Memorial Site on CofC Campus

Imagine walking on your campus and not knowing there was a memorial of someone there the whole time. Here at College of Charleston, there is a memorial of a woman named Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, that of passing by for a whole semester I never knew was there. I'm sure most students walk by this memorial everyday which is located in the heart of Cougar Mall and never pay attention to the fact that it is here.

Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson was the mother of the 7th president of the United States who died in the fall of 1781. She became ill with ships fever also known as cholera. Jackson was only 14 when she died. President Andrew Jackson, has wondered the whereabouts of where his mother's final resting place remains. On her maker, it notes that "Near this spot is buried, Elizabeth Jackson" who is most likely not.

 

After Elizabeth's death, she was buried on a hill in a simple unmarked grave. Andrew Jackson has been attempting years to find the location of her bones to bury next to his father but was unable to do so. Jackson was told by James H. Witerspoon of Lancaster that "Your mother is buried in the suburbs of Charleston about one mile from what was then called the Governor's Gate, which is in and about the forks of Meeting and King street Railroads." 

In 1942, Elizabeth Jackson's gravestone was moved to Charleston on the corner of King Street and Heriot Street. After controversy about the gravestone having weeds obscure it and being in an unsanitary area, small repairs were also done and the gravestone moved to the Cougar Mall where it has been placed since 1967.

During much of the 20th century, the unsolvable mystery of Mrs. Jackson's final resting place is less important. The mystery of the burial site is more than just a historical footnote.