THE LANGSTON BAPTIST CHURCH, ENOREE, South Carolina, AND THE OLD LANGSTON FAMILY CEMETERY

LANGSTON BAPTIST CHURCH
AND THE OLD LANGSTON FAMILY CEMETERY
Enoree, South Carolina

Directions:

I-26 South Carolina, Exit #44 Road 49 (Laurens County)
3 miles south, turn left onto Langston Road.
1.5 miles to Langston Baptist Church.
Church Cemetery is behind the church.

The Old Langston Cemetery is 0.5 miles north of Langston Baptist Church, about 500 yards off of Langston Road. It is accessible for about 350 yards by auto on an old, rarely traveled, overgrown bush road. You must walk about 100 - 150 yards westerly back into the bush. It cannot be seen from Langston Road nor the old bush road.

The Old Langston Cemetery is built as a square, approximately 60 - 70 feet on each side. An old stone fence once surrounded it, however it has fallen in some parts and rises only 1.5 feet to 2.5 feet high now. An entrance through the stone fence is located on the east side of the cemetery.

Once you enter it, you are amazed at how wild and weedy and bushy it is. The cemetery has not been maintained for many years. My estimate of the number of graves, based on old worn-out markers (most of them eroded by time and weather are unreadable), is between 30 and 40.

History of the Langston Baptist Church.
Langston Baptist Church was organized in 1773.
Henry Singleton Langston (b. 1797) Deeded the land to Upper Duncans Creek Church in 1836. Church was renamed Langston Church in his honor according to one source. Another source says Solomon Langston gave the land to the church.

A relatively new gray and very readable headstone has been placed about 5 feet from the entrance and reads:

"SOLOMON LANGSTON
SOUTH CAROLINA
LIEUTENANT SPARTAN REGT.
REV WAR
1732 1825"

================
"Mary Langston, Wife of John Langston,
and Daughter of David & Isabelle Mason,
Born on December 8, 1798, and died June 4, 1842"
================
"Sacred to the Memory of Mary Toland,
Daughter of Henry & Sarah Langston,
born Sept 29th 1795, departed this life Sept 12th 1864,
Aged 68 years 11 months 17 days"
================
"Hugh Toland
Born in Ireland
6-10-1792
May 22, 1871"
(Hugh Toland's stone is next to Mary Toland.
It has a Masonic Symbol at the top of the stone.
Note: Hugh's given name is Elihu)
================
A 4' tall, 30" wide, 3" thick stone:
"Sacred to the Memory of TIRZAH MOSLEY,
consort of Thomas H Mosley, and the daugher of Mary Toland,
who was born March 26, 1824, and departed this life Sept 26, 1851,
aged 27 years and 6 months"
(This stone has a 4 line poem written at the bottom of the stone:)
"There is a calm for those who weep
At rest for weary pilgrims found
They softly lie and sweetly sleep
Through years of time in silent ground"
(Note: I found this to be part of a Masonic Dirge:
There is a calm for those who weep,
A rest for weary pilgrims found,
They softly lie and sweetly sleep
Low in the ground! Low in the ground!)
================
A small stone, 18" tall, 1 foot wide, 1.5" thick:
"Dedicated to the memory of Margaret Emma Eudora Eliott,
daugher of James E. & Mahala C. Watson,
born Oct 1, 1856, died Oct 5, 1857"
================
A simple rounded top 2' tall, 12" wide, 2" thick stone:
"John Langston, Died 1862, Aged 62 years"
================
Next to John Langston, lies a similar sized stone,
except it has a more pronounced arch on top:
"In the xxx, Sarah Isabella Langston,
daugher of John & Mary Langston,
who was born July 9, 1828 and died July 21, 1838,
aged 10 years and 12 days."
(Note: Sarah's middle name, Isabella, was probably given in
honor of her maternal grandmother, Isabelle Mason.)
(x = unreadable)
================
A pointed-top stone, similar in size to John Langston's:
"Sacred to the memory of Sarah Langston,
Consort of the late Henry Langston, dec.,
who was born Nov 29, 1769, died May 16th 1854,
aged 84 years, 5 months, 17 days"
(This stone has a 4 line poem written at the bottom of the stone:)
"Blessed are the dead
that die in the Lord
for they rest from their labours
and their works do follow them."
================
"Henry Langston
b. 23 Jun 1769 d. 09 Oct 1844
aged 75y 3m 14d"
================
"Mary Donnan Toland
Feb 27, 1850, Jun 18 1897"
(Note: Daughter of J.S. & E. Donnan.)

Questions? Contact EZPopstar@hotmail.com