Burial place of General Thomas Sumter

Just a few turns away from the church of the Holy Cross is the graveyard for the Thomas Sumter family. The Revolutionary War hero won his nickname of "Fighting Gamecock" because of his relentless fighting spirit. After the war, Sumter served in the US House and Senate. Also buried there are Thomas Sumter Jr. (1768-1840), who was lieutenant governor of South Carolina and the first US ambassador to Brazil, and Thomas DeLage Sumter (1809-1874), who was a US congressman and who took over the operation of the family plantation in his later years. But the largest grave at the site belongs to the Old General's daughter-in-law Nathalie deLage Sumter, who was born to French royalty but grew up in the household of US Vice President Aaron Burr along with his daughter, Theodosia, because of the upheaval of the French Revolution. Thomas Sumter Burial site, Acton Road, Sumter, 803.436.2640.