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The Old Smithville
Burying Ground:
A Place of Rest and History
by
Jennifer Milanese
Old Smithville
Burying Ground |
Cemeteries have had a bad rap
for some time now. Perhaps our fear of our own mortality leads us to
find cemeteries a bit frightening and disconcerting. And of course
all the scary tales and movies that use cemeteries as breeding
grounds for zombies and ghosts probably hasn’t helped.
The Old Smithville Burying Ground located in what is now known
as
Southport, North Carolina, could easily live up to the
stereotype of a haunted and chilling graveyard. The lot is dominated
by large shady oak trees and surrounded by a small
dilapidated-looking wooden fence. The gravestones are old, uneven,
and come in all shapes and sizes. Even the sign for the cemetery
looks eerie, as it is a weathered wooden sign with the name spelled
out in Old English-style lettering. Despite this daunting
description, do not be put off.
The Old Smithville Burying
Ground is a must-see spot for both tourists and locals alike. This
cemetery is chock full of history if you know where to look. Each
gravestone and memorial has a tale to tell. From the young to the
old, from natural deaths to those lost in accidents or to disease,
these tombs are a reminder of the lives that helped make Southport a
thriving coastal town and tourist stop.
Benjamin Smith's
Memorial |
If you stop by this old
burying ground make sure to look up the memorial dedicated to
Benjamin Smith. Smith is the founder of the town, hence the original
name of
Smithville. Smith was born into a well-known family in Brunswick
County on January 10, 1756. In 1792 Smith founded the town, as
directed by the General Assembly of North Carolina. In addition to
being the founder of the town, Smith had a long and prestigious
career both in the military and in the government. During the
American Revolutionary War, he served under General George
Washington. He finished his military career as a Colonel for the
Continental Army. Smith also had active terms in the North Carolina
Senate for 25 years before being elected Governor of North Carolina
in 1810. He held this office for one year, in which time he
concentrated his efforts on amending North Carolina's criminal
system.
Smith died in January of 1826
and it is believed that he was buried in the Old Smithville
Burying Ground (see
Editor’s Notes). Due to his role in the creation of Smithville,
a memorial has been placed in the Old Smithville Burying Ground in
his honor. Smith's contribution to North Carolina is still being
acknowledged today. In 1992, for the city's bicentennial, the
General Assembly of North Carolina honored the memory of Benjamin
Smith in a document sent to the mayor of Southport and the chairman
of the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners.
Robert Howe's
Memorial |
Another distinguished military
figure is also remembered in The Old Smithville Burying Ground. It
is General Robert Howe, born in Brunswick County in 1732. Howe moved
to England for a couple of years and upon returning to North
Carolina became the captain of
Fort Johnston in 1766. In 1775 Howe
became the commander of the 2nd North Carolina regiment. He led his
men to victory over Lord Dunmore in Virginia and was made a
brigadier-general. In 1777, Howe took control of the Southern
Department of North Carolina and moved up the rank to major-general,
becoming the highest-ranked officer in the South at that time. In
1778, however, Howe was defeated at the Georgia-Florida border by
British troops. Later that year he was again defeated when he lost
the city of Savannah, Georgia to the British. Howe went on to
command Fort West Point in 1880 and in 1881 he served with General
George Washington in New Jersey.
Howe died of a fever while
campaigning for a seat in the North Carolina state legislature in
November of 1786. General Howe's life began and ended in Brunswick
County. His memory lives on both in history books and on the
memorial found at The Old Smithville Burying Ground.
In addition to notable
figures, you can also find monuments dedicated to those that lost
their lives to the sea. Being a coastal town, a large majority of
early settlers made their living on the sea. With such a dangerous
and unpredictable employer, many hardworking souls perished. There
are countless tales of loss and woe in the town of Smithville, NC.
Sprunt Monument |
One such tale involves the
Cape Fear pilot boat the Mary K. Sprunt. She was officially launched
in February of 1876 in Smithville. One year later she and three
other Cape Fear pilot boats went out to sea on April 12, 1877. The
next morning, April 13th (Friday the thirteenth), a large storm
developed from the east. The Sprunt and one other boat, the Timmons,
went missing. On the morning of Tuesday, April 17th, the Timmons
came back to port largely intact. Smithville residents held out hope
that the Mary K. Sprunt would also return with its crew unharmed.
Unfortunately, she had not fared as well as the Timmons. The Mary K.
Sprunt and its crew never returned from the sea. Aboard were the
owner and captain, Charles Dosher and his two brother-in-laws Robert
S. Walker and Christopher C. Pinner. They also had two additional
pilots aboard, Thomas B. Grissom and Laurence Gillespie.
You can find a monument
erected at The Old Smithville Burying Ground for these local heroes
and many others like them. These are just three of the many
histories that can be found within this deep-rooted graveyard. If
you are ever in Southport, take the time to drop by. Each and every
gravestone has a story behind it that longs to be told.
Editor’s Notes:
During the process of reviewing facts for this article I
was amazed to find out that nobody knows for sure exactly where
Benjamin Smith, the founder of Smithville, is actually buried. I
first realized this when I went to look him up in the book “The
Cemeteries of Southport (Smithville),” a book published by
the
Southport Historical Society, that
lists all the gravestones found in The Old Smithville Burying
Ground. As a member of the Southport Historical Society I started
asking questions and I found out that there is a "memorial" for
Benjamin Smith in The Old Smithville Burial Ground, but when The
Southport Historical Society did their compilation of all of the
headstones in the burying ground, one for Benjamin Smith was never
found. There is a placard, however, near his memorial, which says
that Benjamin Smith is buried in The Old Smithville Burying Ground.
The memorials of both Benjamin Smith and Robert Howe were placed
near the area where the oldest graves were located in the burying
ground. The Southport Historical Society believes that Benjamin
Smith is in fact buried in the area where the oldest graves are,
where many are unreadable. However, when they did their compilation
of all of the headstones found in the cemetery, they could only
document the ones that they could read. So if Benjamin Smith has a
headstone in the cemetery that is unreadable (or was buried without
a headstone) it cannot be documented and, therefore, he cannot be
listed as being buried in the Old Smithville Burying Ground.
While researching the mystery
of Benjamin Smith’s grave it was brought to my attention that the
National Governor’s Association Website stated that Benjamin Smith
was buried in an Episcopal Churchyard in Wilmington, NC. This was
the first I had heard of this and the information seemed very
nonspecific and probably untrustworthy but I decided to follow the
lead just in case. I contacted St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church because
they are the oldest church in Wilmington and they have a graveyard.
They had a record book of all the graves in their graveyard but it
did not include Benjamin Smith. They suggested that I contact
Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington. I contacted them as well and they
did not have any record of him either.
Needless to say, it seems as
if it will never be proven exactly where Benjamin Smith is buried,
but it seems a safe assumption that he was buried in The Old
Smithville Burying Ground. Being the founder of Smithville, it
would seem only fitting for him to lay to rest in The Old Smithville
Burying Ground.
Copyright ©
2007. All Rights Reserved.
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