Beyond the Tomb: Preserving the History of a Local Mystery

For decades, an empty, unmarked, crumbling brick tomb on the edge of the Philips Community lay hidden from sight, shrouded with pine needles, creeping vines, leaves and branches. Although unseen, the descendants of enslaved people who live on the ancestral land never forgot the burial ground.

According to community leader Richard Habersham, “In the 1950s, some people came onto the land and dug up the grave. They said a very important man was buried here but they never disclosed who it was. Nobody asked, because back then you wouldn’t have questioned a white man.”

Habersham, who grew up playing in the vacant crypt, added, “As kids, we didn’t know whose grave it was but as someone had once been buried there, it was spooky.”

Oral tradition says the tomb belonged to Dr. John Rutledge, once the wealthy owner of that acreage, which was historically known as the Rutledge Plantation. Family documents indicate that Rutledge died in 1750. Yet other than a 19th century map, there is little to no evidence to confirm or deny that the crypt served as his final resting place.

Architectural historian Brittany Lavelle Tulla said a clue corroborates the theory that an “important person” such as Rutledge was interred in the grave. “The formal brick vault is located on high ground. That means it has prominent placement.”

Still covered in undergrowth, the tomb found its way back into the frame in 2023 when the Phillips Community was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, thanks to Lavelle Tulla.

“Everyone knew the grave was part of the Rutledge Plantation that Dr. John Rutledge owned,” Habersham explained. “Like it or not, he was part of our history and if this tomb belonged to him, we can’t overlook that. While we are looking forwards, not backwards, slavery did happen here and we still have to tell the whole story.”

Patty Stone, a historic preservationist with Warren Lasch Conservation Center, has been instrumental in dissecting the tomb’s narrative. The first step, she said, involved collaborating with Sam Seawell, community lands director with Lowcountry Land Trust. He transferred the land occupied by the tomb from a private owner to the Philips Community Association.

“It’s powerful and beautiful that Richard and other families from the Philips Community want to preserve the site, even though it could have been the tomb of someone who enslaved their ancestors,” Seawell said. “That moral respect of the dead ensures that the full story, the real history of their community, is told rather than whitewashed.”

In 2024, Stone and Seawell invited community partners to participate in a clean-up day. Once the area was accessible, they used funds from a local grant that Habersham had received to subcontract scholar Jon Marcoux, who gave a structural analysis through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Research Laboratories of Archaeology.

“Thorough ground penetrating radar (GPR) of the tomb did not identify any remains, so we don’t definitively know what happened to whomever was interred,” Stone said. “Maybe the family moved whoever was buried there somewhere else. It is a big mystery. But that’s not our focus. Rather, our goal is interpreting the landscape surrounding the tomb.”

That area beyond the tomb is significant, she said, as GPR identified five other “areas of interest” just a few feet away from the grave. “Jon said the readings showed that the features may be ‘multiple reflection phenomena’ and that any interpretation of the results as possible burials should be considered with ‘low confidence.’”

She added, “Although we can’t verify that those areas are unmarked burials, out of an abundance of caution we are operating under the assumption that they could be. Due to everyone’s interests and preservation standards, we will proceed with utmost respect when clearing that land.”

After the tomb’s restoration is finished, the Philips Community Association plans to expand the site as a park. The space will become a part of the Town of Mount Pleasant’s Mount Pleasant Way project, a proposed network of connected multi-use paths linking portions of the town. It will feature an interpretive sign about the tomb and community, and may also include benches for sitting and reflecting on the significance of these hallowed grounds, according to Seawell.

“The project is bigger than Philips,” Habersham concluded. “We want to also acknowledge this history for the town of Mount Pleasant, the county and the state.”

Additional funding is required to complete the work. Learn more about making a donation by visiting www.ourphillipscommunity.com and clemson.edu/innovation-campuses/charleston/conservation/.

By Sarah Rose