John Maynard Davis Video Tease!

I recently did a blog post on John Maynard Davis, the first independent insurance agent in the United States. Go check it out here!

Before There Was Geico There Was... John Maynard Davis!

Over the course of this semester myself and a group of my classmates were tasked with researching a Church Cemetery in Charleston, South Carolina as a team. We chose the St. John's Lutheran Church cemetery. For the end of the semester we were also asked to research one of the people buried at our Cemetery. Attached is a walk through of the St. John's Lutheran Church cemetery taken by me.

Although there are several notable graves in this Cemetery, I decided to learn more about John Maynard Davis. I chose Mr. Davis because his picture stuck out to me as I was scrolling through Find A Grave for a suitable research choice. Attached to the entry for Mr. Davis' grave on Find A Grave there was not only a photo of his headstone but also a portrait. I decided that I would like to find out more about it.

The miniature of John Maynard Davis
Photo from Find A Grave

The portrait attached to John Maynard Davis' was painted by Vallée, Jean François de la around 1805. It is a miniature water color painting that is currently on display at the Gibbes Museum of Art. It is on credit at the Gibbes Museum as a transfer with the Charleston Museum. 

John Maynard Davis himself was an insurance agent for The Phoenix Insurance Company of London according to North Carolina Business History. He was born in 1755 and was an England nfative. In the The Charleston Museum Quarterly, it states that Mr. Davis was the first agent in Charleston from the Phoenix Insurance company and was appointed on June 19th, 1805. This means that John Maynard Davis was the first independent insurance agent in the United States. Mr. Davis also made out a policy on June 1, 1806 that hangs in the office of the Equitable Fire insurance Company, Number 49 Broad Street. 

In a genealogical record of the Richardson and Buford families it is noted that Cordelia Moncrief married Mr. Davis in Charleston and they lived and resided there, however, they had no children. Cordelia Moncrief was a descendant of Captain William Richardson, however, I was unable to find her grave. 

Photo of John Maynard Davis headstone courtesy of Find A Grave

John Maynard Davis is buried in the St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery with what appears in the photos on Find A Grave under a ledger. However, his grave could also be a box tomb as it looks to be raised. Mr. Davis died on May 27 1827 when he was around 71. There is a long epitaph on John Maynard Davis' grave, however, it is difficult to make out.

Photo of Mary Moncrief courtesy of My Heritage

 A unique aspect of the headstone is that it carries not only the grave of John Maynard Davis but also Mary Eliza Moncrief. There was a Mary Moncrieff but no where is it listed that Mary Eliza may be the wife of John Maynard Davis. Upon looking up Mary Eliza Moncreif  it is listed on my heritage that she was to married Robert Smith McCart. 

Photo of John Maynard Davis headstone courtesy of Find A Grave

In the MOOD to learn about a silversmith?

A belt buckle made by Peter Mood Sr.
Photo from The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts

I'm sure you've heard the expression 'born with a silver spoon in your mouth.' However, when Reverend John Mood was born on January 11th, 1792, he took the expression a little more literally. American silversmiths lists his father, Peter Mood Sr., as a silver smith in Charleston South Carolina. Peter would serve as a master to John when he decided to apprentice as a silver smith. John would eventually join his father as a partner at Peter Mood & Son and then Peter Mood & Sons.

A photo of a silver ladle made by John Mood and Peter Jr. Mood
from The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts website

The Reverend was not the only silver smith in the family; his brother Peter Jr. was also a member of the long line of German silver smiths. The three men, father and both sons, worked together until Peter Sr. died in 1821 and the business dissolved. According to The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts the boys had several short lived partnerships before joining back up in business together in 1834. This partnership was dissolved by financial issues and a robbery by an employee. John decided to go into business for himself while his brother moved to New York.

A slave badge from 1835, made by John and Peter Mood Jr.
Photo from Greenwood

At the time the brothers were living in Charleston, the city required all slaves who were hired out by their owners to wear and carry a slave badge at all times. In 1832, John and Peter Mood Jr. won the contract to make all of the slave badges for the city. The badges, however, were not made of silver, instead they were made of copper or tin. They received the bid for this contract several times over the years.

Photo of John Mood
Courtesy of Patrick Harwood's blog

Greenwood  claims that John Mood was born as a Lutheran but later converted to Methodism and became a Methodist minister. Despite making the badges that marked African Americans as slaves, Mood joined Methodism at a time when many members of the faith was opposed to slavery. He decided to violate strict South Carolina laws by teaching black Methodist ministers to read and write. He also established a Sunday school for black children that he ran by himself. 

