Contributed by
Jo Church Dickerson, April 2001.
SHOOTER / LEWIS FAMILY CEMETERY
Surveyed on 6 Jan 2001 by Daphne Brady Capps
and Jo Church Dickerson.
Location: Dillon County SC, on Buck Swamp Road near Allen's Bridge.
Directions: From the junction of Hwy #57 and #41 at Fork, go south
on #41 toward Mullins for 7/10s mile and turn left onto Buck Swamp
Road at the McDuffie Cemetery. Go 1.5 miles to Sunny Acres Rest
Home. Go 1/10 mile past the first driveway into Sunny Acres, and turn
right onto the little dirt field road beside the barns. Go less than 1/10
mile out the dirt road. The remains of the cemetery are located to the
left of the dirt road, directly under the first tree, hidden from the road
by a row of brush.
As reported last spring by Ernie Cribb, this cemetery has been
pushed or bulldozed to a tiny area under a tree. The only stone
that remains standing is that of Margaret Lewis. The remaining
stones are helter-skelter, and piled on top of each other. Many of
the stones are of a porous material, and are rapidly deteriorating
due to being pushed around, and laying face up to the elements.
Several are already completely or nearly illegible, the engraving
having eroded almost completely away. Epitaphs are broken in two,
and unreadable. Someone published a family history on the Shooters
years ago. Unknown if this cemetery is included in the book, but it is
not listed in the Dillon County Cemetery Book.
If anyone can contribute more information on the cemetery, or perhaps
have inscriptions from tombstones that no longer exist, the information
would be most welcome.
Large modern granite marker:
"This stone replaces original stone which was
erected by Little Pee Dee Lodge No. 83 AFM
In Memory of Past Master Benj. Shooter
Died May 9th A.D. 1858, 54 yrs. 5 months.
By this we perpetuate the memory of our Worthy
Brother who was called from Labour to
Refreshment." (Masonic Emblem.)
[This Benjamin's wife, Sarah Ford Shooter, was a daughter of George
Ford. Sarah was born in 1805, and died in 1899, some 41 years after
the death of her husband. She is buried near her brother William Ford,
at the William "Little Bill" Ford Cemetery near Lake View. -jcd]
(Illegible) Lewis
20 Aug 1871
10 Apr 1875
(The engraving on this stone is disappearing due to weathering.)
Footstone: M.L.
(Unclear if this footstone belongs to above marker.)
James E. Monroe
10 Aug 1867
5 Oct 1875
Sacred to the Memory of
Margaret E. Moody
Consort of John W. Moody
Died 27 Aug 1853? (1858?)
aged 19 yr. 9 months
Sacred to the Memory of
Evan Lewis
1 Jul 180(9?)
19 Jul 18?? (broken)
(Masonic Emblem)
(Another stone where the engraving is nearly gone.)
Margaret Lewis
1 May 1822
11 Nov 1887
(This stone is the only one still standing.
A large monolith, it now leans against a tree.)
Eddie Williams (6?)
5 Jun 1888
Died: (date broken off)
(This stone also has disappearing engraving.)
History: This Benjamin Shooter was a son of the Benjamin Shooter Sr
who came to Marion in the late 1700s and married Mary Harrelson.
Mary was a daughter of Benjamin Harrelson, Senior/Esquire who died
circa or before 1802. The cemetery is on lands that appear to have
belonged originally to Benjamin Harrelson Esquire. Benjamin gave his
daughter Mary Shooter a large tract of land before his death, and deed
records show that other lands that the Shooters purchased in this area
had also belonged previously to Benjamin and/or other Harrelsons. One
early plat for Benjamin Shooter Senior includes the site of this cemetery
on his lands. The lands are described in various later deeds and plats
as "the widow Shooter's land."
The lands seem to have more recently belonged to Dempsey Lewis,
son of the above Evan Lewis and his wife, Margaret Cribb Lewis. W.W.
Sellers, in his "History of Marion County" page 485, states that
Benjamin Shooter Jr. resided on the place "now belonging to Dempsy
Lewis." Current owner unknown.