The Rath of Magrath

Magnolia Cemetery with all its beauty and art is amazing and enriching to experience. While gawking at all the ornate grave markers of all the old Charlestonians one of the more simple ones caught my eye. This marker even though not as ornate as some of the other graves was still a piece of art. On it was what looked like to be an ornate clover framed with vines. As it turned out this grave marker belonged to one Andrew Gordon Magrath, son of  John Magrath and Maria Gordon. Magrath’s father was an Irish merchant and the clover may have been an homage to both his father and Irish background.

The grave itself, a pedestal, was actually very helpful in providing historical information which with the help of find a grave made finding out who Magrath was very easy. He was born and raised her in Charleston on  February 8, 1813 and died April 9, 1893. During which time he was a very productive man. From 1856-1860 he was appointed United States District Judge of South Carolina, from 1862-1864 he was the Confederate States District Judge of South Carolina, and from 1864- 1865 he was the Governor of South Carolina.

In his early years before he managed his way into politics I found out from SC Encyclopedia that he went to school her in South Carolina at USC. For his Graduates Degree he would attend Harvard’s School of Law but will receive much of his schooling from his mentor  James L. Petigru. As a lawyer the biggest case that he is known for was the Echo and the Wanderer which were ships illegally involved in transporting slaves. His clients were being charged with piracy which at the time was punishable by death but he argued that the Slave Trade was not piracy and therefore they were innocent.

Now a little later in his life as the Civil War was taking form Magrath was a Cooperationist. He believed that the Slave States instead of succeeding individually that instead they should all succeed at one time. During the time of the Civil war he accomplished many things such as becoming a Confederate District judge and later on to become Governor of South Carolina. As the war ended he was arrested and imprisoned for his crimes of succeeding on  May 25, 1865 where he will be held at Fort Pulaski, Georgia. His imprisonment was short lived as he was only held for seven months on the following December of his arrest.

The rest of Magrath’s life was pretty average. He would spend the rest of his days in Charleston, South Carolina where he would rebuild his law practice from the ground up. Even though some of his political views  are not the best he led a very productive and influential life. He made history and he is from our own back yard. Andrew Gordon Magrath died April 9, 1893 where he would be buried in Magnolia Cemetery, South Carolina. He will lie there until someone like me will come across his grave and discover his life and his accomplishments and so he will live on forever in the history books even though his body decays and turns to dust.