A Victim of the Civil War - Sheldon Prince William's Parish Church

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Roger and Janice gave us directions for a short cut to reach the Interstate from Beaufort which would take us past the old historic Shelton Church that was burned during the Civil War. The historic sign states that the church was burned by Union Soldiers. However, R and J told us there is some controversy over exactly who did burn the church. One story says it was Union Soldiers, the other says it was slaves. Over a hundred years later I suppose it does not make a lot of difference. The bottom line is the church was burned. Interestingly a worship service is held annually in the ruined church the second Sunday after Easter.

A graveyard lies outside the church and some of the markers are still readable. It does not take long walking through an old graveyard to see that many children died very young and many women died young, presumably most in childbirth. It is sobering. One marker said the young man had been killed in battle. Another grave of a young man did not say if he had died in battle, but his age and the date was during the Civil War and this made me wonder

if he also had died in the fighting.


Though this was the middle of the day on a weekday, there were quite a few folks wandering around the grounds and through the ruins of the old church. Obviously this out-of-the-way place is well known and of much interest to many tourists and local folks.

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