Last summer, Parish Administrator Kate Randall was contacted by a patriotic historical organization composed of and incorporated as the “Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.” Unbeknownst to us, that group had discovered that Elizabeth Matthews Heyward, the wife of one of the signers (Thomas Heyward of South Carolina), had been buried in our churchyard in 1782, in an unmarked grave. The “Descendants” asked St. Peter’s if we would have any objection to their correcting that situation by creating a small marker and placing it somewhere in our grounds, at their expense. Kate brought the request to the attention of The Historic St. Peter’s Committee and to Preserve St. Peter’s, both of which endorsed the request to the vestry, which approved it in the fall.
Nice gesture, but does simply being married to a signer of the Declaration of Independence merit such a tribute? Turns out, Elizabeth Matthews Heyward could lay her own claim in recognition of the patriotic role she had played in our struggle for independence!
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1748, Elizabeth Matthews benefitted from all of the privileges accorded to those who held land and enslaved people in that society at that time. Her brother, John, became governor of the state and, in April 1773, she married Thomas Heyward (1746-1809), the son of a prominent and powerful South Carolina family.
When hostilities emerged between England and the North American colonies during those years, Mr. Heyward (a lawyer and judge) championed the patriot’s cause to such an extent that he was chosen to represent his colony at the Second Continental Congress, and ultimately, on behalf of his newly-minted State of South Carolina, he signed the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Heyward was back in Charleston when it was attacked and placed under British siege in May 1780. Taking up arms to defend his home, he was wounded and taken prisoner several weeks after the city fell. He would spend the ensuing 11 months in St. Augustine, in a British prison during which time the family plantation outside of Charleston was ransacked.
Fortunately, his wife, her sister, and all of their children were able to take up full-time residence in their handsome townhouse on Church Street in the city (still standing, now called the “Heyward-Washington House” and open for tours), but that too would become subjected to violence. Twice, over the course of those months, all Charleston residents were required to display their loyalty to the crown by participating in an “Illumination,” which entailed the placement of candles in all of the windows on the façade of every house. The March 1781 illumination was called to celebrate the recent British victory at the Battle of Guilford. When Mrs. Heyward failed to comply, a British officer forced his way into her home and demanded that she do so, to which she replied “How can I celebrate a victory of your army while my husband remains (your) prisoner?”
Chagrinned, the officer departed. Two months later, when a second illumination was ordered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the surrender Charleston, the façade of the Church Street House again remained dark. This time, the officer simply advised Mrs. Heyward that she could do as she pleased but that his forces would not protect the property from any resultant vandalism. Sure enough, that night, bands of Loyalists attacked the house with “brickbats and every type of nauseating trash” causing considerable damage and subsequently, the death of Elizabeth’s sister who had been in childbirth during the melee.
When, in July of that year, Mr. Heyward was released from prison, his captors refused to allow him to return to Charleston, but instead transported him by boat to Philadelphia. Mrs. Heyward, not having seen her husband in a year, chose to travel to our city, and to spend time with him here, away from the center of the war, which remained in the south. While here, she became pregnant with her eighth child in nine years. That child, a son named Thomas, did not survive, and neither did his mother, who died on August 16, 1782. She (and presumably her child) were buried in our churchyard in a grave that was never marked.
Yes…it is time to recognize her interment by the placement of her marker here, sometime this coming spring.
A monthly feature brought to you by the St. Peter’s History Committee. This article was written by parishioner Keith Betten.