Wilson Cemetery

In 1818 three Wilson brothers John, Matthew and Samuel, came from Virginia to purchase large farms in the area now known as St. Florian. The plantations of John and Matthew joined near this cemetery; an unknown number of enslaved people are buried here next to the south wall. There were 160 enslaved people on the two Wilson plantations at Wilson’s Crossroads (now St. Florian). John Wilson and his nephew Matthew Wilson, Jr. were killed on 1865 by a raiding party known as the Thrasher party. Also shot during the raid was John Wilson’s servant, Christopher Brewer. Brewer, likely a freeman, was the maternal grandfather of William Christopher Handy, Florence’s famous “Father of the Blues”. Brewer was wounded but survived to lead the Wilson heirs to where the family valuables were buried. There is speculation that both Christopher Brewer and his wife are buried in the cemetery.