The Invasion of Ruth Miller

On this late night in February, our classroom was invaded by Ruth Miller, a popular Charlestonian author and tour guide. One of her specialties, that fit nicely within the parameters of our spooky-themed class, was local Charleston graveyards. She was introduced to this rather unorthodox topic through a group of morticians taking one of her tours. They took her into one of these fascinating cemeteries and showed her some history she never even knew was there.



This post will cover some of the more interesting topics of discussion highlighted in her lecture. One of these being the topic of religious freedom in our town, Charleston, which just so happens to be named after King Charles himself, where our story begins.

King Charles, the original owner of all the land now called "Charleston" gifted the colony to a Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (whose name you might recognize from several South Carolina rivers). Under this mans guidance, and clever marketing ploy, the colony gained popularity quite quickly.

This clever marketing ploy was so called religious freedom, the ability to establish any religion with only seven people. This led to many, many new inhabitants, with a wealth of religious diversity. First came Anglicans from Barbados, then Quakers from England, and Baptists and Dissenters (now known as Congregationalists) also from England. After that, German Lutherans, French Protestant Huegonauts, Scottish Presbyterians, Spanish Jews, the Unitarians, and Methodists. That list doesn't even include a "final" denomination because it still doesn't name all the new religions established in Charleston under this rule.

This hugely influential immigration explains why Charleston is such a diverse area for graveyards and churches; because everyone and their mother came here, with each their own religious views. It also explains why, from now on, I'll be referring to Sir Cooper as the supreme marketer of the new world.

As a final parting gift, Miller left us with some crazy fascinating  information that I'll list below for your enjoyment:

- Majority of the tombstones came from Boston, where the rich went to escape from yellow fever.

- Putti are the little naked boys popular on tombstones created by DaVinci.

- During prohibition, it was popular to stash your liquor inside tombstones because they had screw on facets that were an adequate hideout for your booze.