Columbia’s second city cemetery included a separate section for slave burials.
Little recorded history can be found about slave burials and cemeteries.
As a rule, the establishment of slave churches was prohibited. No public records and very few personal accounts or diaries recorded the events surrounding slave burials.
Several slave cemeteries linked to local plantations on the outskirts of town have been documented, including:
•Bonner Cemetery (Bookhart plantation off Farrow Road).
•Claremont Graveyard (A.C. Haskell’s plantation in Kilbourne Park).
•Millwood Cemetery (Wade Hampton’s plantation on Ft. Jackson Boulevard).
•Old Field Slave Cemetery (off Garner’s Ferry Road, over 100 unmarked graves).
In 1807, the second city cemetery was established in the block bounded by Senate, Pendleton, Gadsden, and Wayne Streets.
In 1816, the block diagonal to the cemetery bounded by Pendleton, Median (today College), Pulaski, and Wayne Streets was established as a burial place for slaves.
By 1847, the adjacent block bounded by Senate, Pendleton, Pulaski, and Wayne Streets was also devoted to public burials and was called Potters Field.
In 1851, the town passed “An Ordinance Regulating Burying Grounds.”
The public burying grounds known as Potters Field was divided, with the eastern half used for whites and the western half for blacks.
The burial of any negro, mulatto, or mustizo except in the designated burying ground was prohibited. The grave depth was to be at least five feet below the surface of the adjacent ground.
Negro, mulatto, and mustizo offenders received 20 lashes, and whites paid a fine of 20 dollars for each offense.
No new burying ground could be laid out within the town limits, under penalty of 50 dollars for each body therein.
It was the duty of the Chief Marshall to enforce these ordinances and provide such assistance and instructions as may be necessary.
In 1805 the State Legislature repealed the act creating the first city cemetery specifying that the property “has not been made good use of” and should be sold.
The proceeds of the sale should then be used to acquire a second plot “in some part of town that would be more suitable.”
On May 1, 1806, the first session of the Columbia Town Board was held at which several ordinances were passed, including:
•Set aside the square bounded by Senate, Pendleton, Gadsden, and Wayne for a burying ground.
•Prohibit any further burials in the town’s first cemetery.
•Prohibit any burials in the town limits other than in the new cemetery.
In 1807, the new burial ground was established.
In 1808, Town Council passed an ordinance that prohibited the establishment of any new cemeteries within the town limits.
In the 1840s, the expansion of the S.C. Railroad led to the excavation and filling of the 1807 cemetery.
By 1850, the slave cemetery property was no longer identified and was shown as occupied by D. B. Plant
In 1881, Potters Field property was sold to the Wilmington, Columbia, and Augusta Railroad Co. for $3,000 cash and $200 a year for 15 years.
A contract was given to Messrs. Walter Monteith and W. S. Reamer to remove the bodies before turning the property over to the railroad officials.
There are no records of any removals.
Various personal accounts indicate that no graves were moved—only the gravestones which were crushed and used for fill.
In 1983, there was still ample evidence that supported the presence of Columbia’s unremoved public cemetery.
In 1984, a stone for Rebecca Veal, who died in 1819, was recovered but this did not stop the evacuation of 700,000 cubic yards of soil.
Over time the three blocks used by the railroad were sold off.
In 1996, another portion was sold to Potters
Field LLC for $888,500.
In 2001, as a HUD Project known as Vista Commons, was being built on the block bounded by Senate, Wayne, Pendleton, and Pulaski Streets.
In 1999, a review by the S.C. Dept. of Archives and History identified the Vista Commons as “consistent with our goals and objectives” requiring no further review, historical investigation, urban archaeological investigation, or bioanthropological research.
The HUD Vista Commons Project was completed on schedule.
It is unlikely that much remains today.
The cemetery has been systemically ignored and built on for 150 years.
Much of the damage was done by federally funded, permitted, and licensed projects.
Agencies responsible for the protection of Columbia’s historic resources sat silently, even when alerted, while these burial grounds were destroyed.
Next week: Third City Cemetery
Loading Comments