NO. 8 THOMAS WALTER, BOTANIST MAXON 3 



Death and burial. — Walter died January 17, 1789, " of fever ", 

 according to Fraser, or on January 18, 1789, according to Sylvanus 

 Urban. Nevertheless, James Britten gives the year as 1788 in his 

 extended notice, " Thomas Walter (i740?-88) and his Grass ", though 

 accepting from Fraser the month, January, and at the same time 

 quoting freely from two letters which, as he correctly states, wei-e 

 written by Walter to Fraser from the Santee on February 18, 1788, 

 and October 9, 1788! These letters are published in full by Fraser. 

 Britten's error has apparently passed unnoticed by all save Dr. John 

 Hendley Barnhart (1928). It is not typographical, but is an odd in- 

 advertence on the part of one well known for meticulous accuracy in 

 biographic and bibliographic detail, and is presumably due to Britten's 

 having unconsciously accepted the erroneous date inscribed upon 

 Walter's tombstone, now to be mentioned. 



At his own request Walter was buried on the Santee plantation. 

 His grave was visited by Ravenel in 1856, by Brainerd in 1907, and 

 by Coker in 1910, all of whom published interesting accounts of the 

 region, the gradual reversion of the estate to forest, and the consequent 

 complete neglect of the grave. Each quoted also the inscription upon 

 the tombstone, which is a slab of white crystalline marble about 6 feet 

 long, 2 feet 8 inches broad, and 2 inches thick. According to Brainerd 

 the wording (with a single minor correction) is as follows : 



In memory of Thomas Walter. A native of Hampshire in England and many 

 years a resident of this State. He died in the beginning of the year 1788. Aetatis 

 cir. 48 ann. To a mind liberally endowed by nature and refined by a liberal 

 education he added a taste for the study of Natural History and in the depart- 

 ment of Botany science is much indebted to his labours. At his desire he was 

 buried in this spot, once the garden in which were cultivated most of the 

 Plants of his Flora Caroliniana. From motives of filial affection his only 

 surviving Children Ann and Mary have placed this memorial. 



This inscription, according to family records, was written by the 

 South Carolina botanist, James Macbride, who died in 1817. The 

 phrase " his only surviving children ", if true, indicates that the monu- 

 ment must have been erected many years after Walter's death, since 

 Emily Walter (Charlton), born of his third marriage, lived to bear 

 three children, two of whom (sons) survived and left numerous 

 progeny.* The error, 1788 for 1789, is thus explainable; nevertheless 

 the erroneous inscribed date naturally found general acceptance. 



■* Further corroborative evidence is found in the signature below the inscription. 

 According to Miss Porcher this, although the letters are worn, is definitely not 

 " J. H. D.", as given by Brainerd, but " J. Hall." J. Hall was a stonecutter of 

 Charleston, who erected a number of stones in the vicinity, "all around 1812- 

 1816." 



