Cemetery Facts

*We do NOT have a complete list of everyone buried in Randolph Cemetery. The historic records were lost. If you have information about someone buried here and they do not appear in the database linked below, we would love to have more information about them; please email us at RandolphCemtery@gmail.com.

A searchable database of headstones/known burials is available through Richland Library’s website: https://localhistory.richlandlibrary.com/digital/collection/p16817coll12/id/2226

Nineteen black businessmen formed the Randolph Cemetery Association in 1871. They purchased a few acres from adjacent Elmwood Cemetery, which was created in 1854 for whites only. The men’s names were:

  • Sen. William Beverly Nash (first president of the assoc.)

  • Sen. Benjamin Thomson

  • Rep. Charles Wilder (first black postmaster in the city)

  • Captain J. Carroll

  • Isaac Blacks

  • John H. Bryant

  • Adam Thomas

  • N.E. Edwards

  • Augustus Cooper

  • Rep. William Simons

  • Alonzo Reese

  • Addison Richardson

  • J.J. Ransier

  • Francis L. Cardoza

  • Robert B. Elliott

  • John Fitzsimmons

  • Hampton Mims

  • W.A. Taylor

  • C.B. Thompson

The association purchased additional acres to create about a five-acre site by the late 1800s. As Reconstruction-era legislators passed away several chose to be buried at Randolph. There are some that are likely here but are unknown because they never got a headstone or the headstone has fallen or been damaged. Prince Rivers requested to be buried here but does not have a headstone. Here are the other known state legislators interred here and the counties they represented:

  • Sen. William Beverly Nash (1822-1888) Richland

  • Sen. Benjamin F. Randolph (d.1868) Orangeburg

  • Sen. Henry Cardozo (1831-1886) Kershaw

  • Sen. William Fabriel Myers (1850-1917) Colleton

  • Sen. Lucius Wimbush (1839-1928) Richland

  • Sen. John Lee (1837-1881) Chester

  • Rep. Robert John Palmer (1849-1928) Richland

  • Rep. William M. Simons (1810-1878) Richland

  • Rep. Samuel B. Thompson (1837-1909) Richland

  • Rep. Charles McDuffie Wilder (1835-1902) Richland

  • Rep. Thomas W. Keitt (1845-1897) Newberry

  • Rep. Andrew Curtis (1811/1843-1894) Richland

The cemetery fell into disrepair as many black families moved north during the Great Migration of the early to mid-1900s. As the cemetery became overgrown it was neglected and threatened by the construction of a nearby highway. A city bulldozer and workers reportedly cleared out some of the cemetery but damaged some burials before they could be stopped. This and other threats helped spur a renewed interest in the preservation of this historic black site.

Minnie Simons Williams spearheaded the creation of the Committee for the Beautification and Restoration of Randolph Cemetery in the 1980s. The group filed a lawsuit against a local funeral home to settle ownership of the site after years of neglect and were awarded custody. Elaine Nichols worked with Mrs. Williams in the late 1980s on an exhibit about funeral traditions for the SC State Museum. She later helped lead efforts to preserve and promote Randolph Cemetery. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995 and gained a historic marker in the early 2000s.

As part of the Downtown Cemetery Task Force, which also had representation from Historic Columbia, Ms. Nichols successfully lobbied for financial support from the State in 2006. The CBRRC stretched those funds with other grant funds over the course of a decade and accomplished a great deal of work. The funds helped with a survey of all of the headstones that were legible and a map of the site. It also helped with four phases of monument restoration and ongoing grass cutting.

Now that those funds are gone, the CBRRC has no paid staff and relies on volunteers, grants and donations to keep the grass cut and do other maintenance at the cemetery.

There are codes and regulations regarding burials and monuments at the site, please contact us for a copy.