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BEECH ISLAND, SC - A tiny cemetery tucked away behind acres of fields on Old Jackson Highway just made national history.
ZUBLY CEMETERY which is 212 years old, was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in late January according to Beech Island Historical Society Vice President Jackie Bartley.
But the cemetery has a different twist. It is full of 18th century Swiss settlers and their descendants.
In 1730, Royal Governor of South Carolina,Robert Johnson ordered that 11 townships be laid out in South Carolina. One of those was New Windsor,an area surrounding Savanna Town. Savanna Town is the spot on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River between Horse Creek and Hollow Creek. It dates back to 1685.
Two hundred town lots were to be laid out, each consisting of no more than a quarter of an acre. The remaining lands would be allotted to the inhabitants in 75-100 acre plots.
"He (Johnson) made the offer to entice Protestant Europeans to come here and settle the backcountry" Bartley said. "They sent out pamphlets describing the land and rivers. Most of the coastal region was already settled and they needed someone to settle the other parts."
In 1737, a group of 200 settlers from APPENZELL, SWITZERLAND,led by JOHN TOBLER, came to settle in New Windsor. They were having problems in Switzerland and decided to come here," Bartley said. "It was understood they would marry among themselves and keep their distinct customs."
Many of the male settlers died during the first summer due to malaria, Bartley added. "New Windsor never devel-oped into a real town," Bartley said. "It survived mostly as a trade center."
The cemetery is named for DAVID ZUBLY who was born in Purysburg, which was another South Carolina township just down river from New Windsor. He was born in 1738 and was a son of settlers from ST.GALL,Appenzell,Switzerland; Research shows Zubly came to New Windsor when he was 21 year's old.
Bartley said the cemetery has always been taken care of by descendants of those buried within the four brick walls of the cemetery "We will be working on cutting some trees down that may damage the brick wall," Bartley said. "Some of the limbs have already fallen, damaging the wall. We'll work to repair the wall where it was poorly repaired before."
Bartley said ELIZABETH M. WILSON, "Miss Elise," who was born in May 1885 and died in February 1983, knew a lot about the history of the cemetery and always made sure it was kept up.
"She was a retired Beech Island school teacher," Hartley said. "I only wish they had put it on the historic reg-ister before Miss Elise died. She knew so much about this place. A lot of people don't even know this cemetery is down here. It should have been put on the register a long time before now"
Hartley credited Dr. Helene Riley,a German professor at Clemson University with starting work in 1997 to get the cemetery on the National Register.
"It took five years to get Zubly on the National Register," Hartley said. "First it has to go by the State Board of Review and then by the National Park Service before it makes it on the National Register."
The National Register of Historical Places is a part of the federal preservation program that is conducted by the National Park Service under the Secretary of the Interior and administered for South Carolina by the State Historic Preservation Office.
This article appeared in our local paper. Please do not contact me for any information as I have none. Questions should be directed to Ms. Bartley at the Beech Island Historical Society.144 Old Jackson Highway, Beech Island, SC 29841. 803-867-3600.
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