PINE HILL CEMETERY
By Elizabeth Waring Noble
Copyright 1999
Revised 2002/04


The largest of the three Waring Cemeteries is at Pine Hill. There are twenty-eight stones visible, but undoubtedly there were many more burials; and perhaps some of the stones have been broken and buried over the years.

Since 1915, there have been at least three times that the inscriptions of Pine Hill have been copied in order to preserve a record of burials. There is no known official record of burials in this cemetery and no perpetual care has been arranged. After ten years or so, the area becomes so overgrown that it is almost impossible to walk through the cemetery and find headstones. Only three times in this writer's memory has the entire cemetery been thoroughly cleared of brush and debris--once in 1962 by Herbert Bailey, once in 1983 by James (Sonny) Waring for the Waring Tercentennial Reunion, and once in 1991 by Hampton Waring II. Herbert may have also had it cleared about 1970. It must have been cleared in 1915 for Joseph loor Waring to find all the stones that he did. The land was occupied by sharecroppers, the Densmore (or Denzemore) family, from about 1870 until World War II. Their cottage stood within sight of the cemetery, and, at that time, it was surrounded by cleared fields. Herbert Bailey reported building Missy Densmore a kitchen for this cottage about 1934. The Densmores apparently kept up the cemetery when they lived nearby. In Herbert Bailey's account of his first visit there, he said that Missy Densmore pointed to the cemetery and said, "There it is", implying that it could be seen from their cabin.

The writer has three different versions of what were said to be complete and accurate copies of the inscriptions on the tombstones. There are obvious typographical and other errors in all three accounts. The earliest is by Joseph loor Waring, copied about 1915, and later published in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. The second was by Legare' Walker, printed in his History of Dorchester County in 1942. The third was by Rosa Waring Thornton, copied on January 14, 1962. All three accounts were supposed to have been taken directly from the inscriptions by the writers themselves. It is apparent that some of the stones have disappeared since 1919, but there is no way of knowing how many had disappeared before then. It would be good to have photographs of each stone to add to this record so that there will be no doubt in the future as to the correct inscription.

It is not too difficult to locate the Pine Hill Cemetery, once access to the plantation is gained and the correct road is located. The trees on the remaining two acres belonging to the Waring family tower above those surrounding them because they have never been cut, whereas Westvaco's trees on the surrounding land are much younger. The plantation house that stood near the cemetery may have been the original house on the land. According to the style, it might easily have been built just after 1711, when the land was granted to Thomas, the son of the original Benjamin. It appears to have been of a much earlier style than the Clayfield house. It was apparently two to four bedrooms over a large dining room and parlor with a wide center hall on both floors, much the same floor plan as Clayfield, but smaller. Each of the large rooms downstairs had its own fireplace. It was still standing in good condition until the earthquake of 1886. Photos from the 1890's show it in a much damaged condition. According to Joseph loor Waring, the house had disappeared not long after 1900, (there is a photo of his young son, Joe, standing next to it), and only the remains of the brick-lined well and cellar now mark the spot where the house stood a few feet off the road. When the writer visited the site in 1967, the brick well was still there, although filled in, and the foundation of the house was visible above ground. So many bricks have since been removed from the site, that there are now only a few left below grade.

Grave numbers and measurements were recorded by Rosa Waring Thornton in 1962. The measurements are from the southern and western corner of the surrounding embankment. This bank was made by Westvaco after they bought the property. When the property was sold, the cemetery was surrounded by a two-foot high by two-foot deep brick wall topped by an iron fence (similar to several in Summerville) according to my father, who remembers that it was there before it was sold to Westvaco, so it is assumed that the company removed it and created the embankment. There may have been unmarked graves under where the embankment is now.

The stones, as plotted on a grid from the directions given, run in a strange diagonal zigzag pattern. This may indicate that a large number of wooden & markers have disappeared. The grave numbers refer to an account published by the SCHS Magazine from data supplied by Rosa Thornton and Elizabeth Waring Bailey in the late 1960's and number the graves, not in chronological order, but from one corner of the cemetery to the opposite one. All inscriptions are as:

#1. Richard George Waring - D. May 11, 1819 Age 34 years 1 month
    Wife - Jane Ladson Waring - D. 1858 Age 68 years, 2 months 25 days

#2. One slab to their three Children
    Susan Hayne Waring
    Sarah Freer Waring
    Joseph Hall Waring

