Old Quaker Cemetery, founded in 1759, is a cemetery located in

Camden, South Carolina Camden is the largest city in and the county seat of Kershaw County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,764 in the 2020 census, and the 2022 population estimate is 8,213. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina, Metropolita ...

, in

Kershaw County Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest community is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, Fa ...

. It dates back to the earliest days of Camden, which was first settled in 1730, and is the oldest inland city in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. The cemetery is notable in that it maintains the gravesites of numerous famous people, to include members of the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

community, Revolutionary War soldiers, three

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

generals, two

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

recipients, and one South Carolina Governor. The site contains a historical marker, installed in 2023 by the Wateree Chapter of the

National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century The National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, also referenced as National Society Colonial Dames 17th Century, is an American lineage-based heraldry society and non-profit service organization for women who are directly descended from Ameri ...

. It is also known as the Quaker Burying Ground.

Notable gravesites

Joseph Brevard Joseph Brevard (July 19, 1766October 11, 1821) was an American Revolutionary War soldier. He was born in Rowan County (in the portion which later became Iredell County) in the Province of North Carolina. He served on the South Carolina Suprem ...

(1766–1821) – Revolutionary War figure, US Representative, and Supreme Court jurist * Richmond Hobson Hilton (1898–1933) – World War I

recipient * John Doby Kennedy (1840–1896) – Confederate Army general, and later Lieutenant Governor * Joseph Brevard Kershaw (1822–1894) – Confederate Army general, president of the State Senate, and for whose forebearers Kershaw County was named *

Richard Rowland Kirkland Richard Rowland Kirkland (August 1843 – September 20, 1863), known as "The Angel of Marye's Heights", was a Confederate soldier during the American Civil War, noted by both sides for his bravery and the story of his humanitarian actions dur ...

(1843–1863) – Civil War Confederate soldier and hero at the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat between the Union Army, Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major general ( ...

John Peter Richardson III John Peter Richardson III (September 25, 1831 – July 6, 1899) was the 83rd governor of South Carolina from 1886 to 1890. Family and early life Richardson was born in Clarendon County, South Carolina, to John Peter Richardson II, a former G ...

(1829–1899) – Governor * Donald Leroy Truesdell (1906–1993) –

for action in the

Occupation of Nicaragua The United States occupation of Nicaragua from August 4, 1912, to January 2, 1933, was part of the Banana Wars, when the U.S. military invaded various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934. The formal occupation began on August 4, 1912, e ...

(

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

) * John Bordenave Villepigue (1830–1862) – Confederate Civil War general, and ancestor to John Canty Villepigue * John Canty Villepigue (1896–1943) – World War I

recipient

References

External links

* * Quaker cemeteries 1730 establishments in South Carolina Cemeteries in South Carolina {{US-cemetery-stub