“One marble door on hinges still hangs and works perfectly, the other has been broken away. Within are 21 sections for receiving coffins and six of these are occupied. Two of the coffins are of cast iron, formed to hold snugly the bodies of their dead,[...] The other coffins are all of heart pine and except for having been broken open by vandals in search of jewelry are still in good condition.””
the Oldest Surviving Structure on the Island
Atop Hilton Head Island’s highest bluff overlooking the Calibogue Sound was a grand antebellum mansion that for William Eddings Baynard and his betrothed, Catherine Adelaide Scott, was their dream of a life they could spend together and a place to raise their future family.
In 1846 Baynard began construction on a family mausoleum in the Chapel of the Ease Cemetery. It was without a doubt, the grandest and most impressive tomb seen on the island at that time.
Yet while the Baynard Mausoleum has somehow stood the test of time, tragically, its mission to protect those interred there has not been fulfilled, as today it sits under those moss-covered oak trees entirely empty– a victim to over a century of vandalism and theft– making this truly unique and historic structure the center to some of the island’s most infamous legends and ghost lore. A legacy that continues on to this very day.
ADDITIONAL LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
Sources:
“Anthropology class uncovers 100-year-old bones on Hilton Head Island.” WTOC. Updated September 29, 2015. https://www.wtoc.com.
Carmichael, Sherman. Eerie South Carolina: True Chilling Stories from the Palmetto Past. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
Lauderdale, David. “Hilton Head’s Zion Chapel of the Ease makes national list.” (Hilton Head Island, SC). The Island Packet, October 19, 2017.
Matrana, Marc R. Lost Plantations of the South. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
Miller, Riley. “The Ghost in the Stone: Spooky stories tell tales of Hilton Head Island's distant past.” WJCL. Updated October 31, 2022. https://www.wjcl.com/article/hilton-head-ghost-stories/41823578#.
Perry, Grace Fox. “New Activity Taking Place on Hilton Head.” (Beaufort, SC). The Beaufort Gazette, April 9, 1953. Newspapers.com.
Roberts, Nancy. South Carolina Ghosts: From the Coast to the Mountains. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2019.
Taylor, B.F. “Exploring Hilton Head is Interesting Experience.” (Columbia, SC). The State, May 29, 1927. Newspapers.com
Thomas, Richard. “Hilton Head’s untold history: Captain Jack Stoney.” Local Life. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.locallifesc.com/hilton-heads-untold-history-captain-jack-stoney/.
Thomas, Richard. “Hilton Head’s untold history: Grave Robbers once roamed Hilton Head.” Local Life. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.locallifesc.com/hilton-heads-untold-history-grave-robbers-once-roamed-hilton-head/
Wilson, Patty A. Cursed in the Carolinas: Stories of the Damned. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2017.
Wooster, Lyman. “The Stoneys, the Baynards, and Their Mansion.” The Heritage Library, The Heritage Library Foundation. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://heritagelib.org/the-stoneys-the-baynards-and-their-mansion.
Zepke, Terrance. Ghosts of the Carolina Coasts. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1999.