#3. Richard George Waring - B. 1843, D. 1862

#4. James Miller A. M.
    Student at Law and youngest son of the late Rev. John Miller of Dover, State of Delaware.
    Died under the hospitable roof of Doctor Richard Waring on 15th April 1795 age 22.
    Affected with pulmonary consumption. He left his relatives and native home and was
    traveling for the recovery of health when he was arrested by death in a land of
    strangers whose sympathetic tenderness embraced all the duties of kindred and friends.
    This stone was erected by his brothers and sisters not only to point out the spot where
    his ashes repose and to commemorate the virtues and talents of an amiable young man
    and the loss of a beloved brother, but also to express their affectionate gratitude for the
    kindness and friendship with which he was treated in South Carolina.

#5. Dr. Richard Waring - D. 8 Feb. 1814 in 54th year of age

#6. John Waring, Esq. youngest son of Richard Waring Senior. of Pine Hill D. Feb. 1796 age 63 years

#7. Mr. Joseph Waring D. Sept 12, 1761, aged 35 years 6 months
    Here all my suffrings cease
    Here all my griefs are o'er
    The prisoner is at peace
    The mourner weeps no more
    Joined to my better friends above
    And rest in my Redeemer's Love

#8. (Broken stone under fallen tree)
    Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Susan M. H. Boone Relict of the late James Boone, Esq.
    and daughter of Thomas Waring of Pine Hill - D. Feb. 26, 1838 aged 58 years 8 months

#9. James Boone Esq. of Saint Pauls Parish D. Jan. 8, 1808 age about 46 years

#10. Isaac Perry Waring - Son of Joseph J. and Mary E. Waring D. in Summerville June 24, 1833
    Age 10 years 7 months 10 days

#11. Here lyes interred the Body of Mrs. Sarah Elliott who departed this life Nov 21, 1749 Aetatis 19
    Come hither Mortal Cast an eye
    Then go thy way prepare to die
    Here read thy doom for died thou must
    One day like me, be turned to dust.

#12. Thomas W. Boone - B. June 4, 1800 D. Oct. 16, 1846

#13. Mrs. Mary E. Waring - Wife of Joseph J. Waring [I] D. Feb 10, 1848 Age 48 years

#14. (broken stone) Sarah D. Boone

#15. Susan Mary and Infant Son Consort of Robert A. Garden and daughter of Thomas w. Boone
    B. March 24, 1624 D. Jan. 18, 1848

#16. Joseph Joor Waring - D. Dec. 1852 Age 56 years 10 months 28 days

#17. Mary Joseph Waring - B. Sept. 1, 1851, D. Nov. 4, 1947

#18. Martha Waring - Daughter of Joseph J. and Mary S. Waring, D. 8th August 1853 Age 3 years 3 days

#19. Low cornerstone post of brick & concrete

#20. Low cornerstone post of brick & concrete

#21. Mrs. Harriett E. Waring, Wife of Thomas Waring, Jr. D. 22 Dec. 1846 Age 24 years 1 month 16 days
    And - Their Infant Son, John Jennings Waring D. 28 May 1846 - Age 7 months

#22. Thomas Waring, Jr. - D. 16 August 1848 Aged 26 yrs. 1 mo. 11 days

#23. Joseph Hall Waring - D. 27 Dec 1841 Aged 57 yrs. 10 mos.

#24. Low cornerstone post of brick & concrete

#25. Lucia Bellinger Waring - Wife of Joseph Hall Waring of Saint Pauls Parish born July 1823 -
    D. 1856 Daughter of Thomas P. & Mary S. Lockwood of Charleston. (Joseph Hall Waring's 1st wife)

#26. Low cornerstone post of brick & concrete.

#27. Colonel W. B. Ioor - B. 25 April 1809, D. 21st June 1853 leaving a widow

#28. Mrs. Cornelia H. Ioor B. 26 Nov. 1813, D. 19th June 1854

Note: #19, #20, #24, and #26 are corner markers for a plot where 4 adults and 5 children are buried.
The adults are Joseph Hall Waring, Mrs. Rosa Wilson Schulz Waring (the second wife of Joseph
Hall Waring), Miss Cornelia Carolina Waring, their daughter, and Joseph Hall Waring, their son.
Wilson Waring (infant twin brother of Hampton Waring) is one of the 5 children buried here.