Photo of Mood's stamp courtesy of American Silver Smiths

A photo of Mood's grave courtesy of Find A Grave

John Mood lived out his life in Charleston and died on March 1st, 1792 at age 72. He is buried at Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery in Charleston. Mood's work can be traced by his stamp on the silver works he created. In addition to slavery badges and silver creations, John Mood also produced Calvary and weapons for The American Civil War. In the book, American Silver-Hilted, Revolutionary and Early Federal Swords, Mood's products are advertised as "silver or gilt hilted sabersscabbards."

William Benjamin Durm : Oysterpreneur Presentation Video

I recently did a blog post on William Benjamin Durm, my great grandfather.

Check out the video introduction to my project and the blog post here!

The Forgotten Grave

Walking through Cougar mall students notice a lot of things. For starters, the beautiful scenery, with paths surrounded on all sides by historic buildings and incredible trees. Of course there is also the College of Charleston's iconic cougar mascot statue. However, possibly the most interesting thing in Cougar mall is a plain, unremarkable headstone. This headstone belongs to none other than Elizabeth Jackson, mother of the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson.

A photo of Elizabeth Jackson's grave in Cougar Mall

You might wonder "Why is this grave marker in Cougar mall of all places?" The logical answer would be that she was buried beneath this headstone, but that proves not to be the case. Not only is this not Mrs. Jackson's grave but no one really knows where she's buried.

According to the Downtown Charleston Graveyards blog Mrs. Jackson was traveling with friends from Waxhall, North Carolina delivering medication to a British prisoner ship when she fell with fell ill with cholera and didn't recover.

The original grave marker was placed "in and about the forks of Meeting and Kingstreet Roads." This is according to a letter written to Andrew Jackson written by James H. Witherspoon. The information in this letter was reported by Post and Courier journalist, Robert Behre.

There is clearly plenty of mystery surrounding Elizabeth Jackson's death especially because there are no pictures of her. The details around her death are conflicting with one source, roadside america claiming that she died of smallpox not cholera. Yet another source, Women History blog agrees that is was cholera.

Women History Blog also states that Mrs. Jackson died in the home of Agnes Barton in her best dress. The claim continues saying she was buried in a simple unmarked grave on a hill. Andrew Jackson was desperate to find his mothers bones in order to bury them beside his father and mother but he never succeeded. 

In 1949, a marker was placed in Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Cemetery. Her death is commemorated not only by her headstone but also by a statue erected of her in Charleston. 

William Benjamin Durm: Oysterpreneur

William (on the left) with his two brothers

My great grandfather William Benjamin Durm Junior was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland until later in life when he bought a summer home in Annapolis, Maryland where my family has been residing ever since. He was born in 1895 to William Benjamin Durm Senior and Annie M. Goldeisen who were both German immigrants. He had three siblings, John, Oremalee, and Cornelius.

William's house in Baltimore.

William as a young boy

A can from William B. Durm's Oyster packing company

William began his working career as a bookkeeper and it wasn't until 1950 when he went into business for himself that his life really began. He opened an oyster packing business in Baltimore, however during the summer they did not have refrigerated storage on trains, so he was unable to ship oysters.


His clever solution was to convert the business into produce distribution. This switch proved to be incredibly lucrative and he shipped most of his produce all the way to Ohio by train, turning his small company into a multi-state business.

A photo of the summer home William owned in Whitehall Beach

There is a single road leading back to Whitehall Beach, the community where William bought his summer home in Annapolis. William would make long treks from Baltimore to Annapolis on the weekend and became frustrated with the dirt road.

To solve this frustration he brought large quantities of oyster shells by boat with him to Whitehall and lined the dirt road. Broken oyster shells at the time were a similar equivalent to gravel. This was a huge benefit to the community that would later become his permanent home after he retired. 

A portrait of a young William B. Durm Jr.

Prior to the Great Depression, William received a call from a friend warning him of the closing of banks across the country. William was able to retrieve some of his savings, but not all and like many other Americans, he lost a great deal. He became extremely despondent.

A photo of the young couple: William and Mary "Agnes"

Long before he made his dive into business, William was married to Mary Agnes Veihmyer in 1915. They had three children together.

William's three children later in life (middle three)
Noel, Oremalee "Lee", and William III

His first son was William B. Durm III, was born in 1919. William III died of colon cancer on Saturday, June 6th, his 74th birthday.

His daughter, Oremalee was named after William Junior's sister, also named Oremalee and was born on January 20th, 1930.

Noel Elson Durm, the youngest son and my grandfather was born November 23rd, 1931. My grandfather, Noel E. Durm described his father as "a tyrant in strictness but a good family provider."

William (left) on a cruise to Cuba

William was not only adventurous in his career endeavors but also in his personal life where he loved to travel and was able to visit Cuba several times before Castro began his reign.

A picture of one of William's boats,
The "Will-Lee-No" named after
his children.

