Where A Gravestone Meets A Campus

Memorial at Cougar Mall

Students of the College of Charleston, including me, walk by the Cougar Mall in between Robert Scott Small Building and Maybank Hall probably at least once a week.

And even though we all would say that we are very familiar with that place, I could guess that pretty much no one realized the gravestone standing there alone. So what does a Gravestone have to do on a college campus?

Memorial of Mrs. Jackson

Looking at the memorial, you may find the first part of the inscription unusual and supersizing.

It just says "Near this spot is buried, Elizabeth Jackson, mother of President Andrew Jackson".

It is special that the gravestone belongs to the mother of our 7th president, but what is it with the first part? What does "Near this spot" mean? 

As mentioned in The Post and Courier article, Elizabeth Jackson died in Charleston in the fall of 1781. Her son and later President tried to find the remains of his mother, but with no avail.

He just got a letter saying "Your mother is buried in the suburb of Charleston about one mile from what was then called the Governor's Gate, which is in and about the forks of Meeting and Kingstreet Roads."

Only in 1942 people responded to a newspaper's call to honor Mrs. Jackson. They crafted this memorial and placed it at the place from the letter, a railroad right of way, a lifeless piece of land.

You could imagine that no one really payed attention to the memorial, so in 1967 people moved it to the place it is found in now.

Another article about Elizabeth Jackson gave a little insight into her life, at least into her last days.

At her time, she volunteered as a nurse on British prison ships. Unfortunately, these ships were affected by cholera and smallpox. Only a few weeks latershe died from this disease as well.