St. Michael's Churchyard

St. Michael's Churchyard, adjacent to historic St. Michael's Episcopal Church on the corner of Meeting and Broad Streets, in Charleston, South Carolina is the final resting place of some famous historical figures, including two signers of the Constitution of the United States. The church was established in 1751 as the second Anglican parish in Charleston, South Carolina.

Interred in St. Michael's Churchyard are:

  • Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825) Colonel in the Continental Army, member of the U.S. Constitutional Convention and signer of the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Minister to France, Federalist candidate for Vice President, and later candidate for President of the United States in 1804 and 1808
  • John Rutledge (1739–1800) Governor of South Carolina, 1779, member of the U.S. Constitutional Convention and signer of the U.S. Constitution, Chief Justice of U.S. Supreme Court
  • Robert Young Hayne (1791–1839) Senator, Governor of South Carolina, and mayor of Charleston
  • Arthur Peronneau Hayne (c.1789-1867) U.S. Senator from South Carolina
  • William Dickinson Martin (1789–1833) U.S. Congressman from South Carolina
  • Mordecai Gist (1742–1792) American Revolutionary War general
  • Thomas M. Wagner, Civil War Lieutenant Colonel and namesake for Battery Wagner.

Across the street is St. Michael's Church Cemetery. Interred here is Francis Kinloch (1755–1826) a delegate to Second Continental Congress from South Carolina.

J. A. W. Iusti, Frederick Julius Ortmann, and Christopher Werner were three German born forgers of wrought iron in Charleston. Iusti's creation of the St. Michael's Cemetery Gate "Sword Gate" is one of the two most notable iron gates in Charleston, the other being the by "Sword Gate" by Werner.

Famous quotes containing the words michael and/or churchyard:

    Hey, cut the crap! The Pope, the Holy Father himself, has this very day blessed Michael Corleone. You think you know better than the Pope?
    Mario Puzo, U.S. author, screenwriter, and Francis Ford Coppola, U.S. director, screenwriter. Dominic (Don Novello)

    Under bare Ben Bulben’s head
    In Drumcliff churchyard Yeats is laid.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)