The Badwell Cemetery in Fort Mill, South Carolina is a site of forgotten history and paranormal activity. It was once the home of the Petigru family, who were Huguenots, and James Petigru, who famously spoke out against the secession of South Carolina. Although James Petigru is not buried in the cemetery, there are many other colonists who are memorialized there. The story of how we stumbled upon this place is quite mysterious.
We put the coordinates into the GPS, but we couldn't find Badwell. Then we set up a different destination that we were interested in seeing, and the GPS took us down a dirt road that was part of private property. We turned around immediately, but then the GPS took us down Badwell Cemetery Road. It would seem like a good coincidence, but the site is a dead end in the middle of the forest, and there is no reason for GPS to lead us to a dead end. When I visited Badwell Cemetery a few weeks ago, I was overcome with emotion when I read the epitaph on DaddyTom's tombstone.
There are many family members buried in Badwell Cemetery, and they had a traditional oven called a “marmot oven”. This type of oven is partially buried and has a very low arc, so you place the large pots in the center and the smaller pots aside. It has no shelves and only rests on old stone and sand. Badwell Cemetery is an important site for those interested in uncovering lost history and paranormal events. It is also an important reminder of James Petigru's legacy and his fight against secession.
The cemetery serves as a reminder of how far South Carolina has come since then.
