Gravestone of William McWillie
Former Gov. of the State of Mississippi
Kirkwood Cemetery, Camden, MS
b. November 17, 1795, d. March 3, 1869
The gravesite of William McWillie, former Governor of the State of Mississippi, is seen in the picture above of Kirkwood Cemetery, near the site of the McWillie family home that was known as "Kirkwood." A photograph of former Governor McWillie's official portrait as Governor of Mississippi, is also shown above.
Kirkwood Cemetery and the old McWillie home site are located in a heavily pine-forested and remote northeast corner of Madison County, near the community known as Camden. Also buried in the cemetery are members of the McWillie family, including some family members of his two wives.
William McWillie was born on November 17, 1795 in Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina. While still living in South Carolina and while still a young man, McWillie served in the War of 1812. After migrating to Mississippi, McWillie was elected to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, and between 1849 and 1851, he served as a representative from Mississippi's 3rd District. Several years later, McWillie was elected Governor of Mississippi, where he headed the state government from 1857 to 1859.
The gravemarker for William McWillie's second wife, Catharine, interestingly fashioned in the form of an open book, is pictured below.
Gravestone marking the burial place of
Catherine Anderson McWillie, second wife of William McWillie.
Catharine died on June 8, 1873, at the age of 61 years .
Thank you for posting these pictures! I am a descendant of Gov. McWillie by his first wife and have wondered what his resting place looked like.
ReplyDeleteGretchen Huggins (Florence, SC - reddoerestorer@yahoo.com)
Just received my family tree and found that I am also a descendant of Governor William McWillie. He was my Great, great, great grandfather through slavery. He had relations with one of his house slaves named Sue. A talented, beautiful seamstress. She had twins. A boy and a girl. They took the last name Levy. They were probably sold to Chapman Levy. One of the largest, Jewish slave owners and close colleague of McWillie. You will find Chapman Levy's headstone buried in the same resting place as McWillie.
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