Williamsburg County · Marker 45-19
McClary Cemetery
Sims Reach Rd. (S.C. Sec. Rd. 45-285), .75 mi. S of its junction with S.C. Hwy. 527, Kingstree vicinity
Front inscription
John McClary (1760-1833) established this cemetery about 1789, locating it on high ground near Boggy Swamp. McClary’s will, dated 1831, provided for headstones for himself and his three wives: Mary Raphield (1757-1792), Margaret Blackwell (1769-1789), and Sarah Raphield (1760-1815). Many of John McClary’s descendants and other members of the community are buried here.
Reverse inscription
McClary, born in Northern Ireland, came to S.C. by 1780. He and his brothers served under Gen. Francis Marion during the Revolution. In 1791 he was one of the commissioners who surveyed and laid out the town of Kingstree. A Presbyterian elder, he helped reunite the Williamsburg and Bethel churches in 1828. He was perhaps the wealthiest planter in Williamsburgh District at his death.