Bev Mott's notes of March 2004:
The highest priority for Raysor/Risher descendants, indeed all of us
should be the Raysor Family Cemetery, listed in Upper Colleton as
(Shieder, Raysor, Risher Cem).
This cemetery is extremely
important as the only remaining marker of the Raysor
Tavern. The cemetery is located just a few feet from the
tavern, remnants of which were located by Dr. J.J. Stokes of Atlanta
using the Mills Atlas and a current map overlay.
It was nearly impossible to
locate the cemetery, only persistence and sheer luck allowed me
to locate it at all. The landmarks have changed since "Cem. of
Upper Colleton" was published. There isn't a "clump of bushes", but
rather a long stand of mature pines extending from road to precipitous
drop to river marsh. (perhaps .4 mile) I walked the length of
these trees several times before seeing through very thick underbrush a
slight rise in the land, which appeared to be an unatural berm about
2.5 feet high and longer than I could penetrate. (I followed roughly 40
feet of it, it seemed to go in an L-shape)
Following this berm required
putting on full long sleeves, pants, covering my hair and
crawling. The entire cemetery area is completely covered by a
bramble thicket, nearly impenetrable.
I got photos of the few stones
I could find, but was unable to locate all those listed in the Bryan's
survey. They are buried beneath leaves and in too thick brambles
for me to find. Benjamin Risher b. 1805 stone which is listed in
the Bryan's survey was fortuitously moved by someone to the Providence
Cemetery a few years ago.
Dr. J.J. Stokes had inquired
of the landowners for permission to restore the cemetery but permission
was denied, around 1996 I believe. I don't know if the same
people own the land.
While we were there, a
cadillac pulled into the nearby pasture and watched us for about ten
minutes but didn't come near. Discussing our sitation as
trespassers we resigned ouselves to go to jail if necessary to find the
information we'd come to retrieve, we didn't stop our work, but
waved. No reciprocal wave from the car. It rolled away and
parked in the driveway of the home directly across 61.
The Raysor Family Cemetery
priorities:
Deed research on the parcel to
find out if the cemetery area was protected in the deeds.
Permission from landowner to
restore.
Thorough clean up, possible
fencing of area.
Survey - Probing for more
stones, graves.
The size of the berm indicates
more burials than are visible, and this is the likely burial spot of
Michael Raysor and Eleanor Risher.
Robert
Williams' helpful notes:
My first attempt to find the
cemetery about 5 years ago was a failure. Drove by the area about four
times. At that time, the area was overgrown with brush and there were
several trees. Also, the trailer
Bev mentioned wasn't there at the time.
A little over three years ago, a trailer was placed about 50 yards to the rear of the cemetery. A
fancy cement drive had been constructed
from SC 61 to the trailer, giving the owners access to their home. Whoever had the trailer
installed apparently cleared the land around the cemetery, making it visible from
the road. And a lot easier
to spot.
My
understanding is the current fence around the cemetery had been installed by Lanning Risher a direct
descendant of Richard. The fence had already been crushed at that time I
first found the cemetery.. My
impression and that of some
other people is the damage had been done by a tree limb or limbs falling on the
fence. The tree or limbs may have fallen on the fence before the land was
cleared or while the land was cleared.
I have passed by there a few times since first finding it and have never seen evidence of dogs being kept
in the fenced in area. It would have been impossible anyway due to
the condition of the fence.
The tombstones were flat on
the ground when I first found the cemetery. That didn't surprise me because on page 525
of the book CEMETRIES OF UPPER
COLLETON COUNTY, is a photograph of Mary Risher's tombstone flat on the ground.. The photograph
was taken about 30 years ago. The Bryans do indicate Richard's stone was
upright at the time. It may have been knocked over by the same tree that
damaged the fence. (Keep in mind
Hugo passed through the area
in 1989.) Bev's remark that the other two tombstones were upright during her visit is
an indication that someone must
be keeping an eye on the cemetery. The three tombstones are that of Richard, his widow Mary Huff who
outlived her husband by 67 years, and their daughter Harriet Risher
Jacques. (Harriet was first married to Fred Jacques, who is buried in the
Jacques Cemetery which is over 5 miles to the east of the Risher
Cemetery. Her second husband was Bev's direct ancestor William Benjamin Risher.)
After Mary Huff's death, a
grandson Paul Risher purchased the 400 acre Risher farm with the
excetion of about an acre that contained the Risher Family
Cemetery. This is the land, the Richard Risher Family Cemetery is
on so at one time there were probably more graves nearby.More than
likely any indentations in the ground may have been filled in when the land was cleared about 3 years ago.
Bob Williams
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