Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Bethel Presbyterian Church

Tombstone of Zachariah Hubbard

There is a beautiful little church that sat just out of sight of my grandparent's farm house in the Picket Post Community of Oconee County, South Carolina. The church has a long history, having been established in 1805. My Great Aunt Clara used to tell me that all of the "old timers" in the Hubbard family were buried there so one day, back in 1997, while on a trip home from Alaska, I decided to visit and see who I could find. Unfortunately, most of the church records have burnt in one or more fires through the years, and no copies are held at Montreat which is the regional archive for the Presbytery in that area. So, one must rely on the Oconee County, South Carolina Cemetery Surveys done by the Pendleton Chapter of the South Carolina Genealogical Society and published in the early 1980s, the card catalog at the local library and the Keowee Courier. The cemetery was vandalized on more than one occasion and in the last rebuild of the church, all of the old tombstones that had been knocked over were laid flat and used to create the foundation of the new sanctuary.

I was able to locate the tombstone for Zachariah Hubbard, husband of Harriet. It was in front of a tree, just off the front corner of the church. My camera was not a good one and so it is difficult to see the names and dates in the photo. I have a copy of his obituary from the Keowee Courier which was and still is the local newspaper.  Harriet should be here too, but I was unable to find her headstone. Hers may now be part of the church foundation or perhaps is buried by the grass. I don't have an obituary for her at this time and only recently discovered her date of death about eleven years after her husband's.

Also buried in the cemetery are several of Zachariah and Harriet's grandchildren and even a couple of great-great grandchildren. The great-great grandchildren, both infants, were my grandfather's brother and sister. Both died as infants, less than six months old, one in 1906 and the other in 1909. The boy's name was Clyde. If the girl was ever named, I've never heard or seen her name. Her tombstone, which she shares with Clyde, simply reads "Inf. Dau." and "Children of A.A. & Lucy C. Hubbard."

I haven't visited in several years. My grandmother sold the farm back in 1991 and so I don't have a reason to visit that end of the county very often. Still, I need to go again to see what new treasures I might find and to pay my respects to those who've gone before.

Treasures Found Through the South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program

Lucy Virginia Callas Hubbard

I ran across an article in the local paper announcing that the University of South Carolina was digitizing some old newspapers with the help of several other organizations under the South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program. I was particularly excited to find that the hometown newspaper was included in the project for the years 1849 to the present. Researchers can access the newspapers free of charge.

I've already spent a little time searching through the Keowee Courier files that are already online and have found the marriage announcement for my great grandparents, Algen Allison Hubbard and Lucy Virginia Callas. [I learned a new word in this article. The title is Hymeneal which, according to dictionary.com, means pertaining to marriage.] The announcement is about two thirds of the way down column 2. It would appear that they had a Christmas marriage.

I also found an obituary for Josiah M. Callas who was Lucy's father. The obituary is the top story in column 4 under the advertisements and headlines. There are several interesting tidbits of information in the article. Of course it must be taken with a grain of salt since we don't know the author of the article, but it gives me a clue as to who is wife's father was. A subject that has had much debate in the past few years. I'll have to chase that squirrel another day. 

Since my father's entire family has lived in the area served by the Keowee Courier and one or two other newspapers that are also included in the project, I predict that I'll be spending many hours searching for various ancestors in both my Hubbard lines and those of my husband's Richardson/Brown lines who lived in Oconee County, South Carolina and it's historical predecessors on this site. Perhaps you will find your South Carolina relatives in these files as well.