Singleton's Graveyard

Infobox_nrhp | name =Singleton's Graveyard
nrhp_type =


caption =
nearest_city= Wedgefield, South Carolina
lat_degrees = 33
lat_minutes = 49
lat_seconds = 52.47
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 80
long_minutes = 33
long_seconds = 14.77
long_direction = W
locmapin = South Carolina
area =
architect= Ottaviano Gori
architecture=
added = May 13, 1976
governing_body = Private (Sumter County Historical Society)
refnum=76001713cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Singleton's Graveyard is an historic plantation cemetery located off SC 261 in the High Hills of Santee six miles south of Wedgefield, South Carolina in the United States. On May 13, 1976, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. [ [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/SC/Sumter/state.html National Register listings for Sumter County] ]

History

Singleton's Graveyard was the family cemetery for the wealthy and prominent Singleton family descended from Col. Matthew Singleton (1728-1787) who settled in the area in the mid 1700s. It is located on Melrose Plantation built in 1760, [ [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhphoto&fileName=sc/sc0300/sc0320/photos/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=Melrose,%20Kings%20Highway%20(State%20Route%20261),%20Wedgefield%20vicinity,%20Sumter%20County,%20SC&displayType=1&itemLink=D?hh:20:./temp/~ammem_EnBN:: Historic American Buildings Survey of Melrose done in 1940] ] one of the families many plantations. All that remains of Melrose, though, is the graveyard. There are 43 known graves dating from 1794 to 1944. Many are Singleton family members, including Matthew Singleton himself. The most notable grave marker is that for Governor George McDuffie (1790-1851), husband of Mary Rebecca Singleton, daughter of Col. Richard Singleton. It was designed by noted sculptor, Ottaviano Gori of New York. [ [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/SC/Sumter/state.html National Register listings for Sumter County] ] [McNulty, Katherine N., nomination form for Singleton's Graveyard accessible by Internet Explorer through the link on [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743021/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History file on Singleton's Graveyard] ]

William Tennant (1740-1777] , noted Presbyterian minister and politician, is believed to be buried here since his widow recorded in their family Bible that he died at "Captain Singleton's High Hills of Santee, August 11, 1777 ...". [McNulty, Katherine N., nomination form for Singleton's Graveyard accessible by Internet Explorer through the link on [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743021/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History file on Singleton's Graveyard] ]

ingleton - Van Buren connection

Sarah Angelica Singleton, daughter of Col. Richard Singleton and his wife, Rebecca Travis Coles, married Abraham Van Buren on November 27, 1838 at her parent's home in Wedgefield. Her father-in-law, Martin Van Buren, was then President of the United States and she served as First Lady during the rest of his time in the White House. [McNulty, Katherine N., nomination form for Singleton's Graveyard accessible by Internet Explorer through the link on [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743021/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History file on Singleton's Graveyard] ]

ee also

*List of Registered Historic Places in South Carolina

References

External links

* [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/SC/Sumter/state.html National Register listings for Sumter County]
* [http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/sumter/S10817743021/index.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History file on Singleton's Graveyard]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~scsumter/cemeteries/singleton.html Transciption of graves in Singleton's Graveyard]
* [http://www.sumtercountymuseum.org/ Sumter County Museum operated by the Sumter County Historical Society]
* [http://www.sumtercountymuseum.org/kids/exhibit/100intro.htm Matthew Singleton and the Settling of Sumter]
* [http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/cemvandalism.htm South Carolina Department of Archives and History site on Vandalism & Destruction of Cemeteries, contains a picture of Singleton's Graveyard]
* [http://south-carolina-plantations.com/sumter/melrose.html South Carolina Plantations listing for Melrose Plantation]
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~scsumter/pictures/picturesx21.html Pictures of Melrose Plantation]