ancestry proudly fought against the Federal government even though slaves and slaveowners of Negro ancestry inhabited both the Confederate and non-Confederate states of America. During the war, Federal and Confederate flags represented only the armies and governments that flew them, not slavery or racism (except according to the divisive hate propaganda of the owners of the media).
Referendums to remove Confederate symbols from the buildings and flags of state governments have been overwhelmingly defeated. Most Southrons see the Confederate flag as a symbol of freedom and southern culture, without any historical, Southern regional, political or racial connotation. An example of this would be the Bocephus Rebel Flag often sold at concerts performed by country music star Hank Williams, Jr., and southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Since long before and after secession, the Federal government has violated the Constitution to which the states agreed. Many Southrons of all races have viewed it as corrupt, tyrannical and imperialist. They have wanted to restore their Constitutional rights and the sovereignty of their states, and to be free from illegal and discriminatory taxation that disproportionately benefits non-Southrons and special interests. Some have used the Confederate flag as a symbol of their cause, and been terrorized and maligned for doing so. The civil rights of Southrons who display symbols of their heritage are still being violated via hate crimes committed against them and censorship, i.e., "speech codes", in government supported schools, etc.
Both during the war and its aftermath, Southrons of all races were violently persecuted, intimidated, terrorized, robbed, raped and murdered for further punishment. Habeas corpus was suspended. Military commissions tried citizens in time of peace. Confederate veterans were disenfranchised and deprived of their civil rights. Property owners were dispossessed via a tax system that was designed to force them either to sell their property, or to have it confiscated for failure to pay taxes. The oppressive Reconstruction that followed the surrender of the Confederate armies was the raison d'être of some multiracial organizations, e.g., the Red Shirts and Ku Klux Klan. The official flag of the Ku Klux Klan, as stated by that organization itself, is the flag of the United States of America, not a flag of the CSA.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy display the Confederate flag, but pledge allegiance only to the flag of the government their ancestors fought. During World War II some U.S. military units with Southern nicknames, or made up largely of Southerners, made the flag their unofficial emblem, and carried it into battle. Some ignorant people complained, so use of the Confederate flag in the military was rare by the end of World II. However, the Confederate flag continues to be flown in an unofficial manner by many soldiers. It was seen many times in Korea, Vietnam, and in the Middle East.
Some anti-white racists hate the Confederate flag because they consider it to be an overt symbol of the White racial identity that they have been trying to destroy. As a result of the hatred incited by anti-White media propaganda, use of the Confederate flag in Southern state flags, at sporting events, at Southern universities, and on public buildings has become controversial. Symbols of the Confederacy remain a contentious issue across the United States and have been debated vigorously in many Southern state legislatures since the 1990s.
On April 12, 2000, the South Carolina State Senate passed a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the top of the State House dome by a majority vote of 36 to 7. Originally placed there in 1962, "the new bill specified that a more traditional version of the battle flag would be flown in front of the Capitol next to a monument honoring fallen Confederate soldiers." The bill also passed the state's House of Representatives, but not without some difficulty. On May 18 2000, after the bill was modified to ensure that the height of the flag's new pole would be 30 feet (9 m), it was passed by a majority of 66 to 43. Governor Jim Hodges signed the bill into law after it passed the state Senate. On July 1 2000 the flag was removed from atop the State House. The sound track was removed from the videos shown during the Evening News broadcast by the local television networks. The moans of thousands of onlookers drowned out the few hippies that cheered as the flag was slowly lowered. A Confederate flag was placed on a monument on the front lawn of the capitol, and current state law prohibits its removal from the State House grounds without additional legislation.
The NAACP and other racist groups have attacked the flag's continued presence at the state capitol. The NAACP maintains an official boycott of South Carolina, citing its continued display of the battle flag on its State House grounds, despite an initial agreement to call off the boycott after it was removed from the State House dome.
Much of the above information about the Confederate flag was copied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_Flags
Links to more webpages about Fairfield and Chester counties are at the bottom of the webpage at http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/index.html
Copies of this webpage may be posted at:
http://stewartw.fortunecity.com/
http://anthropology.fortunecity.com
http://www.geocities.com/earlofdonegal/LONGTOWN/index.html
