Here lies a sacred acre of Charleston’s past. This is the Coming Street Cemetery, also known as Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery. It is one of the oldest Jewish burial grounds in the South.
The Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery was established in 1762. It stands as a testament to Charleston’s rich Jewish history. Imagine, if you will, the Charleston of the 1700s. The city limits ended far from here. This plot was intentionally placed at a removed location.
Isaac DaCosta, a founder of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, purchased the land in 1754. He intended it as a private family cemetery. In 1764, DaCosta gave the property to the congregation. He asked for £70 in return. A stipulation was made. It was to be used for those conforming to Jewish rites and KKBE regulations.
Back then, the congregation faced internal conflict. Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews had different customs. The cemetery felt the impact of these controversies. Two family burial grounds emerged. The Tobias family and the DaCostas each had their own. Isaac DaCosta was laid to rest in his family’s plot in 1783.
Over 800 burials have taken place here at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery. Several hundred tombstones remain. The oldest extant tombstone dates to 1762. It marks the grave of Moses Cohen. He was a friend of DaCosta and fellow hazan.
In the 1840s, reform split the congregation. Traditionalists formed Shearit Israel. They acquired land adjacent to Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery. A tall brick wall separated their new cemetery.
One story tells of David Lopez. He was prohibited from burying his Christian wife, Catherine, in the hallowed ground. Lopez acquired a plot north of Shearit Israel’s. He built a tomb for Catherine Dobyns Hinton. It was more elaborate than any other monument in sight.
Look closely at the markers around us at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery. Many are significant examples of gravestone art. Prominent local sculptors signed them. Names like A.F. Chevreaux, M. Gannon, and G. Rennie are etched into stone.
Notice Joshua Lazarus’s marker. He was a former president of the Beth Elohim Synagogue. His marker is a fluted column on a pedestal. An urn surmounts it. Consider Marx E. Cohen Jr.’s obelisk. He was a Confederate soldier killed in the Civil War. It features a cannon below the State and Confederate flags.
The Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery is surrounded by a stuccoed brick wall. Parts of it are original. This wall has preserved the cemetery for centuries. Remains of an internal wall also exist. They reflect the doctrinal dispute that once divided the Beth Elohim congregation.
By 1887, Beth Elohim established a new cemetery. Burials here are now restricted to family plots. This sacred space stands frozen in time.
Restoration of the Coming Street Cemetery is ongoing. Donations are welcome for its upkeep. As you leave, remember the generations who rest here. Their stories shaped Charleston’s Jewish community. Their legacy endures within these walls of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Cemetery.