Near McConnells in York County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground

Photographed by Mark Parker, May 3, 2025

1. Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker

Inscription.
The sacred space before you is the Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground. This cemetery is the final resting place of at least 481 people of African descent. Many of those buried here were enslaved on the Bratton Plantation though burials likely continued after emancipation. The graves in this cemetery are oriented toward the rising sun. Natural field stones mark many though others appear to be un-marked. Watt and his wife Polly have the only engraved headstone. In 2024, Culture & Heritage Museums installed a weathering steel marker near the head of each grave identified with ground penetrating radar.

This five-acre site was part of the 200-acre Bratton Plantation, established around 1766 on the ancestral land of the Catawba Nation. It is unknown how many people the Brattons enslaved prior to 1780. However, over the next 85 years the enslaved population continued to increase. At the plantation's height in 1843, there were 139 enslaved people of African descent identified as living and working on the Bratton Plantation. Many of these people would have been laid to rest at the Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground.

The Final Resting Place of Watt and Polly
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Watt's death in 1837 and Polly's death in 1838, a marble headstone was erected by the Brattons. The Bratton's commissioned W.T. White, a Charleston stonecutter, to cut the headstone. The epitaph that White engraved reflected the views of the Bratton family at that time. It reads:

Sacred to the memory of Watt, who died December, 1837. During the American Revolutionary War he served his master, Col. William Bratton, faithfully, and his children with the same fidelity until his death. Also Polly his wife who died July 1838 who served the same family with equal faithfulness.

This cemetery serves as a testament to the lives of the mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters who lived and worked on this land and honors all who are buried here.

(Caption)
Map of probable graves at Enslaved Ancestral Burial Grounds, identified with GPR by the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (2024)

Erected 2025 by South Carolina American Revolution 250th Anniversary.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1766.

Location. 34° 51.608′ N,

Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground sign (left) and pathway entrance image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, May 3, 2025

2. Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground sign (left) and pathway entrance

Location is on Percival Road just east of Brattonsville Road

81° 10.481′ W. Marker is near McConnells, South Carolina, in York County. It can be reached from Percival Road (South Carolina Route 46-380) north of Brattonsville Road ( Route 165), on the right when traveling east. Access to the burial grounds is available only from Percival Road. From the entrance sign, take the dirt path approximately 1/4 mile to the parking lot. The marker is at the end of a gravel path, a short distance from the lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1444 Brattonsville Rd, Mc Connells SC 29726, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Midlands

and in the Olde English District. It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are

Path from parking lot to Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, May 3, 2025

3. Path from parking lot to Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker

Walk to the marker and burial ground is a short distance from the parking lot.

within walking distance of this marker: Rocky Mount Road (within shouting distance of this marker); Brick House / Lynching of Jim Williams (approx. ¼ mile away); A House of Untold Stories (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Brattonsville Store (approx. 0.3 miles away); Brattonsville (approx. 0.3 miles away); a different marker also named Brick Kitchen (approx. 0.4 miles away); a different marker also named Battle of Huck's Defeat (approx. 0.4 miles away); Field of Huck's Defeat (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in McConnells.

Other markers no longer nearby. The Homestead (was approx. 0.3 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); Brick Kitchen (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); The Battle of Huck’s Defeat (was approx. 0.4 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

More about this marker. The marker and burial ground is a part of the Historic Brattonsville site.

Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker and grave markers image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, May 3, 2025

4. Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker and grave markers

White stone of Watt and Polly straight ahead in the distance

Reverse side of Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker look towards path image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, May 3, 2025

5. Reverse side of Enslaved Ancestral Burial Ground Marker look towards path

Gravestone of Watt and Polly image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, May 3, 2025

6. Gravestone of Watt and Polly

Credits. This page was last revised on July 20, 2025. It was originally submitted on May 4, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 229 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on May 4, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.