Grave Marker on a College Campus?

How often is it that you see a grave headstone while on the way to class? As a student at the College of Charleston, I've noticed this grave before and wondered why it was here. For my Beyond the Grave class, our assignment was to research this grave and to learn the story behind it.

Elizabeth Jackson's Grave Marker

This grave marker is dedicated to Elizabeth Jackson who was the mother of Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States. It is interesting because one thing that is written on the marker says "Near this spot is buried, Elizabeth Jackson." It turns out that Elizabeth Jackson isn't buried here. In fact, the location of where she is buried is a mystery. Andrew Jackson tried to find where his mother was buried, however, he had no luck according to the Post and Courier in 2011.

Elizabeth Jackson came to Charleston to look for her two nephews, who were POWs on a British ship. She died in 1781 in Charleston, from the disease cholera during the Revolutionary War. According to The History of American Women Website, Elizabeth caught cholera by tending to soldiers who were being held on prison ships in the Charleston harbor. Her grave marker was not always on the College of Charleston campus. It was moved here in 1920 or earlier to rescue it from its original spot about two miles away, according to The Post and Courier Article.



When Andrew Jackson was attempting to locate his lost mother, he enlisted the help of James H. Witherspoon to find out all he could about where she might be buried, according to the Strange History Website. Strange History also mentions that Andrew Jackson said one of the matrons that went with his mom to Charleston was Mrs. Barton, and it is possible that she knows where his mom is buried. Mrs. Barton said that she could not point to the spot where Elizabeth Jackson was buried, but said she was buried in the suburbs of Charleston, about one mile from Meeting and Kingstree Roads (Strange History Website).

Today, Meeting and Kingstree (now King Street) are two of the most popular streets in Charleston. So, it's crazy to think that people nowadays have been so close to where Elizabeth Jackson is buried and are probably walking right over her grave, but she was sadly never found by Andrew Jackson.