GENERAL INFORMATION

The Florence National Cemetery expanded across the street from 803 National Cemetery Road in the early 1980's. Due to the burial rate the cemetery's additional 16 sections are in the final phases of completion and a new expansion for additional burial space is in progress. The new sections will be located just beyond the main flagpole and will contain both casket and cremation sites with approximately 2,000 preset crypts for casketed burials. The utilization of the preset crypts allows the national cemetery to provide almost double the amount of burials than in a traditional casket section.

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HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Florence National Cemetery is located in Florence County in the city of Florence, S.C.

The land for Florence National Cemetery was appropriated, and later purchased, from the estate of a local resident about a quarter-mile from the POW camp. Original interments were made in two separate burial grounds, one containing 416 remains and the other approximately 2,322 remains. Interments at the larger site were made in 16 trenches; in 1865, this site was designated a national cemetery and the remains from the smaller burial ground were dug up and reinterred there. Remains were also disinterred from the surrounding region of Darlington, Cheraw and the Marion Districts and transferred to Florence National Cemetery. The wooden headboards marking the trench graves were replaced by 2,167 marble “unknown” head blocks measuring 6 x 6 inches square and set approximately six inches apart. In 1955, all but five of these markers were replaced with 32 upright marble headstones at each end of the trenches.

Florence National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Monuments and Memorials
A carillon was donated by the American Veterans as part of their international living memorial program, which began shortly after World War II.
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NOTABLE PERSONS

Medal of Honor Recipients
Boatswain’s Mate First Class James Elliott Williams, (Vietnam) U.S. Navy. Mekong River, Republic of Vietnam, October 1966 (Section F, Grave 177).

Others
Florena Budwin was the bride of a captain from Pennsylvania. After Captain Budwin joined the federal forces, his bride disguised herself as a man and donned a uniform, hoping to find her husband. She was captured near Charleston, S.C., in 1864 and sent to Florence in the autumn of that year. After arriving at the stockade with thousands of other Union troops, she took sick as the rations were meager and medical supplies scarce. While the camp physician was making a routine examination, he found that one of his patients was a woman. She was moved to separate quarters and given food and clothing by the sympathetic women of Florence. When she recovered, she told a most remarkable story of how she had donned a federal uniform so as to serve by the side of her husband, that her husband has been killed, and that she was captured. After Florena grew strong, she stayed on at the prison as a nurse, and her devotion for her husband was bestowed on the hundreds of soldiers who were suffering from lack of food and medicine. A few months later, she fell sick a second time and did not recover. She died on Jan. 25, 1865 (Section D, Grave 2480).
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FLORAL/GROUNDS REGULATIONS

Cemetery policies are conspicuously posted and readily visible to the public.

Floral arrangements accompanying the casket or urn at the time of burial will be placed on the completed grave. Natural cut flowers may be placed on graves at any time of the year. They will be removed when they become unsightly or when it becomes necessary to facilitate cemetery operations such as mowing.

Artificial flowers and potted plants will be permitted on graves during the period from Oct. 10 through April 15. As a general rule, artificial flowers and potted plants will be allowed on graves for a period extending 10 days before through 10 days after Easter Sunday and Memorial Day.

Christmas wreaths, grave blankets and other seasonal adornments may be placed on graves from Dec. 1 through Jan. 20.

Permanent plantings, statues, vigil lights, breakable objects and similar items are not permitted on the graves. The Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit adornments that are considered offensive, inconsistent with the dignity of the cemetery or considered hazardous to cemetery personnel. For example, items incorporating beads or wires may become entangled in mowers or other equipment and cause injury.

Permanent items removed from graves will be placed in an inconspicuous holding area for one month prior to disposal. Decorative items removed from graves remain the property of the donor but are under the custodianship of the cemetery. If not retrieved by the donor, they are then governed by the rules for disposal of federal property.
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