St. John's In The Wilderness Episcopal Church

I had shoulder surgery about six weeks ago and now that I am a little more mobile, I am taking this rare opportunity to go out and soak in some local history to places I have never been before even though I have often lived within three or four miles of these places. One of those such places is St. John's in the Wilderness Church in Flat Rock. I went over there the other day with my camera to take a few pictures and to soak in the history of the church and the cemetery on the property.

The history of Flat Rock begins with this church. Flat Rock had become a summer destination for the wealthy planter class from Charleston, SC by the 1830's to escape the oppressive heat and bugs. Charles Baring of the Baring Brothers Banking firm in London, England was one of the first to build a summer home here. He built a summer home called "Mountain Lodge" and a church on the property. The original church was destroyed by fire and in he rebuilt the church that was to become St. John's in the Wilderness in 1833-34. It was deeded to the Episcopal Church of North Carolina in 1836, the first one in North Carolina.

Walking around the cemetery was fascinating. Several historically relevant people are buried here. C.G. Memminger, the Secretary of the Treasury for the Confederate States of America from 1861-64, has his headstone adorned with Confederate flags; Andrew Johnstone, owner of Beaumont, who was murdered by bushwhackers in June of 1864 in his home is buried here; James Brown (not the Godfather of Soul), a soldier with Captain Vernor's Troop of the Royal Scot Greys that participated in the Battle of Waterloo has a crypt here and is the first person buried in the cemetery at St. John's.