A very interesting story in today's State newspaper (Columbia, SC) http://www.thestate.com/mld/state/news/local/states/south_carolina/3415372.h tm Does anyone know who this woman is??? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Posted on Thu, Jun. 06, 2002 Mysterious lady lies under downtown church By DAWN HINSHAW Staff Writer The church history book doesn't make note of Sophia Catharine Nance. But she is legendary even beyond Washington Street United Methodist Church, the first church in town. Sophia's life ended in the winter of 1853. She was said to be an extraordinary beauty when she died at 28 years old. For the better part of a century, her grave would have been visible in the cemetery just outside the sanctuary of the stately church, at the corner of Washington and Marion streets downtown. But in 1928, when the church expanded, much of the graveyard was covered over. Some families wanted the remains of their ancestors moved to Elmwood Cemetery. Others apparently did not. Sophia's gravesite stayed behind, along with dozens more. A plat was made so that remaining graves might be located. At some point, they were made accessible by a trap door cut in the floor of a broom closet. Open the door, and lying in the dust is an electrical cord. A string of bare, 100-watt bulbs under the church ends at Sophia's casket, imbedded in a shallow grave. The belly crawl is perhaps 20 yards in dust that clouds and clings. She is entombed in an embossed metal casket, not a traditional rectangle but in the shape of a reclining body. At the head is an oval plate that, once removed, reveals a porthole of glass. As recently as six years ago, the glass revealed a skull covered in leathery skin, said the Rev. Mike Alexander, the church pastor. Even teeth were visible. Then a tiny crack appeared in the glass. The harsh remains began to change. Alexander considered whether to try to have the glass cover fixed but then decided to "let nature run its course." By now, the skull looks as if it's covered in soft, white foam. A granite tombstone propped over the casket records the days of Sophia's birth and death. Beyond that, legend and imagination take over. When Alexander was assigned to Washington Street in June 1996, someone told him about the woman buried under the church first thing. Since then, he figures he has been under the church a dozen times, taking people who ask to see her, many of them associated with local colleges and the university. "I try to tell people to be reverent down there and to not look at it as a Halloween experience," Alexander said. "This is a part of history." He shares the story of Sophia Nance with people joining the church. It is said that she was so beautiful that her husband - or was it her lover? - wanted her body preserved so he could continue to see her. Some say that "Sophie" stirs, walking the halls at night whenever someone has come down to view her, Alexander said. James Brown, the night janitor at the church, has no interest in looking on Sophia. "I let the dead rest," he said. "She has been there so long, I don't think I would want to go down there and disturb it." Sheila Riley has been collecting memorabilia related to death for the past 20 years. She said burying someone in a casket with a window to the inside wouldn't have been considered strange in the mid-1800s. The casket might have been available by catalog, she said, and shipped to Columbia by rail. About that time in America, the funeral industry was just beginning to emerge. Scientists were making progress with the embalming process. Influenced by royalty in England, Riley said, people in this country began a tradition of mourning that involved wishing to capture an image - a shadow, some called it - of their loved one. That's why it became common for people to photograph a corpse and display the photo in their homes, said Riley, once with the S.C. State Museum and now working in Indianapolis. Laurely Nance, who sings in the choir with her husband, Luke, said no one in their family has been able to establish a link with Sophia Nance. Still, her granddaughter carries the name Sophia Catherine Nance after "the lady under the church." Riley said when she lived in Columbia, she kept hearing about the unusual grave. "It's this great legend," she said, a story of beauty and love and fitful mystery. Reach Hinshaw at 771-8641 or dhinshaw@thestate.com. (Copyright State Newspaper 2002)