Old Charlestonian: The Legacy of Rémy Mignot

I am choosing to study Rémy Mignot for my Charlestonian research project. I chose him because his epitaph is written in French, as opposed to English, which is interesting. He was born in France in on July 15, 1801 and died in Charleston on August 15, 1848. He is buried in Saint Mary of the Annunciation Cemetery. 

Above is the grave of Rémy Mignot.

Rémy Mignot was born in port city of Granville in lower Normandy, France. He arrived in Charleston in 1823 along with other French immigrants who were escaping the disturbances in Normandy following the fall of Napoleon. 

He first got married to Elisabeth whom he had two children with. Following her death, he remarried to a woman named Théonie Marie Louise Alexandrine (de la) Rivière whom he had four more kids with. One of his children, Louis Rémy, would go on to become the most accomplished American landscape painter in the entirety of the nineteenth century

Above is a painting by Louis Rémy.

Growing up, he was raised in a Catholic family, so when he came to Charleston he became part of the congregation of St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church. He was so involved in the church that he became a sponsor for the baptisms of the French families. 

Above is a portrait of Rémy Mignot.

When he came to Charleston, he opened up a coffee shop and a confectionery on East Bay Street. After a little while, the shop moved from East Bay Street to King Street. 

In 1848, Rémy Mignot passed away at the age of 47 from dropsy. Dropsy is “an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water” according to MedicineNet. 

In the same year, there were 382 people in Charleston, South Carolina, who were diagnosed with and passed away from dropsy. At St. Mary of the Annunciation Catholic Church there are currently 12 people buried who passed away from the same deadly disease. 

The Story of Remy Mignot

I am choosing to study Rémy Mignot for my Charlestonian research project. I chose him because his epitaph is written in French, as opposed to English. He was born in France in on July 15, 1801 and died in Charleston on August 15, 1848. He is buried in Saint Mary of the Annunciation Cemetery. 

Here is a picture of his grave: 

Deep into the Eyes of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church

My group and I recently revisited the church we selected to study, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, to go into further detail on the types of graves that can be found in the cemetery.

A look at the inside of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.

Also a look at the inside of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.

There are various types of grave markers found in the cemetery of St. Mary's. Here is what we found.

Buried here below this bedstead grave is Leonide Picault, wife of C.W. Aymar, born on August 11th, 1836 and died September 6th, 1921.

At this pedestal grave lies James Armstrong, from Ireland. He lived in Charleston for over 30 years and died on October 9th, 1872 at 55.

Here is a die on socket grave. Buried here is Anne M. Lafitte, born August 28th, 1821 and died March 24th, 1898.

This headstone was erected by Margaret Rooney, wife of Paul Rooney, who died October 12th, 1841 at 44.

At this ledger grave is Mlles (mademoiselle: an unmarried French woman) Amelie Maxime Rosalie and Melanie Maxime Veronique De Grasse, both born on August 23rd and died September 19th, 1799.

Here are two obelisk graves. The one on the right memorializes both Martin Roddy, who died September 29th, 1849 at 59, and his wife, Mary F. Roddy who died January 17th, 1857 at 71.

Here is a foot stone, erected in memory of the unborn.

This is an urn-like grave. We could not make up what the last name is depicted at the bottom.

In this photo is a box tomb grave. Here lies Joseph, last name unclear. He was born July 8th, 1859 and died on July 15th, 1852.

The two most common graves we found at St. Mary's were headstones and ledgers. While ledgers are commonly found in the ground, there are also ledger style graves built into the side of the church where the cemetery is located. Furthermore, we found that at St. Mary's many of the people buried here were either French, or of french descent.

Here are some headstones from our grave site. 

Here are some more headstones from our grave site.

The second most common grave found at St. Mary's, a ledger grave.

Ledger-like graves found on the side of St. Mary's.

One year old daughter of John Francis and Mary Magdalene De Lorau (educated guess on the names, the stones are hard to read after nearly 220 years) who died on september 1799.

