The Rast Cemetery is near Creston, along SC Highway 6, in a circle of trees and vines in a cultivated field. It is approximately 30 yards in from SC Highway 6, and approximately 708 yards in from a fence that separates the cultivated field from St. Paul A.M.E. Church.

Survey and copying of tombstone inscriptions were done 29 September 1996 by my wife's Chisolm/Owens cousin, Bill Chisolm, and his wife, Beverly Johnson Chisolm.

Grave #1 -- left grave on first row
The stone is broken off and the top half, including the name and dates, is missing. What follows is the portion of the inscription that remains.

Mother
We've laid thee in thy lonely bed,
Deep in the earth to rest,
To rest in peace among the dead,
To sleep among the blest.
Thou are not dead but full of life
High in the heavens above, secure from every care and strife
That in this world doth move
Thy parting words we'll ne'er forget
That we to thee should come

Note: There is more, but it is below ground level and obscured by roots. We had to dig to uncover the part above and could not get to the rest. -Bill & Beverly Chisolm.

This grave has a footstone which reads "M.R. 1854".

Submitter's note: This would be Martha Dantzler, second wife of Jacob Rast. (My wife's great great grandparents.) Martha Dantzler born 19 July 1806 Orangeburg District, died 27 August 1854 Creston. Daughter of Frederick Dantzler & Mary Ann Catherine Moorer. Both of them are buried in Dantzler-Hart cemetery, Wells Crossroads, Orangeburg County.

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Grave #2, middle grave in first row

Sacred to the memory of
Jacob Rast
Who died on the 24th April 1843
Aged 46 years 1 mo. and 16 days
He lived 25 year an acceptable
member of the M.E. Church
Was a humane master
Indulgent father
Affectionate husband
And a kind neighbor
They who knew him best
Loved him most
Blessed are the dead who die
In the lord
They rest from their labors.

Submitter's note: Jacob Rast, born 8 March 1797, Orangeburg District, died of measles. Son of Mathias Rast & Barbara ???.

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Grave #3, right grave in first row

Sacred
to the memory of
Ann M.
daughter of Jacob and Martha Rast
who departed this life
8th of Sept. 1836
aged 7 mo. 17 days
Take these little lambs, said he,
and lay them in my breast
protection they shalt find in me,
in me be ever blest.

Submitter's note: This is Ann Margaret Rast.

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Grave #4, right grave in second row

Sacred
to the memory of
Frances V. Rast
Wife of James T. Rast
and daughter of
B. and H.C. Cummings
who died 1st June 1846
in the 18th year of her age
Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord
for they rest from
their labors.

Submitter's note: This is Frances Vice Cummings, first wife of James Taylor Rast. Frances, daughter of Benjamin Cummings and Hannah Rast.

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Grave #5, left grave in second row

In memory
of
Magdaline Hannah
Rast
Infant daughter of
James T. and Ann Rast
who was born
the 9th of Febr 1854
and died
the 25th of Augt 1854
Tis finished, tis done, the spirit is fled
the prisoner is gone, the christian is dead
the christian is living through Jesus's love
and gladly receiving a kingdom above

Submitter's note: Her parents were James Taylor Rast and his second wife, Ann Shuler. James Taylor Rast was the son of Jacob Rast and his first wife, Colina Livingston. Ann Shuler was a daughter of Lewis Hayne Shuler and Elizabeth Dantzler.

Submitter's note: At the Sardis Baptist Church Cemetery, Hwy 6, Swansea -- the John M. Rast b. 1856 d. 1927 buried there (John Mathias Rast) was a grandson of the above Jacob Rast and Martha Dantzler. John's wife, Mary M., her maiden name was Sightler.

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