Rocks Plantation Cemetery

FOUNDED: ca. 1803

ADDITIONAL NAMES: N/A

AFFILIATION(S): N/A

HISTORY: The Rocks Plantation was owned by Captain Peter Gaillard. Captain Peter Gaillard owned hundreds of enslaved people, the majority of whom are ancestors to living descendents, and they were buried at the Rocks Plantation Cemetery . Unfortunately, most of the interred are under Lake Marion because of the program that brought electricity to the rural areas. The Rocks Plantation "Big House" was moved more inland so the floods would not devour it. The White Gaillards, buried in the same cemetery, were moved to Church Island, S.C. - close to Eutawville, but only accessible by boat. The Black Davis/Gaillards either did not get proper notice, or didn't have a place to move and re-inter their deceased loved ones, which was a requirement to have the bodies exhumed. Time ran out and Santee Cooper authorities deemed the gravesites "undisturbed" and many of my ancestors are now submerged under Lake Marion...except for one. The one tombstone left belongs to Jacob Davis, the Great-great-grandfather of living descendents. He was born between 1853 and 1856 and died in 1915. Jacob Davis was a boy when slavery ended. Jacob's father Paul bought land in Eutawville, several hundred acres. Jacob added on to the property and built a school to educated the area children. The "Smith Hill" school predates the Rosenwald Negro Schools. Jacob’s tombstone is the only one left standing. When living descendents learned that their Great-great-grandfather's final resting place was not submerged and that the tombstone was still visible and intact, they visited and took pictures. Myra Davis-Branic was inspired to write a book chronicling their family. The book is called "Cornbread My Soul: The Davis Family of Eutawville, SC".

BCN Contact Information:

Myra Davis-Branic

myradbranic@gmail.com