This grave marker is located in the corner of the graveyard and does not have any information on it other than the initials J.M. and the year 1810. Sometimes gravestones will have information on the back but unfortunately this one did not. According to the church’s inventory listing, this marker most likely belongs to either James Mulligan or Jacques Mossimann.

This grave marker was hard for us to read, for the most part all we can understand about this marker is that this is a recognition plate for the De Grasse family. Amelie Maxime Rosalie and Melanie Maxime Veronique De Grasse, who died in 1799, have a special plate made for them on top of the grave marker. We assume these two are buried here, as it states in the church inventory listing.

We thought this is very impressive, the design of it is beautiful with the flowers on the front. The symmetry of the grave marker is impressive as well. Buried here in this 3 part vault  is John L. Pezant.

We found this headstone interesting because it is written in a different language. Cornelia and Anne Vente are buried here, and also mentioned here are their other family members.

Maria Teresa Mc Hugh died in 1880 and rests beneath this grave marker. We found the flower details on the cross beautiful because of the way it is wrapped around the cross.

One gravesite we found especially sad and poignant was the grave of an unborn child. There was no name on the stone, however the words “In Memory of the Unborn” were written across it. We found this sad because these aren’t seen very often, and it is upsetting that the child lost their life before they were brought into the world. 

One gravesite with an interesting epitaph was that of Eugene Passailaigue. It reads “A prayer for his Spirit. - ’tis never too late.” This is a quote from The United States Catholic Magazine.

Another gravesite with an interesting epitaph is that of Maria Teresa McHugh. It reads “I have loved, o Lord, the Beauty of thy House and the Place where thy Glory Dwelleth. Ps. 25-8”. This is particularly interesting because it is a bible verse. 

Another gravesite with an interesting epitaph is that of Remy Mignot. It reads "Il mournt se reposant dans La misericorde de son Sauveur, el echangea, Comme nous D'espersnt. Les Peines de celle vie, Qui surpasse tout ce que nous pouvons Imaginer.” This is written in French and translates to “He rested in the mercy of his Savior, and exchanged it, as we do. The pains of that life, which surpasses all that we can imagine.”

The Fine Art of Magnolia Cemetery

My classmates went to Magnolia Cemetery on Friday, November 1, however, I was sick and could not attend. Instead, I went later the next week with my roommate and a few friends.

The entrance to the cemetery was very subtle and came upon me very quickly while I was driving. All over the area, there were many trees with moss. The layout of the cemetery was very interesting to me. There are lots of war veterans buried here on the right side of the road, and on the left side are more families buried together. 

My experience at the cemetery was very exploratory and peaceful. There were hardly any people there, and several animals were roaming around- it was overall a very wonderful trip. On our trip across the bridge that overlooks the water, we saw a bird on a tree and found it very beautiful and at peace with its life.

Above is the bird we saw on the tree branch.

One of my favorite memorials was that of Louis Manigault's Die, Base, and Cap gravestone. He lived from 1828-1899, dying just one day after his 71st birthday. The reason he is interesting to me is because he was the founder of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity at Yale University.

Above is Louis Manigault's gravestone.

Another one of my favorite memorials was that of Faust Nicholson who lived from 1876-1938. The reason I find his headstone interesting is because of the flag that is next to it. I was not sure what the flag stood for, but after looking it up I found that it was the flag for Christianity. Being of Jewish descent, I was not very familiar with the Christian flag, but seeing this led me to do further research.

Above is the headstone of Faust Nicholson with the Christian flag next to it.

My final favorite memorial was that of Dr. Andrew Simonds Jr. He lived from 1821-1889, dying at the age of 68. His memorial is interesting to me because of its architectural structure. It resembles that of the Parthenon which I find interesting.

Above is the grave of Dr. Andrew Simonds Jr. 

As I mentioned earlier, I went with my roommate and some friends. They had no idea Magnolia Cemetery existed, but we all had a great trip, and will definitely consider going back to explore more of this beautiful land.

Above is a selfie my friends and I took on our walk through the cemetery.