Proving to be a daredevil, my great grandfather fell in a motorcycle accident and lost his eye which was replaced with a glass eye. An avid boater, He once replaced a boat engine with one from  an airplane.                   

A picture of the
grave of William B. Durm III.
The grave also includes the graves of
William B. Durm Jr. and his wife, Agnes.

After living a long and prosperous life, William died in 1965 at age 70 from an intestinal blockage. He is buried beside his wife, his
brother, Cornelius and his sister, Oremalee at Parkwood Cemetery in Parkville, Maryland.

His grave, originally a small footstone was added to a large die in socket when his son, William B. Junior III died. The new die on socket grave has William Jr. and his wife Agnes' graves added at the bottom. A large portion of the Durm family is also buried at Parkwood
Cemetery.

The front entrance of Parkwood Cemetery
in Baltimore.

The original Mausoleum at the back of
Parkwood.

A view of some graves along a hill in
Parkwood.

Parkwood Cemetery and Mausoleum is a private cemetery established in 1919 and is 

home to famous professional baseball player,

Albert William Rubeling. 

Symbol Searching at Bethel United!

This past week my FYE class took a field trip to Bethel United Methodist Church's graveyard. As we walked through the night on paths surrounded by gravemarkers, we were tasked with identifying what ten symbols and icons that were carefully carved into the stone could mean.

The exterior of Bethel United Methodist Church.

Bethel United Methodist Church has been a longstanding icon in the City of Charleston for over 200 years. It has graced the corner of Calhoun and Pitt Street since 1797 and was known for serving both black and white members until 1852 when the original church building was pushed westward on the lot facing Calhoun Street to accommodate a larger building. 

The old original structure moved to 222 Calhoun Street in 1882, and was donated to the African American members of the congregation. Old Bethel United Methodist Church serves as Charleston's oldest standing Methodist Church building.

Using my "Stories Told in Stone" book by Gaylord Cooper, I was able to identify and interpret several of the symbols that I saw on the gravemarkers. I also used the awesome stoneletters blog and "In the Arms of the Angels" by Patrick Harwood to decipher the symbols.

One of the first gravemarkers that caught my eye was for "Anna" who was the "beloved wife of Rev. A.M. Chrietzberg.

Anna's grave was decorated with a wreath and a dove above it. According to "Stories told in Stone" the inclusion of a wreath on Anna's grave could symbolize victory and redemption and dates back to ancient Greece.

The dove above the wreath is an important symbol in Christianity that represents the Holy Spirit. It is symbolic of purity, devotion, and divine spirit. The bird appears to be in flight which means "winged soul." This representation of the soul goes back to ancient Egypt. This is often used on the graves of children, however, this is not the case on this gravemarker so it could represent eternal life.

Although it is difficult to see due to the degradation of the stone, this gravemarker features a lamb. The lamb is the most common animal symbol found on the grave of a child. The lamb is a symbol of Christ and was used in religious art that pre dates Christianity and was even used by the Egyptians.

The lamb can indicate purity, innocence, and Christ in his sacrificial role. This all personifies gentleness and humility.

One of my favorite symbols that I stumbled across in the graveyard of Bethel United Methodist Church was a weeping willow adorning the headstone grave of "James." The weeping willow according to author Gaylord Cooper in "Stories told in Stone" can represent Nature's lament as well as sorrow and morning.

The very well kept headstone grave of Priscilla Sarah Eason stands against the wall of Bethel United Methodist and features an ornate carving of a crown surrounding a cross at the top of the stone.

The inclusion of a crown on a cross means sovereignty of the Lord which is the Christian teaching that God is the supreme authority and all things are under his control.

A particularly large bedstead grave of William H. Fleming features both an open book on top of a draped pedestal and a wreath made of what appears to be pansies. There are also four pansies adorning the four bottom corners of the bedstead.

The open book refers to a literate person and sometimes a scholar. The book can also be symbolic of faith or the book of life. The double page spread of a book is a very popular depiction.

The drapery under the book is indicative of sorrow and mourning.

The wreath made of pansies is associated with someone who has attained distinction in the arts, literature, athletics, or the military which makes sense when paired with the open book.
The pansies themselves are meant to symbolize remembrance and humility.

Several of the graves in the graveyard at Bethel United Methodist featured angels in flight. I've included pictures of two with this symbol; the fallen die in socket of Elizabeth M and the die in socket grave of Rebecca Jane.

Angels are agents of God and they are often pointing towards Heaven. These angels are often shown escorting the deceased to Heaven. When pictured flying as they are in these two photos, the angels are symbolic of rebirth.

The footstone grave of Francis W. Capers is quite simple with the only distinguishing feature being a small cross surrounded by a circle. This encircled cross was adopted by the Christians and is known as the universal symbol fo eternity and never ending existence.