Church of Prince William’s Parish, South Carolina
I came upon a rare sight in the United States recently. It was a actual ruin – a place that has been destroyed but preserved in its state of decay or destruction. We associate such places as being in Greece, Europe, or perhaps Asia. In America, we have a tendency to either preserve and restore, or destroy and replace. We don’t typically destroy and preserve the destruction.
Yet I came upon just such a place recently when traveling with Diana in South Carolina visiting dear friends. We happened upon Old Sheldon Church Ruin in Yemassee, S.C. The entire region is rich in history, dating from the 1600’s and colonial times, through both the Revolution and, of course, the American Civil War.
This stately site is preserved by the State of South Carolina. A plaque, placed at the site in 1937 by the Columbia Committee, South Carolina Society – Colonial Dames of America, informs that the Church of Prince William’s Parish, known as Sheldon, was originally built between 1745-1755 and burned by the British Army in 1779. It was rebuilt in 1826, only to be burned by the “Federal Army” in 1865. That would have been by General Sherman’s troops as part of the “March to the Sea” campaign during the last stages of the Civil War. Although the walls did not fall, the church was never repaired.
But, as with most historical events, there is a dispute as to what really happened. While researching the site, I learned that in a letter dated February 3, 1866, after the end of the Civil War, Milton Leverett wrote:
“Sheldon Church not burn’t. Just torn up inside, but can be repaired.”
Apparently the church was gutted by people, both white and black, who needed materials to build their homes burned by Sherman’s army. This from the letters of the Leveretts, published in The Leverett Letters – Correspondence of a South Carolina Family 1851-1868 by the University of South Carolina Press.
At all historical sites, you get a clear sense of an alternative view of the Civil War, particularly in South Carolina. History tells us that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union in December 1860, upon the election of Abraham Lincoln. Fort Sumter, located in Charleston Harbor was fired upon and taken in April 1861. But in reading a passage from Rev. Charles Edward Leverett as he reported to his diocese concerning his activities in May 1865, he wrote:
“The fierce and cruel war waged by the North has interrupted ecclesiastical as well as civil duties.”
You frequently hear the Civil War referred to by South Carolinians as the “War of Northern Aggression.” Still, the ruin is striking in that it is preserved in its state of ruin and maintained. A small cemetery is behind the structure. What an amazing place.