The Man in my Dining Room

   

The painting in my living room

Every day since I was old enough to walk I was always passing this painting of this older man who honestly looked just like my father, I assumed it was him of course. He was just dressed in some weird looking suit thing but I mean I would expect it out of my father. Later in my old age (the ancient age of 10), I would find out this kind of creepy looking man pictured in my dining room was John Zacharias Siegling. He is my great great grandfather on my fathers side. For this project, I had to talk to my father a lot about his and my own heritage and found out that we are more connected to Charleston than I thought.

He was the first Siegling to immigrate here from Erfurt, Germany. He was the second of seventeen children and had a very well educated background since his father was a mathematics professor. John would soon leave Germany and go to Paris at the age of 15. He had a prior apprenticeship with a cabinet maker that helped him learn a lot for his later occupation here in Charleston. The Siegling's were very wealthy back in the day, the uniform he was wearing is a sign of his wealth.

Siegling Music House

He arrived here in 1819 where he bought a building right on king street and named it the Siegling Music House. He repaired and tuned many instruments, his music house had a huge outreach, a branch was even opened in Cuba. This was Charlestons first music house. It continued into the family into the late 1970's. In the 1970's the Siegling's decided to sell the music house, now the house is a nun bookstore, but the name Siegling Music House on the top still makes us proud.

Gravestone of John Zacharias Siegling

John Siegling passed away in 1867 at the age of 76 due to what was believed to be natural causes. He was married and had children. Even though he had a life in America he still kept in close contact with his family in Germany. He is buried in Saint Johns Lutheran Church in Charleston, South Carolina. This cemetery is just a normal church cemetery with a lot more of my ancestors buried in it. His grave is a not so classic die in socket, it is very unique actually. The base makes it the die on socket and how the cross is perfectly centered up.

Overall the project made me learn a lot about where I am from and taught me a lot about me and my family. It made me see my connection to Charleston and how my family helped Charleston expand and become a better place. Knowing that the Sieglings have been here for almost 200 years makes me feel like we may never leave.

As the Sun Set

As the sun set across the peninsula, there we were, squished into cabs and on the way to yet another graveyard. This graveyard was Magnolia Cemetery, one of the most well known in Charleston. The weather was nice and cool but the mosquitoes did not seem to care as they tried to suck every ounce of blood out of everyone. It was well worth it though to see the gravestones of the people and to be able to tell their story it was amazing.

Dye in Socket

This is a huge dye in socket grave. It is one of the cleanest looking gravestones in the cemetery in my opinion. This is a stone from the Rustin family, not one specific person but a family. If you look in the bottom right corner you see a lawn marker, this is where one person in the family was buried.

The flowers across the front are symbols of humility and innocence. Showing how cared for this family was and still is.

Masterpiece

The gravestone to the right is my favorite grave of all time. There is no need to see the symbolism in this grave when it pretty much slaps you in the face. This is the gravestone of a young child, a baby. Most children gravestones are just small barley marked gravestones, but this is a pure masterpiece.

This is for a child who had passed away and her grave was made into a carriage. This is a pure masterpiece and one of a kind grave, not to mention that she has her face carved into the grave. This child was obviously very cared about and loved and her gravestone reflects that.

This is yet another masterpiece. This gravestone is a part of the Pinkney family and is a huge cross. Yet again there is no one buried here, but it marks the whole family plot.

The cross represents religion and the afterlife. The symbolism of the cross, especially this large cross, just shows the power and authority of Christ and the life after death.

This trip was one of my favorites despite the mosquitoes the weather was good and the gravestones were remarkable. This is one of my favorite cemeteries I have ever been to simply because of the size and pure beauty of it. Aside from being squished into a cab with my classmates, I had a great time and it was something I will never forget.